When things get screwed up in Pierre and voters respond by electing more Republicans, that says it all. This state is a lost cause for Democrats, and it’s primarily because voters are too brainwashed to realize that a little more balance in their governing institutions would go a long way to making them more effective.
A bunch of crazy conservatives, a handful of moderate Republicans, and some Democrats sitting in the corner isn’t a recipe for responsive governance. Instead, we get the latest episodes of shows like “Stace Nelson vs. The World.”
if the Dems ever got off their collective asses and actually left Sioux Falls they would discover a state ready for change. Playing in local elections and doing Facebook games is not going to organize the state.
I know most of you don’t like to hear this… but if you take polls and actually ask the average South Dakotan what he or she thinks they will tell you they are happy with their state government and have no major complaints.
People don’t keep electing the same thing year after year because they feel the state is broken – it is just the opposite!
I’m not denying that many of these people are ignorant as to the challenges our state faces just as they are ignorant as to our position in the nation when it comes to categories like wages or education. However the simple reality is the people elect the same types of people over and over again because they are content with the status quo.
Perhaps the best thing the Democratic party could do – or any party other unhappy with the Republican grip upon Pierre – is to actually focus upon educating the average South Dakotan on how far we are slipping in comparison to our peers. When people find out we are home to five of the seven poorest counties in the nation or that our corruption risk report card was not only a “F” grade, but that we are actually ranked 49 out of 50, or that we have one of the highest worker death ratings in the US they would probably be disappointed in our leaders.
When they find out South Dakota has the second lowest kindergarten enrollment in the nation, or that we are only one of only four states without early learning standards they should be ashamed. When they find out we recently were ranked 50 out of 50 in terms of K-12 education they should be disgusted.
Yet the GOP knows all of these things… and they don’t care, because they do a much better job of selling their talking points such as we have a low tax burden (primarily advertised as a benefit to corporations) or that we have a low cost of doing business (read: low wages).
A pig will roll around in its own feces all day long because it doesn’t know any better… and the pig will still have a smile on its face the entire time. Now if a farmer comes along and gives the pig a choice between the same old muck or some fresh clean water… you might like to think the pig would welcome the change.
As someone who did not grow up here, I can tell you one of the first things I noticed in moving here is how badly South Dakota suffers from small pond syndrome. And worse than that, you’ve got a lot of people in rural communities here who are just flat out resentful of progress because, as it always does, it’s killing their tiny, economically inefficient communities.
People here generally have great work ethic and value self-sufficiency. Those are admirable qualities. But they largely have no ability to honestly assess whether something is competitive beyond South Dakota’s borders. Rural public schools are substandard and unable to provide the kinds of offerings necessary to truly make these kids competitive at good colleges, but their parents attended these same schools and think their small size and sense of community is awesome. (Wrong.) South Dakota colleges are, by and large, underfunded, understaffed, and lack the critical mass of quality professors and students necessary to draw other quality professors and students. People around here talk like Augustana is the Harvard of the Midwest when in reality it’s just an overpriced version of USD that nobody outside of South Dakota or a 50-mile radius of Sioux Falls has ever heard of.
When you look at the high-end, education-intensive white collar jobs, South Dakota has to import virtually all of its talent because it can’t educate those people here. USD’s law school is fourth tier. Its medical school ranks dead last in primary care among medical schools that USNWR actually ranks. Where do you think all those lousy doctors and lawyers end up looking for work? South Dakota – because nobody else wants them.
But when you dare point this out to a lot of people, they’ll just tell you you’re flat out wrong, or that it doesn’t matter, or that it’s good enough for South Dakota. It’s denial of the worst kind – the parochial kind – the kind that would rather ignore standards than compete with them.
You’re absolutely right that South Dakota should be ashamed of many of its educational standards. But then again, these are the same people who constantly whine about their taxes even though their aggregate state and local tax burden is 49th in the nation, behind only Alaska, King of the Federal Subsidy. There’s just no perspective.
I hate to say things are ever hopeless, but people here seem in love with low standards. How do you convince the pig that the water would be better when he thinks rolling around in his s@#$ is the best thing ever because he can make that s@#$ for free?
The Modern SD Democratic Party
R.I.P
1957 – 2015
The Middle Class
R.I.P
1946-2001
The King is dead….Long live the King
C.S.A
Corporate States of America
I especially like the blob of something with the shovels. Is it the mark left by the party?
When things get screwed up in Pierre and voters respond by electing more Republicans, that says it all. This state is a lost cause for Democrats, and it’s primarily because voters are too brainwashed to realize that a little more balance in their governing institutions would go a long way to making them more effective.
A bunch of crazy conservatives, a handful of moderate Republicans, and some Democrats sitting in the corner isn’t a recipe for responsive governance. Instead, we get the latest episodes of shows like “Stace Nelson vs. The World.”
if the Dems ever got off their collective asses and actually left Sioux Falls they would discover a state ready for change. Playing in local elections and doing Facebook games is not going to organize the state.
Did Nesselhoff get the chairman gig because no one else wanted it?
I know most of you don’t like to hear this… but if you take polls and actually ask the average South Dakotan what he or she thinks they will tell you they are happy with their state government and have no major complaints.
People don’t keep electing the same thing year after year because they feel the state is broken – it is just the opposite!
I’m not denying that many of these people are ignorant as to the challenges our state faces just as they are ignorant as to our position in the nation when it comes to categories like wages or education. However the simple reality is the people elect the same types of people over and over again because they are content with the status quo.
Perhaps the best thing the Democratic party could do – or any party other unhappy with the Republican grip upon Pierre – is to actually focus upon educating the average South Dakotan on how far we are slipping in comparison to our peers. When people find out we are home to five of the seven poorest counties in the nation or that our corruption risk report card was not only a “F” grade, but that we are actually ranked 49 out of 50, or that we have one of the highest worker death ratings in the US they would probably be disappointed in our leaders.
When they find out South Dakota has the second lowest kindergarten enrollment in the nation, or that we are only one of only four states without early learning standards they should be ashamed. When they find out we recently were ranked 50 out of 50 in terms of K-12 education they should be disgusted.
Yet the GOP knows all of these things… and they don’t care, because they do a much better job of selling their talking points such as we have a low tax burden (primarily advertised as a benefit to corporations) or that we have a low cost of doing business (read: low wages).
A pig will roll around in its own feces all day long because it doesn’t know any better… and the pig will still have a smile on its face the entire time. Now if a farmer comes along and gives the pig a choice between the same old muck or some fresh clean water… you might like to think the pig would welcome the change.
The only question is… can you educate a pig?
Excellent points, Craig.
As someone who did not grow up here, I can tell you one of the first things I noticed in moving here is how badly South Dakota suffers from small pond syndrome. And worse than that, you’ve got a lot of people in rural communities here who are just flat out resentful of progress because, as it always does, it’s killing their tiny, economically inefficient communities.
People here generally have great work ethic and value self-sufficiency. Those are admirable qualities. But they largely have no ability to honestly assess whether something is competitive beyond South Dakota’s borders. Rural public schools are substandard and unable to provide the kinds of offerings necessary to truly make these kids competitive at good colleges, but their parents attended these same schools and think their small size and sense of community is awesome. (Wrong.) South Dakota colleges are, by and large, underfunded, understaffed, and lack the critical mass of quality professors and students necessary to draw other quality professors and students. People around here talk like Augustana is the Harvard of the Midwest when in reality it’s just an overpriced version of USD that nobody outside of South Dakota or a 50-mile radius of Sioux Falls has ever heard of.
When you look at the high-end, education-intensive white collar jobs, South Dakota has to import virtually all of its talent because it can’t educate those people here. USD’s law school is fourth tier. Its medical school ranks dead last in primary care among medical schools that USNWR actually ranks. Where do you think all those lousy doctors and lawyers end up looking for work? South Dakota – because nobody else wants them.
But when you dare point this out to a lot of people, they’ll just tell you you’re flat out wrong, or that it doesn’t matter, or that it’s good enough for South Dakota. It’s denial of the worst kind – the parochial kind – the kind that would rather ignore standards than compete with them.
You’re absolutely right that South Dakota should be ashamed of many of its educational standards. But then again, these are the same people who constantly whine about their taxes even though their aggregate state and local tax burden is 49th in the nation, behind only Alaska, King of the Federal Subsidy. There’s just no perspective.
I hate to say things are ever hopeless, but people here seem in love with low standards. How do you convince the pig that the water would be better when he thinks rolling around in his s@#$ is the best thing ever because he can make that s@#$ for free?