Well does it?
Recently a friend sent me a remarkable video. He’d been up noodling around on the internet at 2:00 A.M. Which of us haven’t been there? He wasn’t even sure how he came across it. Is this not everyman in the age of the web?
When I watched it I was taken aback at the raw honesty. It was also hilarious. The honesty came from the comments of the YouTube channel “Escape from Meannesota” as well as the content itself.
When you load the video you read
Characteristics of Meannesota:
Malignant narcissism
Passive-aggressiveness
Pathological lying & deceit
Avoidance of conflict
Blaming the victim
Moral Superiority
All this before the video has played. The comments read in the first five minutes strip the bark off of “Minnesota nice,” something I’ve previously characterized as poison.
Commentator Michele says:
“Minnesota is by far the nation’s biggest s***hole. The natives are a bunch of backwards, poorly dressed, cheap bastards who are under the impression that not having the guts to actually look someone in the eye and tell them the truth somehow qualifies as nice.”
Commentator Kyle says:
“F Minnesota. It’s a craphole, full of north necks. I don’t care about what some poll said because there are dozens of other polls that disagree. Ranked by Game Cranium? That’s supposed to mean something? The food sucks, the women are ugly and overweight, the dating scene is horrible, the people are not friendly, the roads are the worst I’ve ever driven on. The list goes on and on. Minnesota needs to wise the F up!”
A woman born and raised in the Twin Cities adds:
“The people are spineless, afraid of spice, phony nice, afraid to venture out of their comfort zones. Clannish, snobbish, self-righteous, boring.”
A guy calling himself “Chef” opens the bomb bay doors:
“Unbelievable. I’ve been having such a difficult time in the Twin Cities. I moved here one year ago. I’m a chef. I grew up in New Orleans. I’ve lived in Munich and New York. I’ve traveled to over 32 countries and have seen most of the USA. Minnesota wins the prize. It is the absolute worst place on earth (even Moscow in the winter is better).
The people are xenophobic, socially inept, passive-aggressive, petty, rude, lacking in style and grace, narrow minded and yet completely delusional about how great they are. They create standards by which they wish to be graded and then grade themselves accordingly, giving themselves grade A, naturally. In short, Minnesotans suffer from cerebral atrophy.”
Phew, lads.
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The creator of this YouTube channel goes on to note that not all Minnesotans fit these acid descriptions. In his view, only three or four of out of five. Yikes. I can’t find the website he claims to have and many of his other videos are rather dark. On a serious note, if anyone happens to know this person it would be good if we could support him in some way, as his personal circumstances appear dire. That is, if he’s still in Minnesota.
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When you Google “Minnesota sucks” you’ll find related searches at the bottom. These include such gems as: bad facts about Minnesota, Minnesotans are weird, why not to move to Minneapolis, why are Minnesotans so rude, Minnesotans are unfriendly and Minnesota nice.
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I spend too much time on Twitter following these things, this incessant, mindless praise of Minnesota. I don’t even think it’s self-reinforcing. It’s the many saying the same shapeless bromide all at the same time. That’s what makes it creepy: it’s not organized, it’s spontaneous.
But the cheerleading is real, pervasive and ghastly. You see it on all points of the political spectrum. The smaller, the more inconsequential the subject, the more the insecure boosters of all things Minnesota latch onto it. For days people were talking about, preening, affecting moral outrage over . . . grape salad. While I have a good imagination, I promise you I’m not making it up. I’d explain the faux controversy but even thinking about it irritates me. Only Andrew Zimmern could be a big deal in the “food scene” in the insecure Twin Cities, mostly Minneapolis. To think that he truly knows anything about food is to confuse television with reality. Many do, of course, especially in Minnesota.
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The determined refusal of Minnesotans to see things as they are instead of what they want them to be has serious consequences. This is especially true of its media, political and “cultural” elites. Problems in dire need of attention go begging because some local government group gave an invented, worthless award to another government entity and people celebrate the state’s greatness. Media does this with itself, as do teachers, lobbyists and others. In a real, genuine sense, this mindset is pathological.
The Twin Cities continue to decay at an alarming rate but rather than face problems, civic and other “leaders” will praise endlessly another bike path, the opening of yet another mediocre burger joint or some equally inconsequential development. Routinely, a friend dryly remarks on Twitter after yet another stabbing, rape, robbery or the occasional terrorist attack, “Detroit on the Mississippi.”
That’s exactly right. The high schools here are abysmal to the point of criminality. Lousy public school teachers–and administrators–remain in place while the graduation conveyor belt of uneducated, ignorant, sub-literate students never slows. Now let’s herd them out into the open for another far left, social justice nonsense cause. What business wants to hire this rabble? Of course, business isn’t exactly doing well in Minnesota because shut up they explained.
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The universal response when faced with observations about Minnesota that are less than glowing is to tell that person if they don’t like it here, “find another state.” This denial ensures the continuation of mediocrity at best, decline at worst. The person pointing out the problem becomes the problem, not the actual problem being pointed out. The dominant Minnesota culture refuses to let in any information contrary to their reflexive cheerleading.
Minnesota’s politics are constipated. Rote, tiresome, set-pieces, reruns galore. In fundamental ways, nothing ever changes in Minnesota politics. That’s why it’s so boring.
So does Minnesota suck? You tell me.
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In addition to Alpha News, John Gilmore is also a contributor to The Hill. He is the founder and executive director of Minnesota Media Monitor.™ He blogs at MinnesotaConservatives.org and is on Twitter under @Shabbosgoy. He can be reached at Wbua@nycunarjfza.pbz.
John Gilmore
John Gilmore is an author, freelance writer & former opinion columnist for Alpha News. He blogs at minnesotaconservatives.org & is @Shabbosgoy on Twitter
