. . . because much of the content relates both to Washington, D.C., and "outside the beltway" -- the heartland, specifically Iowa -- and because after going from Iowa to Washington via Texas and California I subsequently returned, From DC 2 Iowa.
Manipulating Us Into Buying Poor Quality Products We Don't Need, With Money We Don't Have, To Impress People We Don't Like
It's Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, 2012. "Only a game"? You've got to be kidding. It's the top rated TV show of the year; an advertiser's dream -- albeit an expensive one, at $3.5-4 million per 30-second message.
Indeed, our acceptance of advertising is now such that there is almost as much interest among some TV watchers in the ads as in the game.
Put "Super Bowl commercials 2012" into Google and up pop 2.2 million links to Web sites.
When I was a kid you could earn money by walking around town carrying advertising boards front and back. The companies paid you to advertise their products. Today's kids stand in line, willingly paying the companies extra, for the privilege of possessing goods carrying the companies' logos.
Shirts, pants, shoes, hats, drinking cups, backpacks are sought, and proudly worn or carried, because of the ads.
Advertising has entered the schools, from the ill-fated TV commercials on "Channel One," to wall posters, to event programs, to scoreboards. Colleges find no conflict in forbidding athletes to bet on games, while running ads for gambling casinos on the scoreboard; or bemoaning students' binge drinking, while profiting from the beer ads during those televised games. I have a law school colleague who has jokingly suggested we use advertising revenue to reduce tuition by including, say, a "Microsoft Minute" at the beginning of each class period. (I suspect that some day it will no longer be considered a joke.)
It's still possible to be paid for wearing advertising -- if you're a NASCAR driver . . .
. . . , or a college football or basketball coach who can put a Nike swish on every player's uniform.
There are even those, among whom I have included myself on occasion, who believe that public officials should not only be permitted, but required, to wear the corporate logos of those who fund their campaigns. Not everyone bothers to read, let alone understand, campaign contribution disclosure reports. A more meaningful form of "public disclosure," immediately apparent when they appear on television or at public events, would be to require of them the same honest disclosure that NASCAR drivers impose on themselves -- like this:
With the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and other opinions appearing to take the corporate view of things, some (not I) have even advocated this approach for the justices:
While not exactly the same thing, the Oklahoma legislature has taken a rather permanent step in this direction, with corporate sponsorship of the entire state capitol building.A couple I know -- whose known hobbies include biking across the country, world championship poker playing, high class public service, and European travel -- also include a nearly-completed goal of visiting every state capital in the 50 states. A recent trip included Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma State Capitol building -- and its backyard oil well.
Much to their surprise and mine, inside the dome, around the base, are inscribed the names of the corporations that hold up the building (and perhaps its occupants and the taxpayers as well).
The only name on display in this picture is "Hobby Lobby Stores" (no pun intended), but I was assured the names continue around the entire base.
If it's worth $3.5-4 million for a 30-second commercial on a super bowl game, imagine what it would be worth to have your corporation's name enshrined forever inside the capitol dome of the national capitol building in Washington -- or even your state capitol building. Future generations of visiting school children and your potential customers could look upwards toward the heavens, see your name and logo, and give thanks for what you've contributed to making ours the best government money can buy.
Both the Press-Citizen and Gazette (and possibly Daily Iowan to come) have stories about Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta's meeting with faculty leaders yesterday. The differences in the stories are striking.
The Press-Citizen's story, buried in small print at the bottom of page 3 leads with the report that Barta "defended the departments hiring practices and coaches' salaries" (the exclusive subject matter of the entire story). Emily Schettler, "Barta Defends Coaches' Salaries and Iowa's Hiring Practices,"Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 25, 2012, p. 3.
The Gazette, by contrast, in heavy type at the top of the page, leads with "Barta on Tuesday [Jan. 24] told faculty leaders he is comfortable with the department's renewed relationship with the Iowa Lottery" (the exclusive subject matter of the Gazette's entire story). Diane Heldt, "Barta: I'm Comfortable with Lottery Relationship," The Gazette, January 25, 2012, p. 11A.
I guess you had to be there. (Which is probably the case of anyone's report of any event.)
Barta says he's "comfortable" with the Iowa Lottery "because it's a state-sponsored agency." Is that relevant? Should it be? During my first judicial clerkship (U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit) a significant part of our caseload involved what was then called "the numbers racket," often Mafia-run, it was considered a serious crime. So, OK, now the state has taken it over. Does that make it, for NCAA student-athlete purposes, not gambling? I don't think so.
But what really caught my eye in Ms. Heldt's report was, "Barta said any relationships the department has with the gambling industry are limited to the Iowa Lottery . . .." [Photo of Kinnick scoreboard.]
Why did that catch my eye? Because the last time I checked (so it may have changed), the Kinnick scoreboard was still running an advertisement for the Riverside gambling casino, and the casino still had a Kinnick skybox for its high rollers.
And my memory, and a prior blog entry, indicate that the NCAA at one time put the Iowa athletic program on notice that it did not look favorably on these gambling industry associations, in light of the concerns and spirit of Article 10.3. ("The NCAA wants to distance itself from sports gambling, and the gambling industry generally, in every way possible. It expressly forbids association with gambling casinos at NCAA events or in its advertising. It highly recommends that NCAA schools follow the same practice. It has written the UI athletic program with regard to its partnership with the Riverside Gambling Casino. And yet our football program tries to rationalize the gambling partnership while refusing to do anything about it." "Conflicts, Cover-ups and Corruption," June 26, 2007.)
I very seldom reprint a former blog entry. But since this one is so on point, and since it's over five years old (and therefore long forgotten if ever remembered), I now do so:
Is the University of Iowa Athletic Department, specifically the football program, promoting gambling?
There is very little ambiguity regarding the NCAA's rules regarding gambling on college sports. The NCAA Division I Manual provides [Note Jan. 25, 2012: What's below is the relevant Article 10.3 in 2006; the current, 2007 version, has been only slightly modified from this one.]:
10.3 GAMBLING ACTIVITIES
Staff members of a member conference, staff members of the athletics department of a member institution and student-athletes shall not knowingly: (Revised: 4/22/98 effective 8/1/98)
( a ) Provide information to individuals involved in organized gambling activities concerning intercollegiate athletics competition; ( b ) Solicit a bet on any intercollegiate team; ( c ) Accept a bet on any team representing the institution; ( d ) Solicit or accept a bet on any intercollegiate competition for any item (e.g., cash, shirt, dinner) that has tangible value; or (Revised: 9/15/97) ( e ) Participate in any gambling activity that involves intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling. (Revised: 1/9/96, 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97)
It couldn't be much clearer, could it? Academic institutions are able to claim that they want to maintain an impenetrable wall between their athletic programs, staff and student athletes, on the one hand, and the temptations of sports gambling on the other.
Of course, these standards do not address, nor could they, gambling on sports by those unaffiliated with a university. (And I am not claiming that the Universty's getting in bed with gambling interests, and taking the gambling industry's money, is "the same as" coaches and athletes betting on games.)
But it does seem a bit incongruous for the University's athletic program to enter into what amounts to a partnership with the gambling industry. How has it done that?
The University has (1) sold special indoor box facilities in the football stadium to a local gambling casino, aware that the casino purchased the facility to entertain, and encourage, high rollers, (2) knowing that the casino plans to bring gamblers into the state, put them up at its hotel, transport them to and from the football games, and (3) then agreed to let the casino use the football program's oversized electronic scoreboard to advertise the gambling casino to the 70,000 plus sports fans in attendance! (4) Removing any possible ambiguity about this, the Casino Web site's opening page currently displays, "Turn a Hawkeye game day into a weekend getaway!" See William Petroski, "E. Iowa Casino to Lure U of I Fans; It will offer post-game parties, stadium shuttles,"Des Moines Register, August 29, 2006 ("The casino has spent $165,000 for a three-year deal to lease a new skybox at Kinnick Stadium, and the casino has purchased dozens of football tickets for its preferred customers. Starting with the Iowa-Iowa State game on Sept. 16, charter buses will be offered to transport patrons between the casino parking lot and Kinnick Stadium, and there will be post-game parties at the Riverside complex."), and William Petroski, "Kinnick ‘Hotel’ ad omits 'Casino;' By design, an ad for Riverside's complex does not mention gambling,"Des Moines Register, September 8, 2006 ("Chief Executive Officer Dan Kehl pointed out in a recent interview that . . . many students already gamble online.").
The duplicity is stunning. Apparently the University, recognizing the impropriety of what it was doing, but wanting the money from the gambling industry advertising anyway, decided everything would be OK if only it would falsely represent that no gambling actually takes place in a gambling casino by changing the name on its scoreboard from the gambling casino's real name -- the "Riverside Casino & Golf Resort" -- to that of a non-existant facility called the "Riverside Hotel & Golf Resort."
While I suspect that few of the 70,000 fans were led to believe that the Casino had truly decided to abandon gambling income for total dependence on its hotel business, there may well have been a few who found the name switch a little bizarre and baffling.
Not only does a university's promoting gambling to the young students in its charge violate basic principles of common sense and decency, it also violates the spirit of the law (which forbids anyone under the age of 21 to enter a gambling casino), and the spirit of the NCAA rules.
(Another incongruity is that while the University forbids consumption of alcohol in the stadium and some tailgating areas, a special dispensation to drink is granted to the Casino's stadium gamblers, as well as the guests of other purchasers of the $50,000-plus-a-year indoor skyboxes. There's no telling what lesson that provides the students in the stands and the athletes on the field.)
The University is certainly in no position to feign ignorance and innocence. As early as May 2006 the campus paper reported,
"[Riverside Casino Manager Joe] Massa has hired a sales manager to lure groups and conventions to the casino, and he plans to hire a sales staff in Chicago and Des Moines. A package could include a hotel stay with a trip to Kinnick Stadium for tailgating and box seats at an Iowa football game. Kehl says he wants to organize junkets to the casino, where out-of-state gamblers would be flown into the Eastern Iowa Airport."
What has the University had to say about all of this?
"University of Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said Tuesday that the university would not place restrictions on a Riverside casino that has rented a Kinnick Stadium skybox with plans to bring big gamblers to Hawkeye football games.
“'We have never placed any restrictions on a company which owns tickets, how they use them secondarily,' Barta said. 'Once they are sold to a company, it is that individual’s or that company’s discretion how they use them.'
"The new $140 million casino at Riverside is placing a special marketing emphasis on Hawkeye football games. The casino, located 12 miles south of Iowa City, has spent $165,000 for a three-year lease on a skybox at Kinnick Stadium. The casino has also purchased dozens of Hawkeye football tickets for its preferred guests.
"Iowa has 19 casinos, but the opening of the Riverside complex Thursday at 9 p.m. marks the first time a casino has been so close to one of Iowa’s three state universities.
"Barta said the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the U of I are 'very concerned about possible ill effects as they relate to gambling and intercollegiate athletics.'
"He added, 'On the other hand, the various casinos in this state, they are legal businesses. So you walk that fine line between your concern about gambling and its association with intercollegiate athletics and what you know has been understood as a legal entity in this state.'"
"San Francisco 49ers fans, how much would you pay to own a seat on the 50-yard line at the team's sparkling new stadium in Santa Clara? Try $80,000. And if you're looking for single tickets and want primo seats, you'll have to pay almost triple what it costs for a comparable view of the football action at Candlestick Park." Mike Rosenberg, "Club tickets won't come cheap at Santa Clara 49ers stadium,"San Jose Mercury News," January 10, 2012. [Photo credit: NFL.] "This is what $1 billion looks like."
Of course, just because you own the seat doesn't mean you can actually sit in it and watch the 49ers play football. No, for that you'll need a $3750 season ticket. And if you want to take someone with you you'll need two seats and two season tickets.
We're not talking skyboxes here. Just a seat, out in the open, braving the elements. Before those tickets even went on sale a wealthier class of fans had already purchased $225 million worth of "luxury suites." No, we're just talking ordinary ticket holders, couples who think three hours or so watching football well worth the $750 for their tickets.
From "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs" ("Killing The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs is among the best known of Aesop's Fables [and] has become idiomatic of an unprofitable action motivated by greed") to the "housing bubble" ("an economic bubble affecting . . . over half of American states. Housing prices peaked in early 2006 . . . and may not yet [2011] have hit bottom . . ..") there comes a time when things peak and begin their decline.
In fact, not that far from Santa Clara are those who remember Silicon Valley's "dot-com bubble" of the late 1990s ("A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics such as P/E ratio in favor of confidence in technological advancements").
One of the most serious "peak" phenomena is the prospect of declining oil supply (at prices the market can bear), known as "peak oil." Nick A. Owen, Oliver R. Inderwildi, David A. King, "The Status of Conventional World Oil Reserves--Hype or Cause for Concern?" Energy Policy, vol. 38, August 2010, pp. 4743-49 ("While there is certainly vast amounts of fossil fuel resources left in the gound, the volume of oil that can be commercially exploited at prices the global economy has become accustomed to is limited and will soon decline. The result is that oil may soon shift from a demand-led market to a supply constrained market."), and the more general essay, "Peak Oil," Wikipedia.org ("Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline.")
Is it possible that we could be reaching "peak football"?
The NFL's first TV contract paid the League $4.65 million in 1962. By 2010 the clubs earned over $20 billion -- 4000 times as much. Major college sports now gross $5.6 billion (over half from football), and the Iowa Hawkeyes' football coach, at $4 million give or take, is the state's highest paid "employee." Weiler, Roberts, Abrams & Ross, Sports and the Law (4th ed. 2011), pp. 434, 746.
Taxpayers are becoming increasingly reluctant to underwrite the cost of billion-dollar stadiums they cannot afford to enter, just to increase the profits of the billionaires who own the teams, and the millionaires who play the game. (This one will require the city's taxpayers to take out an $850 million loan to cover most of the construction costs.) Lisa Fernandez, "Santa Clara: Group says it has enough signatures to force vote on 49ers stadium loan,"San Jose Mercury News, January 18, 2012.
With the NFL playoffs coming tomorrow, this may not be the best of times to raise the issue, and peak football may be a decade or more away. But everything seems to have its "peak," and it's unlikely football will be the last exception left standing.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that, unless we start building a lot more rapid rail than is likely, we wouldn't have been able to find the gas to drive to those stadiums anyway -- even if we could afford to pay the tariff to sit in our $80,000 seats.
# # #
Every once in awhile, after I've written and posted a blog essay with what is for me an original idea (that is, though others have undoubtedly thought it, I am unaware that they have), along comes someone who makes me think I may not be nuts after all. Here's yet another example:
"Football is dead in America. . . . [I]t's not the lawyers who are the death of football. Blaming lawyers misses the point. Like their counterparts in nature, lawyers are merely the cleanup crew. What finishes football are the parents of future football players. The NFL desperately needs American parents. Not as fans, but as suppliers of young flesh. The NFL needs parents to send their little boys into the football feeder system. And without that supply of meat for the NFL grinder — first youth teams, then high school and college — there can be no professional football. And yet every day, more American parents decide they're finished with football. Why? Because parents can no longer avoid the fact that football scrambles the human brain. In cultural terms, parents who send their 10-year-olds to play football might as well hold up signs saying they'd like to give their children cigarettes and whiskey." John Kass, "American Football Industry is on its Deathbed; As the dangers of football become more well-known, parents are less likely to allow their children to take part in the high-impact sport,"Chicago Tribune, April 24, 2013.
January 18, 2012, 5:00 a.m.; added item January 22.
Connecting the Dots Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows that the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That's how it goes Everybody knows
Everybody knows our political process, and thus ultimately our government, is corrupted with the influence of money. (See, "More Support for Going Communist Than Congress," November 16, 2011.) Sometimes it's illegal bribery. More often it's perfectly legal "campaign contributions." As I've often said, "The problem is not so much that corporations violate the law. It's that they write the law."
There's no little pill we can take to solve this problem. Even if there were, Big Pharma would patent it and then raise the price beyond the ability of any but the top 1% to pay for it. And those folks would have no reason to take it. They are not suffering from this political disease; they're profiting from it.
What we can do, by way of baby steps toward a solution, is to publicize the data that will enable the media and the people to connect the dots. We need to see, not just that politicians get money from special interests, not just that government largess tends to be squandered on those least in need of it. We need to see the unmistakable direct connection between the contributions and the return on that "investment."
Fifteen years ago I wrote a column in the Des Moines Register making this connection. A little research disclosed the "rate of return" on political "contributions." It turned out to be 1000 to one. That is, those who gave $1 million (say, in soft money for a political party's national convention) could expect to receive $1 billion in return. This online reproduction of that column actually provides the footnotes of verification: Nicholas Johnson, "Campaigns: You Pay $4 or $4000," Des Moines Register, July 21, 1996, p. C2. (The "$4 or $4000" reference was the contrast between what citizens would pay for public financing of campaigns ($4 each) compared with the additional amounts we have to pay as consumers and taxpayers when they are funded by corporations and the wealthy ($4000).)
Earlier that year this blog commented, "Unfortunately, . . . investigative reporting of money in Iowa politics and governing is all too rare. Occasionally there will be stories regarding which legislators have raised how much money. There may even be a reference to where some of that money came from. Very rarely is there an effort to investigate the extent to which there is a relationship between the sources of campaign funds and the votes of the recipients -- let alone a routine reporting of these relationships for every single member of the Iowa legislature." Nicholas Johnson, "Golden Rules & Revolutions: A Series, Part VIII: Money and Lobbyists in Iowa: Smoke and Mirrors," April 19, 2008.
This was an extraordinary bit of research and reporting, certainly warranting another "Hat's Off" for the Register and, in this instance, Lee Rood.
But while the nursing home story concentrated on receipt of campaign contributions, Rood's story concentrates on the distribution of taxpayers' money to the wealthy.
We have still not connected the dots. We need to know not only how much legislators receive in "contributions" (and from whom), we need to know not only how much they give away (and to whom). We need to know the relationship between what each individual legislator (or member of Congress) received from a given special interest (or its lobbyists) and how that individual legislator voted on the subsequent largess to that contributor.
By Monday [Jan. 16] we finally had an example of what I've been calling for. The New York Times focused on former Senator Rick Santorum, now a candidate for president in the Republican primaries. Michael Luo and Mike McIntire, "Donors Gave as Santorum Won Earmarks," New York Times, January 16, 2012, p. A1.
As Luo and McIntire report, "The announcements flowed out of Rick Santorum’s Senate office: a $3.5 million federal grant to Piasecki Aircraft to help it test a new helicopter propeller technology; another $3.5 million to JLG Industries to bolster its bid to build all-terrain forklifts for the military; $1.4 million to Medico Industries to upgrade equipment for its munitions work. . . . A review of some of his earmarks, viewed alongside his political donations, suggests that the river of federal money Mr. Santorum helped direct to Pennsylvania paid off handsomely in the form of campaign cash."
That's what I mean.
It's hard work connecting those dots. Those who have such information are reluctant to share it. But our democracy demands no less -- from the media, the academic and research communities, the government, indeed all of us.
As my favorite school superintendent's wall sign had it: "In God we trust; all others must bring data" (attributed to W. Edwards Deming).
In short, it's not enough that "everybody knows."
Without data, without connecting the dots, what everybody knows is unlikely to ever become what everybody does.
Olivia White, an adventurous 21-year-old woman from Tasmania who came to visit America, also took a look at Iowa. But she liked what and who she saw, decided to stay, and wrote about it recently in the local press this way:
I have now adventured and worked in more than 15 states . . .. I have seen the sites of Manhattan, D.C., L.A. and San Francisco. My travels have taken me to the Big Sur Mountains of California . . .. [T]he Kenai Peninsula of Alaska . . .. I volunteered for a ministry in the Bible Belt of America . . .. I have explored Amish country and enjoyed dreamlike summer buggy rides with the Amish people. I worked on a horse ranch . . . on the Meramec River in Missouri . . .. Finally, I found Iowa — what I would describe as the epitome of “fair dinkum” (Australian slang for “real” and “genuine”). . . . The way in which I found my way to Iowa truly encapsulates my feelings toward Iowa and its wonderful people. . . . I came across a couple outside their cabin [at the Missouri horse ranch]. . .. We chatted for half an hour or so comparing and contrasting Tasmania and Iowa and just enjoying some friendly banter. When the couple departed the next day, a note was left behind with information and an invitation for me to come visit them in Iowa. . . . Upon arriving in Cedar Rapids, I only expected to visit for several weeks. I did not want to take advantage of such a hospitable invitation. However, my new family encouraged me to stay longer and I realized that I was by no means ready to depart my new home.
Olivia White, who is among other things an accomplished swimmer, is now a Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School's swimming coach.
Of course, I am pleased that Ms. White, having taken a pretty good look at what America has to offer, chose Iowa for her home.
But I wouldn't continue to write on the subject if she was just one more of the three million souls who have also looked at Iowa, liked what they saw, and chosen to live (or continue to live, or to return) here.
No number of accomplished and enthusiastic Iowans will ever change the minds of those who are blind to what the three million can see so clearly.
How to explain this difference in perception?
In my response to Stephen Bloom's mean-spirited screed attacking Iowa I noted, "[M]ost everything we say, or write is little more than an indication of what's going on inside that electro-chemical sensory processing soup we call our brain. . . . When we say the view of [a] . . . mountain range, river valley, ocean [or] desert [is] 'beautiful,' that 'beauty' is of our own making. It lies inside of us, not in the molecules that make up the physical stuff we're looking at." Nicholas Johnson, "Taking the Bloom From My Rose; Another Perspective on Stephen Bloom's Iowa," December 16, 2011.
That's why I'm bringing Olivia White to my attention, and yours. It's not that she just appreciates Iowa and Iowans. It is that this young lady has learned at her age that there is something to appreciate everywhere -- Manhattan, D.C., L.A. and San Francisco, Big Sur, the Kenai Peninsula, the Bible Belt, Amish country, and Missouri horse ranches.
Whatever it is that is going on in her own personal brew, that "electro-chemical sensory processing soup" that is her brain, is obviously a delightful place to be. That's why she can see what Stephen Bloom cannot. That's why everyplace is, for her, a delightful place to be, and why, of all those places, she's chosen our place to live.
And though I've never met her, I rather imagine it's also why the places she chooses to be become, as well, delightful places for those who share those places with her.
Now listen to what Louis Armstrong sees when he looks at the world:
I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom, for me and you And I think to myself What a wonderful world
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white The bright blessed day, dark sacred night And I think to myself What a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky Are also on the faces, of people going by I see friends shaking hands, sayin', "How do you do?" They're really sayin', "I love you"
I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know And I think to myself What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself What a wonderful world Oh yeah
And, finally, the full text of Ms. White's article:
As a young girl growing up on the island of Tasmania, just off the coast of South East Australia, I would often dream of the day that I could take flight on my own and travel across the United States of America.
Doing what, I wasn’t entirely sure, but that was the whole point. I would take time to broaden my horizons, to excite my senses and to experience life as I didn’t yet know it.
Now, as I sit here in Cedar Rapids writing an article for the local newspaper, I realize I am indeed living my dream.
I grew up in a family of six children with an American father and an Australian mother. It was this cross-cultural influence that first sparked my desire to know my father’s country as well as my mother’s.
At 21 years old, I have now adventured and worked in more than 15 states across America. I guess one could say I have come to quite enjoy the itinerant lifestyle. I have seen the sites of Manhattan, D.C., L.A. and San Francisco.
My travels have taken me to the Big Sur Mountains of California where I worked on a goat farm, hand-milking goats and making fresh cheeses. On the farm, I lived without electricity in a Mongolian tent and bathed on a cliff face overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a rugged yet spectacular lifestyle.
I spent a summer on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska deep sea fishing, bear spotting and exploring the wild Alaskan coast. I volunteered for a ministry in the Bible Belt of America where I became accustomed to chiggers, fried chicken and okra, and of course that wonderful southern drawl.
I have explored Amish country and enjoyed dreamlike summer buggy rides with the Amish people. I worked on a horse ranch located on the Meramec River in Missouri, where I rode horses and cleaned stables, foraged for morel mushrooms and escaped tornadoes.
Finally, I found Iowa — what I would describe as the epitome of “fair dinkum” (Australian slang for “real” and “genuine”).
I can’t say how many times I have been asked, “But why did you choose to come to Cedar Rapids, Iowa!?” I get the feeling the locals perceive me as a little crazy for willingly choosing such a location, not to mention enjoying it so much. I just smile and patiently deliver my (very familiar) spiel, as if it is the first time anyone has ever asked.
The way in which I found my way to Iowa truly encapsulates my feelings toward Iowa and its wonderful people.
While I was in Missouri working on the horse ranch in May of 2011, I happened to meet a couple who were vacationing on the ranch for several days. Late one afternoon, after finishing work for the day, I decided to try my luck foraging in the woods for the much-prized morel mushrooms. While walking down the gravel lane I came across a couple outside their cabin attempting to wrap up some grapevines. We chatted for half an hour or so comparing and contrasting Tasmania and Iowa and just enjoying some friendly banter.
When the couple departed the next day, a note was left behind with information and an invitation for me to come visit them in Iowa. Our chance meeting on the horse ranch was not only the beginning of my sojourn in Iowa, but the first of many connections that have all seamlessly fallen into place since walking down that gravel lane.
Having always been drawn to the folklore of the prairie and the old Midwest, I was excited by the offer to go to Iowa. My dad’s stories of his youth and spending his early years in Nebraska had always stirred my curiosity. Upon arriving in Cedar Rapids, I only expected to visit for several weeks. I did not want to take advantage of such a hospitable invitation. However, my new family encouraged me to stay longer and I realized that I was by no means ready to depart my new home.
I determined that if my visit was going to turn into something more permanent, I had better make myself useful and start working. I decided to rely on what I know best, swimming.
Swimming has always played a significant role in my life. My father is a swimming coach and my mother a swimming instructor. They built a 25-meter indoor swimming pool at our home in Tasmania, where they have owned and operated their own aquatic business for 15 years.
Naturally, all six of the children became competitive swimmers, succeeding at a state level as well as competing in national competitions. My own competitive swimming background and my parents’ expertise prepared me well and by age 14 I began teaching classes solo for my parent’s successful business. By age 18 I was a fully qualified swimming instructor teaching children and adults of all ages, as well as coaching competitive swimmers.
When I arrived in Cedar Rapids in the spring of 2011 the timing was perfect to become involved with a local swim team. Due to a friend’s recommendation, I inquired about a coaching job at the nearby Elmcrest Country Club. I met with the pool supervisor, dropped off my resume, and was offered a job coaching with their swim team; another seamless connection falling into place.
Elmcrest staff and club members were both friendly and welcoming and the flexibility of my role allowed me to work with the kids according to their needs, developing their strokes and focusing on some of the more technical aspects of swimming.
I think for the kids, it was a bit of a novelty to have an “Aussie swim coach”. There were a lot of questions: “Do I keep kangaroos as pets?” “Why do I talk funny?” and “Do we drive cars in Australia?” Our conversations would always bring about some good laughs and the kids would leave knowing something new about the “land down under.”
As a result of my involvement with the swim team at Elmcrest, I was offered an assistant coaching position at Kennedy High School, the third seamless happenstance. I was honored to coach alongside John Ross, Rick Forrester, Holly Broadwater and Leslie Nelson. I sought my Iowa coaching certification at Kirkwood Community College, which allowed me to coach for schools in Iowa. For me, this was yet another excellent opportunity not only to contribute and be a part of local swim team, but also a chance to gain more experience coaching at a competitive level alongside veteran coaches such as Ross and Forrester.
Both swimmers and coaches worked hard throughout the season and reaped the benefits. Kennedy placed first at the sophomore Mississippi Valley Conference meet while also winning our division at the varsity level.
Kennedy hosted a very exciting regional meet with our team missing first place by just one point. We took a tenacious team of 10 swimmers to the state meet in Marshalltown and finished a very respectable 12th place, up from 16th place in 2010. Our freshman class was extremely strong throughout the season contributing to our success while holding promise of a very bright future for Kennedy swimming.
Assuming I survive the harsh winter here in Iowa — Tasmania’s lowest temperature dives to a shivering 32 degrees — I plan to return to Elmcrest and Kennedy for another swimming season in 2012. I am both excited and motivated to develop as a coach and see “our” local swimmers continue to improve.
I will always remember and cherish my time here in Cedar Rapids. The friendships I have made will last a lifetime and I will never forget the incredible feeling of being a stranger who found a home in a foreign place.
And what city came up Number One after all of their independent research? Well, Iowa City, Iowa, of course.
How significant is this? About as significant as the University of Texas' brag when I was a student there, that the school's marching band possessed "the world's largest base drum." As my friend, the late Molly Ivins sometimes observed, Texans believe that "more is better, and too much is not enough" -- illustrated by another brag at the time of the base drum: a billboard outside Austin that claimed to be "the world's largest billboard."
In my last blog entry I address whether being "average" is a necessary prerequisite for a state to be "first in the nation" with the presidential primaries and caucuses every four years -- something Stephen Bloom apparently thinks necessary, and finds wanting in Iowa: "Frankly, I don't think it obvious that the state to hold a presidential caucus or primary as first-in-the-nation has to be the 'most typical,' or 'average.' But if that's what you want, if that is your standard, Bloom to the contrary notwithstanding, Iowa is it. Michael Lewis-Beck, 'Iowa is a Natural for its "First in the Nation" Role,'Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 16, 2011, p. 9A ('50 states were rated on 51 important characteristics taken from U.S. Census data. Iowa turns out to be a highly representative state.')" Nicholas Johnson, "Taking the Bloom From My Rose; Another Perspective on Stephen Bloom's Iowa," December 16, 2011.
I have a similar take on the various "rankings" of cities. Sure, I prefer some cities over others, just as I prefer some states over others as first out of the gate in the presidential race. But just as I don't think "average" is necessarily the best criteria for picking caucus states, neither do I think rankings are the best way to pick cities.
(Nor are they the best way to pick law schools. For a more rational, focused and analytical way of thinking about the best law school for you, see one of the most long-term popular of the near-900 blog entries available here: Nicholas Johnson, "Random Thoughts on Law School Rankings," April 29, 2008.)
How I Prefer to Pick Cities: Their "Genuine Quality of Life"
So, what is the best way to pick cities, I hear you ask. It's not the point of this blog entry, but in brief, for me, it's what I call "genuine quality of life." What does that category include?
In another blog entry I commented, "Another nice thing about Iowa City is that an easy walk can get you to many of the places you want to go. If you're in a hurry you can bike. With time to spare, you can even drive." Nicholas Johnson, "Why Iowa? Chase Garrett and Robert Reich; Just Your Everyday Walk Around a Small Iowa Town," September 8, 2011. Of course, this can be said of any American rural town with a population less than, say, 25,000. The difference when that town houses a major state university -- such as Urbana-Champaign (81,000; Champaign), Bloomington (80,000), or Iowa City (68,000) -- is that the stress-free ease of "getting there" is combined with a high density of innovative, creative, intellectual, and cultural places and events worth getting to (as with Chase Garrett and Robert Reich, mentioned above). They are a sort of "best of all possible worlds" -- distinguished from the difficulty and cost (in time, money and stress) of "getting there" in, say, Los Angeles.
My home is three or four blocks from my office -- and a major research hospital, and a Big Ten football stadium. Many of our law students have an equally short walk from their apartments. That's worth something. In fact, if it were possible for millions of Americans to do this (as in some countries) it would pretty much solve our energy and obesity problems.
(An added, nostalgic "genuine quality of life" for me is that "my home" is the same house and lots my father bought in 1941, where I lived from then until graduating from high school in 1952. So that short walk to work also takes me through the neighborhood and woods where I delivered the Des Moines Register and played as a child.)
Genuine quality of life, for me, includes living in a town in which there is not only a radically reduced risk of theft, but one in which you occasionally hear stories of someone finding a billfold, and walking across town to deliver it to its owner -- complete with all cash and credit cards. It's a town surrounded by rolling hills, where a farmer who is seriously injured, or ill, wakes up one morning to find a column of tractors, or combines, his neighbors are bringing to plant, or harvest his crop; or perhaps when his barn burns, a "barn-raising" party of neighbors building the replacement.
It's what University of Iowa President Sally Mason noted in her response to Stephen Bloom: "[W]e were faced with a historic flood that devastated communities . . .. What I saw, . . . was the best that Iowa has to offer — our people. I saw sandbags being filled. I saw communities rallying together to help their neighbors protect what they treasured. I didn’t see woeful distress or abandonment." Sally Mason, "Bloom's caricature misrepresents Iowa and Iowans,"Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 16, 2011, p. A9.
When I was running for Congress from Iowa's old Third District, it was a practice of small town merchants when a customer paid by check. There were books of blank checks on the counter from the various small banks in the area. You simply picked the one from your bank, filled it out, put your signature on it, and handed it to the clerk. No routing numbers; no printed names; no required identification. Just a signature, recognized by the bank teller who ultimately received it. My experience at that time in Los Angeles was that stores wanted, literally, my fingerprint as well as a photo ID.
It's a memory from my childhood of watching a local bank president, one of the community's wealthiest and most prominent individuals, pausing for a lengthy visit on the street with one of its poorest and most challenged citizens. Ever since reading in junior high Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), with its explanation of "conspicuous consumption," I have always preferred communities that value reverse ostentation -- like billionaire Sam Walton driving an old pickup truck -- to those that depend on obvious shows of wealth to establish individuals' worth.
Many Iowans have little desire to rank individuals, or place them in their proper "class." Evaluations turn on one's character, honesty, and professional ability and attention to detail -- not whether the work is neurosurgery or automobile repair, but how skillfully, conscientiously and professionally that work is done.
It's embodied in the story of the fellow criticized for not wearing a tie who responded, "Where I come from we judge a man by what he has above his neck, not what he ties around it."
Some of my law school colleagues wear suits and ties the days they teach. But one of our most nationally prestigious professors would sometimes return to the law school from the tennis courts in tennis shirt, shorts and shoes. Among the faculty, "casual" does not mean a sports coat instead of a suit; it means a shirt or sweater, maybe with jeans or khakis. (As a Supreme Court clerk, I recall a couple clerks from Harvard Law School who used to hold serious discussions not only about the comparative virtues of various designer suits, but the details of the most appropriate procedure to be used by their dry cleaners.)
These are among the characteristics of locations or institutions that are factored into my judgment regarding their "genuine quality of life."
Prefer High Rankings to "Genuine Quality of Life"? Iowa City Has Them, Too
Thus, as with whether Iowa is "average" enough to be first in the nation in picking presidents (it shouldn't need to be, but if that's what you want, it is that, too), so it is with Iowa City's placement in various rankings of cities. As just discussed with regard to "genuine quality of life," I don't happen to think rankings are that important, but if you do here are some to consider:
The most recent [October 3, 2012] is the American Institute for Economic Research ranking of top college destinations, which placed Iowa City among the top five. Iowa City and the UI scored high for research, accessibility, earning potential, low unemployment, and entrepreneurial activity. "College Destinations Index, 2012-2013," American Institute for Economic Research.
One of Iowa City's most prestigious bits of recognition was its 2008 designation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the world's three Cities of Literature. Following UNESCO's designation of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Melbourne, Australia, all three cities became part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Coincidentally, this was quite a week of rankings for Iowa City. Sunday, December 18, the Press-Citizen reported that Iowa City had been ranked 19th among 138 American cities found to be the "most secure" based on a www.bestplaces.net database (noting 600 physicians per 100,000 population vs. a national average of 220.5, and a 3.6 percent unemployment rate vs. 9.1 percent nationally). By Tuesday the city found itself ranked 8th on the Milken Institute's annual Best Performing Small Cities List (noting its $6.7 billion economy). On Thursday, December 22, came the discovery that Iowa City was ranked number one among America's best cities to start over -- the ranking with which this blog entry began.
Iowa City has the fourth best schools in the nation (out of 334 ranked). Expansion Management Magazine, 2004.
It is the third best metro for livability in the nation (out of 331), according to the same source.
Forbes ranked Iowa City as the second best metro area for business careers, eighth best "up and coming," and among the top ten "smartest cities," March 2008.
Outside Magazine called Iowa City the "Top Town in the Midwest" when it recognized the nation's 30 best towns in July 2007. It concluded that Iowa City is one of the "smart, progressive burgs with gorgeous wilderness playgrounds -- and realistic housing and job markets." They also found that "some of the happiest people in the world live in Iowa City."
Iowa City was one of the "Top Business Opportunity Metros" according to Expansion Management Magazine, which designated the city as the fifth best (of 329) "Metro Areas for Expanding a Business" in 2004.
The February 2010 issue of Oprah’s O Magazine came out with an unranked list of "100 Things That Are Getting Better," and Iowa was the only state to make this list (e.g., “Legalizing gay marriage in 2009 + University of Iowa football landing among the top 25 college teams for the fifth time this decade + ranking second on MainStreet.com ’s Happiness Index = one seriously happening Hawkeye State”).
Men’s Journal, a national publication, in its February 2010 issue listed Iowa City as the healthiest town in the nation. CNN medical writer Dr. Sanjay Gupta considered locally grown fruits and vegetables, short commutes, availability of sidewalks, low pollution, green spaces and good weather.
The Iowa City area ranked 10th on the MSN CareerBuilder's "Today's Best and Worst Cities for Jobs" list. The CareerBuilder article cited the "Iowa City metro area's 1.2 percent job growth between July and October 2009 . . . only 19 [of 77 cities] posted growth rates of 1 percent or higher."
In September 2007, National Geographic Adventure Magazine listed Iowa City as one of the "50 Best Places to Live and Play."
Iowa City was ranked third by Money Magazine in its list of "Best Places in the Nation to Retire."
In March 2007, Iowa City was listed as one of the 10 most affordable places to live and work by Sperling's Best Places. "Iowa City feels progressive," Bert Sperling says. "It boasts a lively cultural scene, an attractive downtown, and active community efforts."
American City Business Journal ranked Iowa City among the top 4 percent in the nation for "quality of life," and number one in Iowa.
Iowa City was ranked the sixth best golf city in America by Golf Digest, August 2005.
Sporting News, August 2005, ranked Iowa City one of America's "50 best sports cities," and number one for college football.
Men's Journal, May 2003, ranked Iowa City as sixth in the nation among the "healthiest, safest, and sexiest places to live."
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found Iowa City second in the country as an artist-friendly alternative to New York and Los Angeles, 2002.
USA Today, June 2002, judged Iowa City to be the "third most educated metro area in the country."
The University of Iowa in Iowa City -- and in Context
It is impossible to consider rankings of Iowa City without taking into account the many contributions of the University of Iowa, a major educational and research institution by any measure. Many of the local citizenry are either employees or enrollees of the institution. For example, Iowa City residents' easy access to quality, cutting edge health care, and the average educational level of the population, reflect the university's presence -- as would be true of other towns of comparable size that are home to major state research universities with hospitals.
U.S. News & World Report currently ranks The University of Iowa as the 28th best public university in the country. Of its graduate programs, 23 are ranked among the top 10 of their kind at U.S. public institutions. It is the only Big Ten university listed as a "best buy" in Fiske Guide to Colleges, 2011.
It is large: it has a budget of $2.8 billion, 30,000 students from over 100 countries, a 1700-acre campus with 120 major buildings, operated with 13,000 staff and 1700 faculty, offering over 100 areas of study including seven professional degree programs (MD, JD, MBA, LLM, PharmD, MNHP, and DDS), and an array of intellectual, cultural and athletic events that attract more than a million visitors a year.
The University has been around since 1847, was the first public university to admit men and women on an equal basis, and the first university in the world to accept creative work in literature and the arts for advanced degrees. West of the Mississippi it was the first to create a law school, educational broadcasting station, and college paper. As early as the 1870s it was one of the first public law schools in the country to grant degrees to women and African Americans. It had the nation's first female editor of a college paper. It is currently the home of the world-renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the National Advanced Driving Simulator.
University of Iowa Healthcare is "an integrated academic medical center under one executive leadership team, consisting of UI Hospitals and Clinics, the UI Carver College of Medicine, and UI Physicians, Iowa’s largest multi-specialty medical and surgical group practice." Its predecessors have been offering patient services since 1873. It is recognized as one of the best hospitals in the U.S., with nearly 10,000 employees (making it one of the state's largest employers), research grants in the $100s of millions (during a recent year the 11th largest NIH recipient), some 200 specialties and programs. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is currently again ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals,” now for the 22nd year in a row. Nine medical specialties are among the top 50 such programs in the nation: otolaryngology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics and rehabilitation, psychiatry, urology, surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, cancer, and kidney disease.
The UI's main library has been among the top 25 public academic research libraries. The law school's library is consistently ranked first or second in the nation; the research and writing of its faculty once placed it first in the nation among public law schools.
One could go on and on with such facts. All major U.S. educational institutions have their "brags": numbers of books and other publications, honors and memberships of faculty, quality of libraries, scientific inventions and cultural contributions, celebrity alums, new buildings and other facilities, athletic championships, or the size of endowments. Each institution has its strengths, its strongest colleges and departments, its "famous" faculty -- but also its weaknesses and its infamous faculty members. Iowa is no exception.
What does seem rather clear is that, by whatever standards and measures one may apply, the University of Iowa is clearly one of America's quality, public, research universities, and the full equal of its peers. Amongst those schools it makes even less sense to distinguish among them on the basis of a few positions one way or another in an arbitrary "ranking" than to decide who gets the gold and who gets the bronze on the basis of a 1/100th of a second difference in how fast they can ski down a hill. (At least there is agreement on the Olympics' criteria for such conclusions.) As I see it, anyone who can ski down a long hill at 90 mph and live to tell about it is a great athlete; and I feel the equivalent about our major research universities.
Conclusion
In my response to Stephen Bloom's mean-spirited screed attacking Iowa I noted, "[M]ost everything we say, or write is little more than an indication of what's going on inside that electro-chemical sensory processing soup we call our brain. . . . When we say the view of [a] . . . mountain range, river valley, ocean [or] desert [is] 'beautiful,' that 'beauty' is of our own making. It lies inside of us, not in the molecules that make up the physical stuff we're looking at." Nicholas Johnson, "Taking the Bloom From My Rose; Another Perspective on Stephen Bloom's Iowa," December 16, 2011.
It is an observation, if anything, even more applicable to our judgments about which are the "best places" -- for us -- during various phases of our lives. "Rankings" are of little use -- except for responding to mean-spirited characterizations of places and cultures by critics too limited to appreciate them.
I'd like to get the Bloom that is Stephen off of the rose that is Iowa.
Stephen G. Bloom is Professor and Bessie Dutton Murray Professional Scholar at the University of Iowa. This year, he is the Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America and The Oxford Project (with Peter Feldstein).
That's what he is. He is not, however, what we Iowans call, "Iowa nice."
[Photo credit: Jason Reed/Reuters/The Atlantic.] If one of the jobs of a professor is to promote inquiry and discussion -- the more heated the better -- Stephen Bloom has been hard at work.
Tasked with explaining why Iowa is, or is not, an appropriate state with which to begin the nation's presidential selection process, he chose instead an anti-Iowa screed that never answers the question, but must leave most readers scratching their heads as to what purpose he did have in mind.
It reminds me of the recently popular song with the line, "Someday, I'll be, living in a big old city, and all you're ever going to be is mean." Taylor Swift, "Mean." [Picture of portion of downtown Des Moines, Iowa.]
Stephen G. Bloom,"Observations From 20 Years of Iowa Life; Thoughts from a university professor on the Iowa hamlets that will shape the contours of the GOP contest,"The Atlantic, December 9, 2011 ("Whether a schizophrenic, economically-depressed, and some say, culturally-challenged state like Iowa should host the first grassroots referendum to determine who will be the next president isn't at issue. It's been this way since 1972, and there are no signs that it's going to change. In a perfect world, no way would Iowa ever be considered representative of America, or even a small part of it. Iowa's not representative of much. There are few minorities, no sizable cities, and the state's about to lose one of its five seats in the U.S. House because its population is shifting; any growth is negligible. Still, thanks to a host of nonsensical political precedents, whoever wins the Iowa Caucuses in January will very likely have a 50 percent chance of being elected president 11 months later. Go figure.").
It's a mixed bag. Bloom can be a very good writer, some of which pops up in this piece. Some is humorous -- sometimes right on, sometimes way off, sometimes just mean. Most Iowan's are aware of the genuine problems Iowa, and most other states, confront. The Iowa Policy Project, the state's investigative reporters, and numerous policy-oriented nonprofits are on top of most of them. Bloom doesn't offer a lot of data, but of what there is some is accurate, some is not. Mostly it's opinion -- as, indeed, most everything we say, or write is little more than an indication of what's going on inside that electro-chemical sensory processing soup we call our brain. What Bloom's article is not, by my standards, is "journalism" -- which is kind of odd, coming from a journalism professor. I would certainly hope he is not holding it up to his students as an example.
Most disturbing, from a general semantics perspective, is his apparent lack of awareness of the dramatic difference between the non-verbal space-time events of which we are a part and the ways in which our language permits grossly distorted "descriptions" of those events, often in the form of unsubstantiated generalizations.
When we say the view of clustered sky scrapers in an urban environment, mountain range, river valley, ocean, desert -- or, in my case, amateur radio antenna towers -- are "beautiful," that "beauty" is of our own making. It lies inside of us, not in the molecules that make up the physical stuff we're looking at.
There is no "Iowan." There are three million Iowans who are extraordinarily varied in their educations, professions, lifestyle choices, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, and so forth. Moreover, they are each changing over time. For example, to leave the impression that all Iowans are farmers (a) inaccurately represents the state's demographics, when less than 5% can be so classified, (b) conflates "agriculture" in 1930 with "agriculture" in 2011 (as different as newspapers and magazines in 1930 and 2011), and (c) denigrates the intellectual and professional skills required to run a successful agricultural operation during any year.
University of Iowa President Sally Mason has written a response that helps to put Bloom's assertions into perspective. Hopefully, The Atlantic will exercise the good judgment to run it. Sally Mason, "Bloom's caricature misrepresents Iowa and Iowans," Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 16, 2011, p. A9 ("Iowans are pragmatic and balanced, and they live within their means. This lifestyle, while not glitzy, is humble and true and can weather the most difficult of times. One’s reputation and word are understood to be his or her most valued attributes. As a result, people cultivate a sense of fairness, cooperation and humility. . . . You also don’t have to look far to immerse yourself in the fine arts. No fewer than seven Iowa communities claim symphony orchestras . . .. When you can boast one of five [UNESCO-designated] Cities of Literature worldwide — and the only one in the United States — you’re in a class all alone.")
There's always the risk that boosters, as well as bashers, may error with their generalizations. Here's one involving myself from a blog in early September of this year:
Walking along downtown Iowa City's Washington Street, following a reception at a restaurant that can match many of those on the coasts, we came upon an amazing piano player, 22-year-old Chase Garrett. He was sitting at a piano kindly placed on the sidewalk by those who thought it would be a nice addition to this community of literature (one of three so designated by the United Nations), theater, music, and creative arts generally.
Here is a direct link to the YouTube location of my video, and a link to Chase's Web site: http://chasegarrett.com//.
It turns out I'm far from the first person to discover this guy and upload his music to YouTube. Put "Chase Garrett" (in quotes) into YouTube search, and you'll see over 100 more.
From there we wandered down the hill to the Iowa Memorial Union (about three blocks). (Another nice thing about Iowa City is that an easy walk can get you to many of the places you want to go. If you're in a hurry you can bike. With time to spare, you can even drive.)
What we found in the main lounge of the IMU was a standing room only crowd, packed to the walls, waiting to hear a free lecture by Robert Reich, http://robertreich.org, once Secretary of Labor and now University of California, Berkeley, professor of public policy.
So what was wrong with what I wrote? A reader's comment added to the blog put it well: "I believe the more proper title question for your article is 'Why Iowa City?' Unless of course you truly believe that your article applies to other places in Iowa. I've lived in Taipei, Singapore, Tehran, Los Angeles, Knoxville, Cleveland, Iowa City, Chicago, and Overland Park, and Iowa City ranks first among them."
I feel the way she does about Iowa City's rank, but she's right about my leap in assigning the benefits of living in a college town like Iowa City with the resources available throughout the state of Iowa. Generalizations and exaggerations can and do run both ways.
Frankly, I don't think it obvious that the state to hold a presidential caucus or primary as first-in-the-nation has to be the "most typical," or "average." But if that's what you want, if that is your standard, Bloom to the contrary notwithstanding, Iowa is it. Michael Lewis-Beck, "Iowa is a Natural for its 'First in the Nation' Role,"Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 16, 2011, p. 9A ("50 states were rated on 51 important characteristics taken from U.S. Census data. Iowa turns out to be a highly representative state. The characteristics cover a broad range of state life, which we organized under three general factors: Economics . . .. Social Problems . . .. Diversity . . .. First, Iowa falls close to the middle score for the overwhelming majority of the 51 separate measures. Only 12 are not near the middle, and about half of those are positive, representing desirable social conditions. For example, Iowa is below average in poor mental health days, wine consumption and housing prices; well above average in the high school graduation rate and voting turnout.")
Iowa's voting record is also about as representative of the nation as it gets, according to these figures from Gary Sanders:
In November 1992, Iowa voted: Bill Clinton, 43.3 percent; George H.W. Bush, 37.3 percent; Ross Perot, 18.7 percent. In November 1992, the country voted: Clinton, 43.0 percent; Bush, 37.4 percent; Perot, 18.9 percent.
In November 1996, Iowa voted: Clinton, 50.3 percent; Bob Dole, 39.9 percent; Perot, 8.5 percent. In November 1996, the country voted: Clinton, 49.2 percent; Dole, 40.7 percent; Perot, 8.4 percent.
In November 2000, Iowa voted: Al Gore, 48.5 percent; George W. Bush, 48.2 percent. In November 2000,the country voted: Gore, 48.4 percent; Bush, 47.9 percent.
In November 2004, Iowa voted: Bush, 49.9 percent; John Kerry, 49.2 percent. In November 2004, the country voted: Bush 50.6 percent; Kerry 48.1 percent.
In November 2008, Iowa voted: Obama, 53.9 percent; McCain 44.4 percent. In November 2008, the country voted: Obama, 52.9 percent; McCain, 45.6 percent.
As I say, "average" (however it might be measured) need not be the only Polestar in our quest to find the perfect first-in-the-nation" state, but given Lewis-Beck's research, and Gary Sanders' historic voting data, it's really bizarre, misleading, and potentially dangerous for Bloom to assert, as he does, "In a perfect world, no way would Iowa ever be considered representative of America, or even a small part of it. Iowa's not representative of much. There are few minorities, no sizable cities, and . . . any growth is negligible."
I'm not about to assert that Bloom holds racial or other politically-incorrect prejudices. There's no basis for believing he does. However, much of the language structure he uses is analogous to the language of prejudice.
It is simply not a factually or descriptively accurate use of language to characterize "all" of any classification to be this or that. It's just that some such characterizations are more socially acceptable than others. America has a long history of humor, and epithets thrown at the latest immigrants -- Irish, Scandinavian, German, Italian, Polish, Chinese or Japanese. Ditto for religious groups -- Catholics, Jews, and today's Muslims.
Comments about Californians, New Yorkers -- or "Iowa farmers" -- are somehow more acceptable. One can make fun of any group -- and many do: "Ivory tower" academics, "dumb jocks," "greedy bankers," "lying politicians," "dumb blonds."
But all such characterizations are equally inaccurate. There are farmers in California and New York as well as Iowa. And there are corporate CEOs and rocket scientists in Iowa as well as in California. No state is "all" anything; and no identifiable group in any of those states has members that are significantly identical with regard to most characteristics.
I have been in every U.S. state and Canadian province, and probably worked or visited in some 40 countries. I have spent considerable time, or lived, in Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Washington, D.C., and London -- among other cities. Although I was born and raised in Iowa, I am now very much an Iowan by choice. (Returning home from D.C. has provided this blog's name: "FromDC2Iowa.") In fact, I have since 1989 literally been living in the very same family home I lived in from 1941-1952.
I mention that because I don't think it's that unusual. In my experience, bi-coastal sophisticates without a midwest background risk a greater degree of parochialism than midwesterners. Both midwesterners and New Yorkers, of comparable socio-economic circumstance, spend time in, and have some understanding of, both coasts and Europe. What many midwesterners also have, and some New Yorkers may lack, is an appreciation of America's "fly over country."
And speaking of "fly over country": at a dinner party in Kuala Lumpur one evening, a New Yorker was telling our Malaysian hosts that there was virtually nothing of worth between our east and west coasts. I reminded her that although our hosts had never visited America, let alone Iowa City, when they found out I was from Iowa City their eyes brightened and their first response was to ask about the University's International Writers Program. (They had not inquired about her Manhattan neighborhood.) I went on to describe the other centers of manufacturing and business, arts and academia, culture and charms of the mid and far western United States.
I look for each region's strengths, not what it doesn't have. When I go to New York I don't complain about the lack of Grant Wood vistas of rolling fields and hills. I don't object to the lack of ocean-front beaches in the middle of desert beauty, nor the lack of mountains on the Florida Keys.
When I finished my seven-year term as an FCC commissioner, the question was what to do next. I knew I wanted to get out of Washington to refresh my sense of the America "outside the beltway." But how to do it?
When asked, we are tempted to advise others to do what we have done. Bill Moyers suggested I should just take a long ride around the country, preferably in a pickup truck with a dog in the back. It was an appealing idea. But on reflection I realized most of the people I'd meet would be the truck drivers and waitresses in restaurants along the road. Besides, I'd made that trip with my wife and daughter during the summer of 1958. I was in the last law school class able to take the bar exam before graduation, and my first clerkship didn't begin until August. So we set off with $19 and a Texaco credit card to visit all the national parks west of the Mississippi.
About that time I got a call from some Democratic Party leaders in Iowa's old Third Congressional District. Long held by the seemingly unbeatable Republican H.R. Gross, the Party could not find anyone willing to run against him. That I would consider it turned me into something of a local hero. That is, until after my announcement Congressman Gross stunned everyone with the announcement that he was not going to run -- following which I was immediately considered a carpetbagger. There are lots of stories about that race to leave for another day.
The point of mentioning it in the context of Bloom's take on Iowa, is the reason why I ultimately decided to do it. The Third District was an almost perfect square of perfectly square counties located in the center of Iowa's boundary with Minnesota. It's attraction to me was that it proved to be a microcosm of America. I could rediscover America by traveling around in relatively small circles in one state, rather than covering the entire continent.
The District had a Latino population around Mason City, an African-American population in Waterloo, and one of the country's few Native American "settlements" (owned by the tribe) rather than reservations. (Its Meskwaki Casino is now doing very well, thank you.) Sure, the District had farms; although many of the husbands and wives who farmed also worked, or even lived, in nearby cities. But it also had young professionals -- lawyers, doctors, architects, and accountants. It had one of the greatest densities of small colleges of any area in the United States. It had the strong Local 828 UAW union, whose members worked at the world's largest tractor factory, and a major meat packing plant.
It was, and the memories always will be, much more representative of what Iowa is, and who Iowans are, than Stephen Bloom's mythical Iowa.
$7 Trillion Secret Giveaways to Banks; Marlins' Stadium
"What questions should officials ask (and answer) before giving away our tax money with subsidies, bailouts or TIFs to for-profit private ventures?" "TIF Impact Statements; The Questions We Should Insist Officials Ask First," November 29, 2011. That op ed column (embedded in the linked blog entry) focused on TIFs. But the problems and concerns with giveaways of taxpayers' money go far beyond TIFs. Examining some of the more outrageous offenses helps to put TIFs in context, to recognize that they come from the same bloodline as their more wealthy relatives.
As the Marlins’ new stadium nears completion in Miami, the wreckage from the deal to finance it continues to mount.
The Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County seeking details about what investigation and analysis they did before agreeing to issue nearly $500 million in bonds to pay for the stadium and adjoining parking lots in the Little Havana neighborhood.
In a 20-page letter to the county dated Dec. 1, the commission also asked for any documents concerning the team’s ability to help pay for the stadium.
It is also seeking records of any campaign contributions that the Marlins may have given to officials working for the city, the county and the state, . . ..
City and county officials approved the deal to pay for more than three-quarters of the estimated $645 million cost of the stadium and parking lots in 2009. They did so during a deep recession, when services were being slashed, and despite calls to hold a referendum on the financing of the stadium and lots, which are being paid for with hotel bed taxes and parking fees.
City and county officials were accused of spending too much money on the Marlins — a for-profit organization — when other buildings, like the convention center, needed repairs. The Marlins also refused to show government officials their financial books.
This became an embarrassment last year when leaked financial documents showed that the Marlins were profitable in 2008 and 2009.
It may be difficult for the commission to accuse the Marlins of misrepresenting their finances if they did not represent them in the first place. Rather, the blame would fall to county and city officials if a lack of due diligence were found before the bonds were issued.
An even bigger robbery, perhaps the biggest in centuries of human history, is the secret gift of $7.7 trillion to our largest banks, banks which in my judgment were "too big to bail."
A fresh account emerged last week about the magnitude of financial aid that the Federal Reserve bestowed on big banks during the 2008-09 credit crisis. The report came from Bloomberg News, which had to mount a lengthy legal fight to wrest documents from the Fed that detailed its rescue efforts.
It is dispiriting, of course, that we are still learning about the billions provided to various financial firms during the crisis. Another sad element to this mess is that getting the truth requires the legal firepower of an organization as rich as Bloomberg.
But that’s the way our world works. Billions are secretly showered on troubled financial institutions to stave off disaster. Individuals get little or no help.
Here are some of the new figures:
Among all the rescue programs set up by the Fed, $7.77 trillion in commitments were outstanding as of March 2009, Bloomberg said. The nation’s six largest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — borrowed almost half a trillion dollars from the Fed at peak periods, Bloomberg calculated, using the central bank’s data.
Those six institutions accounted for 63 percent of the average daily borrowings from the Fed by all publicly traded United States banks, money management and investment firms, Bloomberg said.
Numbers for individual companies were equally astonishing. For example, the Fed provided Bear Stearns with $30 billion to see it through its 2008 shotgun marriage with JPMorgan. This was in addition to the $29.5 billion in assets purchased by the Fed from Bear to assist in the buyout by JPMorgan. Citigroup, meanwhile, tapped the Fed for almost $100 billion in January 2009 — its peak during the crisis — and Morgan Stanley received $107 billion in Fed loans in September 2008. . . .
[I]nvestors didn’t know how dire the situation was at these institutions. At the same time that these banks were privately thronging the teller windows at the Fed, some of their executives were publicly espousing their firms’ financial solidity. . . .
Citi’s earnings release didn’t detail its large Fed borrowings; neither did its filing for the first quarter of 2009 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other banks kept silent on these activities or mentioned them in passing with few specifics.
TIFs may involve fewer dollars, but the questions that need to be asked, and answered, before entering into them, the categories of adverse impact on our economy and society from these transfers of taxpayers' money to for-profit corporations, are comparable.
A couple I know -- whose known hobbies include biking across the country, world championship poker playing, high class public service, and European travel -- also include a nearly-completed goal of visiting every state capital in the 50 states. A recent trip included Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma State Capitol building -- and its backyard oil well.
The only name on display in this picture is "Hobby Lobby Stores" (no pun intended), but I was assured the names continue around the entire base.
