Hi, I’m From Flyover Country and Here’s What the Coasts Get Wrong About the Midwest

I’ve been lucky in my life. I’ve had a chance to live on both coasts. I’ve lived in a variety of parts of this country but nothing annoys me more than people who have never left the US coastal states and actually seen what it is like in the “square states.”

The flyover states are a different place with different values and there are many things that would be different in our society if Jefferson hadn’t bothered with the Louisiana purchase. For progressives, it can seem like these states are holding the country back from a far better future. The reality (as usual) is a little bit more nuanced than that.

Not All-Midwest People are Dumb

I like to call this the arrogance of ignorance. There is often a media reinforced message that people from the Midwest are just not as glamorous, sophisticated, or as smart as people who grew up on the coast with more modern schools and access to globally recognized cultural institutions. However, this is simply not the case. When it comes to education, the coasts do have an advantage but there are plenty of quality institutions in the middle of the country as well. There is a cultural heritage as well that is as vibrant as the Mississippi at its widest point, dramatic architecture reaching for the…