Thanks to State 29 for pointing out this editorial in the Daily Iowan about perceptions of Iowans.
Unfortunately, this drivel is all too common in Iowa. Often in Des Moines, the political discussion turns to questions of what will make Des Moines a “real city”. A new arena? A new hockey team? How about an upscale mall? A trendy urban area? Don’t forget to remind people about how important we are to the insurance industry.
And in Iowa, people are always fretting over outsider misconceptions of Iowans. “Gosh, I hope people don’t think we’re all farmers.” “Don’t people know that Maytag and Pella and Winnebago are based here?”
The real difference between Iowa and other states is that other states have enough self-confidence to not worry about what everybody else thinks. People from Chicago don’t say, “Gosh, I hope people don’t think we are all union-affiliated liberals.” Washingtonians don’t tell you to stop picking on them about their crack-smoking mayor.
Iowa is a state. There is no danger of us getting annexed by Minnesota or Illinois. And Des Moines is a city. You don’t need anything more than the 200,000 people in the city and the 480,000 people living in the metro area to confirm that.
Quit worrying about what others think. Focus on what the people in the state want – not perceptions of out-of-staters.