“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest…(the people) fell through (the cracks of the previous administrations) and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not…And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” presidential hopeful Barack Obama stated, according to news reports.
Certainly, there are bitter people in small towns in Pennsylvania. There are also bitter people in mid-size towns, large communities and mega-cities. There are people who are bitter throughout the nation, the continent and the world. And notably, there are bitter people among the impoverished, the middle class and the rich.
Are the people in small towns in Pennsylvania more bitter than those in any other community?
None of these characteristics—community or wealth-level—insulates a person from being bitter. The Amish, whose schoolchildren were gunned down, have every right to be bitter. They are not. The person caught behind the Sunday driver on a country road fills with road rage. He has little right to be bitter over this “interference” in his life.
I’ve lived in a community when it reached its two-million population mark. I’ve lived in different communities of varying population sizes: about 30,000, 5,000, 900, 50, and currently, 189. Each of these communities had their share of bitter persons—and their share of happy persons. The difference generally lay in their approach to problem solving. The content persons knew how to address a problem and resolve it—and they didn’t expect life to be problem-free. The bitter people waited for others to solve their problems, and when it didn’t happen, they became angry.
Certainly, life circumstances can affect one’s ability to solve problems. Illness and trauma are great interferences. However, I observe many persons who, if they would act to solve their own situations, would have a byproduct of contentment rather than bitterness.
But perhaps I see through the glass dimly, since I am not bitter, although I moved on up through poverty to live a life of contentment.
I’ll end with one question: what is progress? This is the first question that “hits” me when I read Obama’s statement: “Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives…” Is it the increasing accumulation of material goods, or good relationships?
HOW BITTER ARE PERSONS IN SMALL PENNSYLVANIA COMMUNITIES?
Tags: Bitter Pennsylvainans, Politics, Response to Barack Obama re bitter Pennsylvanians, Small Pennsylvania communities
“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest…(the people) fell through (the cracks of the previous administrations) and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not…And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” presidential hopeful Barack Obama stated, according to news reports.
Certainly, there are bitter people in small towns in Pennsylvania. There are also bitter people in mid-size towns, large communities and mega-cities. There are people who are bitter throughout the nation, the continent and the world. And notably, there are bitter people among the impoverished, the middle class and the rich.
Are the people in small towns in Pennsylvania more bitter than those in any other community?
None of these characteristics—community or wealth-level—insulates a person from being bitter. The Amish, whose schoolchildren were gunned down, have every right to be bitter. They are not. The person caught behind the Sunday driver on a country road fills with road rage. He has little right to be bitter over this “interference” in his life.
I’ve lived in a community when it reached its two-million population mark. I’ve lived in different communities of varying population sizes: about 30,000, 5,000, 900, 50, and currently, 189. Each of these communities had their share of bitter persons—and their share of happy persons. The difference generally lay in their approach to problem solving. The content persons knew how to address a problem and resolve it—and they didn’t expect life to be problem-free. The bitter people waited for others to solve their problems, and when it didn’t happen, they became angry.
Certainly, life circumstances can affect one’s ability to solve problems. Illness and trauma are great interferences. However, I observe many persons who, if they would act to solve their own situations, would have a byproduct of contentment rather than bitterness.
But perhaps I see through the glass dimly, since I am not bitter, although I moved on up through poverty to live a life of contentment.
I’ll end with one question: what is progress? This is the first question that “hits” me when I read Obama’s statement: “Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives…” Is it the increasing accumulation of material goods, or good relationships?