May John Cougar Mellencamp Forgive Me

The nomination of Sarah Palin has brought to light one of the greatest false myths of America: that somehow “small towns” are the embodiment of the American Dream. That every patch of small town life is like a Norman Rockwell painting, where everybody spends their time making fruit pies for the daily pancake supper. Where everybody looks out for each other, protected from the outside world by their “small town, American values.” Everybody works, has a place to move up in life if they just work hard enough and go to church, etc etc etc. I think I’ve expressed more than once on this blog the frustration of growing up in a small town when your family did not settle in that small town on the Mayflower.

The ugly truth is that “small town America” is the ANTITHESIS of “The American Dream.” In a small town, there is a finite supply of money and opportunity. And guess who owns that money and opportunity? The same families that have for generations. And, you better believe it, NO one else. Period. Hey, let me tell you something - I grew up with some brain dead, fucking idiot chutterfucks. These dudes were space cadets who had no clue and did not care. And today? These very guys have boats, Mercedes, vacation homes et al. Why? Because they’re a part of the inside elite that has clutched the money for generations in…a small town. They get opportunities and businesses and titles handed to them, and maybe they fuck up, and maybe they don’t, but it never matters cause they’ve got the key: their name. That sound like the American Dream to you? I know this happens in big cities too - but like I said above, in a small town there is a FINITE amount of wealth/success to be had. Unlike bigger areas, there is no chance for anyone else to rise to that level. In the real world, people have to fight and claw and compete to rise to the top, to accumulate wealth and respect. In a small town? You just gotta be born right. There are no such concepts as merit or even competence. Zero. Again, totally belying the very concept of America.

I’ve lived with this all my life. So pardon me if I’m not smitten and wrapped up in Snoopy pajamas and popcorn balls whenever Palin evokes such ideal places and values as “small towns.” Cause if you look close enough, you’ll see that they’re even more of a lie than any place else in America.