I cannot stand the midwest, it's killing me.

[Against ME]

I dunno how many of you live or have been to the midwest, and out of those people I don't know how many would actually agree with what I have say, but either way tell me what you think of all this.

These problems have been stacking on top of each other, weighing me down, their ignorance, their utter disregaurd for anyone but themselves, is killing me. I live in a middle to upper middle class neighborhood, and just outside my neighborhood you have the upper middle to upper class people. In the midwest, I am in the hellpit of ignorant conservatives, and I only have one year left. I'm gonna be a senior, and after that i'm off to D.C. for some higher education.

I don't think I speak for all liberal midwesters, but I know I speak for a few, when i say that the midwest is anti-progressive anti-liberal. The adults around here care about nothing but money, and they are uptight pricks, that know nothing about anything, except for giving money to Bush, and let me tell you the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The kids are just as bad if not worse, they are easily manipulated(which i kind of enjoy), and cannot think for themselves. They don't give a damn about anyone except for themselves. They lead a simple life where if you're not them, then you can piss off. Trust me, I've tried to adopt this style of living, but a cannot. Seeing how I am how should i say, civilized, I cannot go through my daily life being like them. I've tried, but for the life of me I cannot.

But it goes beyond their vanity, and individualism, because to me that inof itself isn't that bad of a thing, but with moderation. Their ideals are stupifying, they do not recognize that we live in a society, or that this society provides more for them, than they could ever give to it. It seems like a fundemntal flaw in their pseudo-logic, they see things a way that is irrational, and destructive to society. I'd be the first to triumph the individual, but you always need to be aware that as an individual, you have a certain "responisibility" to all other individuals, thus is the nature of the society. You don't even have to triumph this "responsibilities", or even believe in them, all you need to do is know them, because just by knowing them, you find yourself almost "practicing them.

I don't know, they are ignorant, they disregaurd eveyone but themselves, and I really cannot stand going to another party with them, or making pointless small talk again. On the plus side though, i've been able to find a few "liberals" in this place, but i'm afraid they are conservative in the way they act.

[carpetbagger]

1. Which part of the midwest?

Some of it's not too bad.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

2. hmmm

Move to San Francisco. That's my plan. I don't live in the midwest but orange county is just as red neck red meat red repuke.

[Ein]

20. I pay thanks to your OC

for many a good song I have heard in my life.

[flamingyouth]

3. I live in the Northwest

And I don't agree, yet I can sympathize. I feel bad for you, but I think Chicago (in the Midwest) is a great city with a wonderful community of progressive people whom I can proud to call my comrades and friends.

Please don't be discouraged forever - there are other who agree with you - WE ARE EVERYWHERE! I do understand and relate to your frustration, however. You are not alone. I hope that your post will introduce you to others of a like mind. You will do good things, I'm sure. Just don't get discouraged for good.

Peace.

[ButterflyBlood]

4. where are you in the midwest?

Chicago, and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa are very progressive.

[Against ME]

6. Missouri Kansas border.

[ButterflyBlood]

8. bleh

I can see that being pretty bad, although I've heard that Kansas City, MO is pretty liberal.

[Against ME]

14. I don't know if this means anything or not,

but KCMO is not liberal. Sure it has your liberal hotspots, but for the most part, it's neo-con valley. I live right on the outskirts of KCMO, and it gets less liberal the further away you get.

The downtown area isn't bad, but it's like a shockwave of conservatives, getting more intense the further you go.

[pstokely]

29. I see anti-choice stickers on SUVs around here all the time

everywhere in KCMO

[Against ME]

30. Oh and those god awful fish,

everywhere I look. sorry if you're religious

[REP]

36. That Explains It

I'm from the CITY, not the 'burbs. Get the hell out of Raymore-Peculiar/Belton/Independence and into the real city!

PS: KC's downtown is dead as a doornail. You might mean Westport/Plaza.

[REP]

35. Must Be Different Than When I Spent 33 Years There

I was born and raised in KC MO and lived there for 33 years. I moved to the only place that was demographically and politically similar with better weather - the San Francisco Bay area.

Then again, you may be stuck in Fairway and in that case, I agree. Blech.

[Against ME]

7. Missouri Kansas border.

[wtmusic]

10. parts of Chicago...

I had an antiwar radio spot refused by two major Chicago AM news outlets, paying cash on the barrelhead (and a lot of it too). It was very non-confrontational. Chicago overall is much more conservative than either coasts.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Midwest? That sounds like Newport Beach, California

I think you mostly sum up my distaste for libertarianism as a political principle. We don't live in a personal individual world and while the person and the individual do have responsibilities and can make a difference ...if our rugged individualism is over emphasized we tend to be mostly worse off for it.

[ewagner]

9. Too bad

I moved to the midwest from Florida because I didn't like what happened to my native state after disney moved in.

The Midwest I know is pretty rural, and sure, there are some conservatives to put up with, but by and large Wisconsin is a pretty liberal/progressive state. ...home of fightin' Bob LaFollette etc.

It sounds like you live in a suburban setting which tends to be pretty conservative. But just a hint: outside of suburbia, in the more rural areas, you will find people with hearts of gold and a strong progressive attitude. You can't pick your relatives, of course, but you can pick the friends and people you hang with.

Make a decision to find the type of people you feel most comfortable with...there are a lot of them in the midwest.

[sandnsea]

11. My take on some family members

It's my family, goddammit, so I can say what I like about them!!!

Missouri and Arkansas, the Arkansas ones are the worst. Here's what I noticed. You meet them for 15 minutes and you know everything about them that you'll ever know. That's all there is. I have known my brother-in-law for 25 years now, and he hasn't changed, grown, revealed more opinions or ideas, nothing in 25 years. He's a nice enough guy, he's a civil engineer so he's not stupid, but otherwise, there just isn't much going on upstairs. They really are just that simple. Go to work, get married, have a family, go to church, pay the bills, go fishing or hunting or shopping, and then you die. That's really all there is.

Maybe the heat makes thinking too exhausting, I don't know.

[Against ME]

15. You are exactly right,

I was thinking about that before I wrote the post, and then forgot, they have absolutley no substance.

[wtmusic]

24. That sounds familiar

Maybe that's all there is to life but I'll be damned if I go to the grave just accepting it

[Exultant Democracy]

12. I feel your pain

I lived in Idaho for the longest 6 months of my life. As soon as my family moved there we realized that we had to get out.
Good Luck,
Chris

[acmavm]

13. Welcome to the "heartland". It is a very strange place to live. It's like

going back in time. The word "progressive" has no relationship to anything you can find here. The laws are archaic, the attitudes mid-nineteenth century, and the political beliefs are so right-wing nuts that you would imagine yourself living in the middle of a republican love-fest.

It's always been this way. And it always will. There is a lot of prejudice. The homeless are seen as being lazy and deserving of their fate. And if you don't agree with the program, you are just a "skin-head commie thug". These are words written by a police officer describing the people who participated in a peace rally just before the war. I read the report because it was part of an "investigation" I was working on in regard to the arrests of some of the rally participants.

We lose our young progressives because as soon as they are old enough, they get the hell out of here (if they have the money and the opportunity). I've been here all my life except for a childhood stint in Wyoming and 14 months in Anchorage, Alaska. It's always been like coming back to a time warp into the dark ages. I still have dreams of getting out of here permanently. I sure as hell don't want to be buried here.

[Against ME]

17. Ha, I've been called much worse.

And i've also been thrown in a few fights, because I'm openly atheist, I never thought I'd describe myself as openly anything, but..., and i'm as liberal as they come.

Ha how pathetic is it when I have to say openly before the word atheist. Oh god damn

[AlienGirl]

16. It was killing me too

So I moved back to the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

A couple of days ago, on our way to eat Ethiopian food, my friend C-C and I stopped in at a nice Communist bookstore and talked with the people meeting there. Every bumper sticker I saw that evening said something I agreed with. I love it here...

Now it's being broke that is (perhaps literally) killing me. But at least I'm somewhere I enjoy being...

Tucker

[agincourt]

18. Whats so sad,

is if you talk to these people about how life was in 1965 ,when the democrats had more power,and compare it life under the republicans, they sort of get it but they just can't seem to make the step.

[Systematic Chaos]

19. Come to Vegas, you'll REALLY love it here!

Please accept my apology for responding to your rant with one of my own, and I certainly am not trying to hijack your thread, but I guess I'm both sympathizing with you and getting some of my own pressure off my chest at the same time....

For me, the single biggest mistake I ever made was to decide to become a casino dealer (after dropping out of college due to poor finances and needing to work to support myself). I am now stuck here not just for the job but for the insurance which my wife and I would be in serious trouble without. I would give anything at all to leave, but I can't and it's my own goddamn fault. But anyway...

One thing that will stay with me until my dying breath is how, back in the early 90's, I went to work for one of the larger temp services here in town. Their first assignment was for me to go and do some work for the March of Dimes, COLD CALLING people to ask for help with some fund drive! This was work that in any other area would be voluntary only, and is usually done by schools, senior citizen centers or whatnot. But, I was asked to go to work for $6 an hour, calling people who in 95% of cases were as cold as friggin' ice to me, doing this stuff that was supposed to be volunteer work. The director of the office explained to me that NOBODY, not one organization or school or anything, was willing to do this and we were their last resort.

Not only does Vegas share many of the problems you speak of where you are. No, there's also a complete lack of historical importance with buildings being torn down that in many other places would be renovated or preserved as historical landmarks. The Desert Inn and the old ice plant off the railroad tracks downtown come to mind. There's virtually no culture here whatsoever, unless it's some casino putting on an art exhibit and charging admission. People are so disconnected and selfish it's just unreal. And, worst of all, our main employers, the casinos, are among the greediest bastards you could ever share a location with. Remember the benevolent gesture after 9/11 when the major casino companies like MGM Grand gave $2 million to the NYC relief effort? They recouped that money in just a month or two by laying off over 25 THOUSAND employees and failing to reinstate about half of them, even though the brunt of the tourism slump was over in about a month. I used to date a young lady who worked as a nanny for a reasonably well-to-do single mother with two preteen sons, and she lived with her employer full time. I was allowed to visit whenever I wanted as long as I didn't stay past the boys' bedtime and I would sometimes help the kids with homework. I can't tell you how often the boys would bring home newsletters from their school imploring parents to donate such menial items as paper towels and the like because the budget was so bad the school couldn't afford it. But, that doesn't stop the gaming companies from holding all kinds of "career fairs" in elementary schools where the students get indoctrinated into becoming the next batch of maids and buspeople. After all, since we're 47th in the nation in education standards, you gotta think big.

I'm glad you're going to be getting out of a stifling environment soon. I'm sure you'll feel much more comfortable in DC. At least you know that you're getting out in some definite time frame. I wish I could go back 15 years and change some of my own decisions. :(

[Against ME]

23. Call me a hypocrite, or a dumb bastard,

I don't care, but to me that exactly what Vegas shoulde be. Maybe it's life in the midwest, but to me Vegas is a place where people go to not give a fuck about anything, and that's the attraction. It would almost lose some of it's appeal if their education system was top of the line, and they had plenty of volunterrs. When I think of Vegas, I think of a place where any scum bag can go and be a "good" guy. Thus the attraction of Vegas.
Unless one was ready for such a place, It would be hell. It's almost like you'd have to give in to it, let it consume you, to even be able to live their. again part of the attraction, you are alleviated of all responsibility to anyone but yourself.

[populistmom]

21. I grew up in Omaha

I went to Catholic Schools and I actually had a right wing nut "social studies" teacher in 8th grade who supported abortion clinic bombers! She also raved about Reagan and how wonderful he was (this was 1985-86). I just cringed in my seat disagreeing even at 13 with this frame of mind. Wish I had the gonads to have stood up more, but I was in such adolescent angst then, I was too afraid to stand up for anything.
I've lived in CT now for 16 years and find it a much more politically tolerant climate. Way too many neo-con nutballs out there!

on edit: I feel a little guilty. After all, my dad was semi-active in Democratic politics in NE in the early 70's mostly. He was a delegate in 68. I even pooped on a Democratic Representative's (or maybe State Senator's as NE has a "unicameral") sofa as a baby! There are pockets of sanity, but frequently they're fighting a huge uphill battle. I have enormous respect those who fight the fight.

[Lastgasp]

22. I live in a Kansas City suburb . . .

. . . and I am as openly liberal as anyone you can find anywhere. Furthermore, nearly all the people I know are hardcore liberals. Against ME, I do believe you are moving in the wrong circles; and you are painting the entire midwest with a broad brush. If you look carefully you will find pockets of sanity. Even here in Kansas City.

[Against ME]

27. I don't fucking care if I'm painting with a broad brush,

the nature of a rant permits me to do that. And it's not a broad brush if it is true. I cannot stand when people come in and judge my post, telling me i'm being to generalizing, especially in a rant. I am painting the entire midwest with a observation based off experience, should I compile facts and take surveys instead?

What town/city do you live in?

[dansolo]

25. I'm stuck in Henry Hyde's district

It is no small consolation that we had a near Democratic sweep in Illinois in the statewide elctions.

[LearnedHand]

26. Jeeze, do I sympathize!

Until about 10 months ago, I lived in the DEEP SOUTH. I don't want to overshadow your situation at all, but I can really sympathize how you're feeling. The entire world began to look like S. Baptist freepers until I moved to the West. (Sorry to any SBs who might be reading this, but the ones in the South are really something!)

When I read your post, A-ME, I feel that same, suffocating panic I felt every single day of the time I spent in the South. When I left, I felt as if I were fleeing for my LIFE! I hope when you get to leave the Midwest, you'll be able to find a place that can make up for all the alienation you've felt until now.

Much good luck with finding that place. Oh, and make "liberal" use (yuk, yuk!) of DU while you're stuck in MO; I didn't know it existed when I still lived in the South.

On edit: add new graphic

On edit2: no, I guess I didn't add graphic...

[jagguy]

28. the horror !

hate to break it to you but its little different across most of the country and particularly in the areas you describe.

[DeanMachine]

31. I can't stand flyover country

The coasts are the only halfway decent part of America. The rest belongs ignorant 'Merikuns dragging their knuckles on the way to vote for Bush.

[NJCher]

32. memories of the midwest

Did I ever enjoy reading this thread. I really laughed at AgainstME's comments about Vegas. Maybe that's where we ought to dump about half of America. They can all drive their big gashog SUVs on their way to work, as in get-up-go-to-work-come-home (in my SUV) and go-to-bed.

I was born and raised in the midwest but got out when I was very young. Even my own parents, one of whom is a wingnut, say I could not live there. When I was little I can even remember thinking, "What the hell kind of place is this where nothing ever happens?"

I always felt so alien. No legislator ever represented my points of view. There was no tolerance for anything. When at 16 I announced I was an agnostic, the church even tried to excommunicate me! Of course it didn't help that I was the church organist, but still.

I remember all those extremist anti-abortion groups, too. Seems like they were always putting up signs on the highways and performing grotesque displays at demonstrations outside abortion clinics.

The people are very nice but I agree with the comment about no substance. No depth, nothing interesting there at all. There seems to be little in the way of intellectual stimulation.

Now I live in a very liberal area and have for the past 25 or more years. It's such a relief to sort of be able to take for granted that your neighbor generally feels the same way that you do about things. I loved it back during Selection 2000 when somebody in this neighborhood kept putting Gore/Leiberman signs on all the trees and stop signs. Even after the chimp stole the audience, they didn't stop. Seeing those signs crop up in a new place everyday made me feel just a tiny bit better about the stolen election.

I'm sure the posters who say there are progressives in the midwest are correct. I was able to find the few that were around Omaha by getting involved in liberal causes.


Cher

[Iris]

33. check out a book called "Cultural Creatives"

it might help while you wait for your "escape'".

[Sick of Bullshit]

34. Feeling the same way as you, I left Missouri in 1983

As I recall, Bond was governor and Ashcroft was Attorney General at the time. If that wasn't enough to make a progressive seek greener pastures, there was the failure of the ballot initiative in 1980 to impose a moratorium on the construction of the Calloway nuclear facility (this was in the wake of Three Mile island) just a few miles down the road from where I called home. I was really ticked off at the attitudes in the state.

Leaving the state helped me to expand my horizons. However, I was also somewhat disappointed at going to so-called progressive areas and finding the same kinds of attitudes I thought I had left in Missouri.