Will people in Ohio, Western PA, ever stop talking about the “glory days” when they dominated mid-20th century industry? They haven’t innovated in 50 years and are stuck in the past!

This post is why Trump won and will win again. So disillusioned from 80% of the country

I hate that elitist opinions like these are so prevailing in consulting. Not everyone has economic mobility to move to a better career/life.

If I was born and stuck in those conditions then yes, I'd certainly reminisce about the times when it embodied the American dream.

No you and OP sound like you have a problem with people who chose to work with their hands for a living

PWC2 you beat me to it ❤️

My grandfather, father, and uncles were all steel workers. I graduated from a fantastic university in Pittsburgh, a city that has re-branded itself from a rust belt city to a technology/biomedical/robotics hub. I am also a consultant and a proud liberal. You and all the others who support your elitist, narrow-minded, and short-sighted world view can get bent. Jagoffs.

Oh, I forgot. I am from a grandfather who was a sharecropper in the south, my dad became an electrician in Ohio and I am at IBM even though I grew up in the inner city. So there is progress in regular folk too!

C2 - Defending people and their jobs doesn’t mean I “look up to them” or want their job. It means I’m not an asshole and can respect them and the role they play in a functioning society. Keep trying.

This whole thread is full of coastal dickweeds who have no idea about what’s happening In the Midwest. Let them be ignorant. They aren’t responding to actual feedback. Hope your clients have the same mercy

D1, have you been to Indiana? Just was on a project there, does not sound like Indiana

I could say the same about the inner city. So sad that they can’t just get off their asses and find good jobs. So much opportunity knocking at the door. Sad

I’m simply trying to illustrate the hypocrisy in the Original statement.

Don't lump northeastern Ohio in that mix. Those are down to earth good people

OP yeah my dad worked In a steel mill and I’m a consultant. What’s the problem?

You won’t find such kind and outspoken people elsewhere, Yeah it’s gonna take 5-10 years to boom but yeah 5 out off Top 20 cities selected by Amazon are from MidWest region! And for folks from East or West coast you gotta stay or move to mid west region to experience their lives and enjoy the luxury of living at a Mansion 🏡 instead of an apartment near Times Square or Bay Area!!

“and think opioids will solve their problems”

OP is just trying to fire people up now. This can’t actually be a real thought/opinion.

Wow, that escalated quickly.

There are definitely pockets of excellence and innovation all over the MidWest (and the so called flyover states). Pittsburgh, Columbus, Chicago and a few more. But that doesn’t mean that everyone in these cities is equally innovative. The ones succeeding in these cities are the highly educated minority, not the masses.

The majority of people in these states either once worked in factories or mines or are farmers. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Times change, technologies change. As the OP pointed out, what was once the source of staple income for a large percentage of individuals is gone and is not coming back. There is no easy fix to this. Turning millions of blue collar workers and their families to white collar jobs within the span of a generation is unfeasible - for monetary and mindset reasons. This is a very hard problem to solve and there aren’t easy answers.

But to support the OP in what he said, complaining ain’t bringing it back. Neither is this administrations misguided protectionist policies

Strategy& - I think most people understand that but OP and others who made inflammatory statements don’t care about the why. This thread was not presented from a viewpoint of understanding but as an opportunity to look down on people they view as less than. It’s evident from the language and manner in which their opinion was presented and that is what people are reacting to.

If people like OP continue to act as if it is ok to tear down people from these flyover towns and cities, we will 100% see 4 more years of this administration.

Just to be clear, I don’t think political lines should necessarily be drawn related to this post. I consider myself a moderate conservative and still adamantly disagree with many of the sweeping generalizations. That being said, I didn’t vote for trump. But if we’re going to criticize OP and others for their generalizations, let’s not do the same regarding political views or “elitists.” The fact of the matter is some of these comments are very close-minded, assumptions not based in fact... any anyone can be an asshole. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have a simple answer... GTFO OP if you hate the people you’re around.

SC1 - it actually is elitist to think it’s “soooooo easy” for people to pick up and move with no skills and no money. You’re talking about individuals who’s identities are tied to the area they live because, for many, their families have lived there for literally hundreds of years.

It’s also elitist to think that “working with your hands in a digital age is not hard to look down on”. Like, are you serious? Someone has to be the garbage man, the plumber, the electrician, the repair man, etc. Not every job is automated.

There are a lot of assumptions that these people are stupid and that they don’t know their jobs aren’t coming back. However, if someone tries to sell them the idea that their life will return to “the way it was”, they are going to latch on to it.

And if you think talk of the past is limited to the Midwest, you need to get out of your bubble. You think people who have lived in a particular city neighborhood their entire lives and are now being priced out because of gentrification don’t pine for the old days?

Well said Booz

Wish Europe would do the same.