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Any insight into the dislike of California and/or Californians? (I've noticed that too while visiting the Midwest.) Your eighth point about stereotyping of the

by wj 15y ago

Any insight into the dislike of California and/or Californians? (I've noticed that too while visiting the Midwest.) Your eighth point about stereotyping of the Midwest seems to be what people are doing about California. A slight replacement to your sentence "California is an enormous geographical area, full of enormously different people. To paint the midwest with a single brush is incredibly ignorant and patronizing." California is mostly agricultural land. It has some large cities on the coast. Los Angeles is one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. with wonderful cultural pockets all over the place (Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Ethopia, Little Tehran, Little Osaka, etc.) Also, a lot of people's travel is predicated on a need to travel somewhere. If you don't have family in a place, or do a school trip there, or business trip when you're older, there is a good chance they won't vacation there.

saalweachter 15y ago
It's mainly sour grapes. California has ascended while the Midwest has declined. On the farm front, there was a bit of a migration of second sons from the Midwest to California in the 50's, I believe. Some of those who left (abandoning their Midwest roots, traitors) became rich; some of those who stayed became poor. The poor cousins on the family homestead in Minnesota or Indiana look at the rich cousins on new farms in California and say, we wouldn't want to live there anyway. Economically, in the last thirty years the Midwest has turned into the Rust Belt, while California has become Silicon Valley. More resentment builds. On the wine front, the Ohio River Valley was once wine country, centered around Cincinnati, perched to rival the Rhine. Now it's all Napa, Napa, Napa. But hey, at least in the Midwest you don't have to put up with _Californians_.
- angersock 15y ago
  Hey, how's that state budget doing (http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/bud/fiscal_outlook/fiscal_outlook_2010.aspx http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/bud/fiscal_outlook/fiscal...)? And those friendly gun laws? And quality police force?
joezydeco 15y ago
My gut take (as a lifelong Chicagoan) is that Californians, after being there long enough, believe in the bullshit they're selling and tolerate it from others as well. Chicagoans tend to develop and groom BS filters throughout their lives and will either a) ignore it or b) call it out right away. Perhaps this is why Californians can get away with the bluesky radical ideas and Chicagoans are more about "Okay, great. Now how are we gonna make money with it?"

by wj 15y ago

saalweachter 15y ago

It's mainly sour grapes. California has ascended while the Midwest has declined. On the farm front, there was a bit of a migration of second sons from the Midwest to California in the 50's, I believe. Some of those who left (abandoning their Midwest roots, traitors) became rich; some of those who stayed became poor. The poor cousins on the family homestead in Minnesota or Indiana look at the rich cousins on new farms in California and say, we wouldn't want to live there anyway. Economically, in the last thirty years the Midwest has turned into the Rust Belt, while California has become Silicon Valley. More resentment builds. On the wine front, the Ohio River Valley was once wine country, centered around Cincinnati, perched to rival the Rhine. Now it's all Napa, Napa, Napa. But hey, at least in the Midwest you don't have to put up with _Californians_.

angersock 15y ago
Hey, how's that state budget doing (http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/bud/fiscal_outlook/fiscal_outlook_2010.aspx http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/bud/fiscal_outlook/fiscal...)? And those friendly gun laws? And quality police force?

joezydeco 15y ago

My gut take (as a lifelong Chicagoan) is that Californians, after being there long enough, believe in the bullshit they're selling and tolerate it from others as well. Chicagoans tend to develop and groom BS filters throughout their lives and will either a) ignore it or b) call it out right away. Perhaps this is why Californians can get away with the bluesky radical ideas and Chicagoans are more about "Okay, great. Now how are we gonna make money with it?"