“Small towns are where the true Americans live.”
“80% of us moved away from small towns.”
[feigning offense] “But small towns are the source of our traditional values!”
“You cannot fool me. Meth is not a small town value. It is a drug.”
Recent comments
- 160serpentinegmailcom on An open letter from the populists of the 1890s to the populists of today
- 160serpentinegmailcom on Trumpism, local and global
- eric on A wreck by any other name: on the inadequacy of “Great Recession”
- Brad DeLong on A wreck by any other name: on the inadequacy of “Great Recession”
- Alex on Hitchens minor on the English and their history
- David in San Jose on Trump, populism, Hofstadter, Heer.
- eric on What does Paul Campos know that the Public Policy Institute of California does not?
- ari on What does Paul Campos know that the Public Policy Institute of California does not?
- eric on Keeping a finger on gold
- ari on Keeping a finger on gold
- kevin on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- eric on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- ari on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- eric on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- eric on A life well lived!
This is officially an award-winning blog
Archives
- September 2021
- July 2017
- April 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- August 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- January 2013
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- May 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
The Edge of the American West 
13 comments
October 13, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Levi Stahl
“Meth is not a small-town value.”
Depends on how much you pay for it!
October 13, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Drew Robertson
Levi is right. You get much better value for your meth buck in San Diego or the Central Valley that the Heartland. Yolo County ain’t bad.
October 13, 2008 at 1:59 pm
expat lumberjack
buy meth low in small towns, sell it high in the big cities. capitalism is a true american value.
October 13, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Vance
Did you literally hear these spoken? The first in particular. (I’d add the third, but “feigning” suggests you don’t think the speaker was serious.)
I’ve never heard this stuff spoken sincerely out loud. But then my people come from cities. Well, two of my grandparents were born in small towns, but one of those grew up in San Francisco and the other in Sausalito, well within the SF vortex even before the bridge went up. (They looked down on the rubes who lived in Godforsaken spots like Bolinas.)
October 13, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Ben Alpers
But then my people come from cities.
And of course you are a Maverick!
October 13, 2008 at 2:42 pm
urbino
Major: “Small towns are where the true Americans live.”
Minor: “80% of us moved away from small towns.”
Conclusion: 80% of us hate America.
October 13, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Vance
Well, the ancestor who gave our name to the language was not exactly from a small town either. A Yalie, class of 1823, I think — then some time on the frontier, mainly spent acquiring property while living in San Antonio.
I think I’ve never known anyone who voluntarily lived in a small town as an adult. Midwestern college towns don’t count, clearly. (And neither does the later incarnation of Bolinas as an outpost of Bohemia.)
October 13, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Vance
I take that back — S.A. Maverick was born in Pendleton, SC, but abandoned his virtuous smalltown ways when he went off to New Haven.
October 13, 2008 at 2:54 pm
dana
Did you literally hear these spoken? The first in particular.
Yes, the first was tongue-in-cheek, too.
October 13, 2008 at 3:42 pm
kid bitzer
somebody splain me this.
today, the candidate who is down by double-digits in national polls said:
“My friends, we’ve got them where we want them”.
and the history blog has not provided the obligatory video clip of the black knight.
splain me this.
and don’t tell me that not everything that is obligatory is optimific,
because that would be true.
October 13, 2008 at 3:47 pm
urbino
The Black Knight isn’t a Muppet.
October 13, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Chris
Vance, I voluntarily and happily moved from Denver to a small (pop. 15,000) town in the Four Corners area, where CO/UT/NM/AZ meet. I’ve worked like crazy to stay here, too.
Of course, I’m post-geographical. I’ve been telecommuting for two different CA software companies for the last 3 years, and for a year or so before that was physically commuting via airplane, first to Calgary, then to Madison WI.
October 13, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Chris
And before I go, let me also quote Kent Beck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Beck) on the extremeprogramming mail list (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/extremeprogramming/message/119091):
“In my case, I want to live in paradise and no one else seems to want to (although, if you all did, it wouldn’t be paradise any more). Working together remotely is much better than not working together at all.”