Excerpts from the August Harper's Index (not yet on-line):
• Chance that an American believes the country is still in a recession or depression: 1 in 2
• Percentage change in the number of [heterosexual] unmarried cohabitating couples in the United States between 2000 and 2010: +97
• Number of Americans serving life without parole for crimes they committed when they were 14 or younger: 73
• Estimated percentage of the U.S. college class of 2011 who are moving back home after graduation: 85
• Chance that a student in Berlin "could imagine doing sex work" to pay for school: 1 in 3
• Average hourly rate he or she imagines charging: $1300
• Percentage decrease in tweets by U.S. elected officials in the week following "Weinergate": 28
• Average percentage by which the French overestimate the Jewish population of France: 655
At Daily Kos on this date in 2007:
For those on both the east and west coasts, it must be galling when the Midwest is referred to as "the heartland." After all, the coasts are far more populous, and a good case could be made that the American character owes more to the changing mix of Brooklyn, than all the tree lined streets of all the tiny towns scattered over Indiana, or Ohio, or Iowa.
But those Midwestern small towns define a certain idea of America. Those are the towns that were home to Mr. Smith, and yes, to Mr. Lincoln. From a distance, there's an impression of stability, and an impression of monotony. Of church socials, mushroom soup casseroles, and parking lots filled with F-150 pickups. But the timelessness of those places is generated more by the scarcity of images than it is by reality. It's as if the national media took a photo "Middle America, circa 1960" and has used the same image ever since.
Having grown up in a small town, I can tell you that they're not islands of stability in the national stream. They're leaves on the wind. A single plant closing, or a few bad crops, or even the placement of a new highway, can tear a town up by its roots. Towns that grew up over lifetimes, can be brought low by one disaster.
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