Uh oh, Debbie Downer is coming. We know that people have stereotypes about the Midwest, but they wouldn't exist if they weren't at least partially true.

Why do I say this? My husband is a Midwest native who has "gone East and lost his mind." My ex-brother-in-law, #2, is a white high-school graduate hog and corn farmer who, as of two days ago, did not know that the country had a debt ceiling crisis. He has little idea about what's going on nationally, and he gathers in the local diner for lunch with other farmers who are like him and love to share their opinions on topics about which they know nothing. They fear diversity (although everyone around looks like them) they pollute the local waterways with animal waste without thinking twice, and they dismiss discussions of national news either with opinions from nowhere or "Well, I don't know about that."

I know that there are larger cities and better-informed people in pockets, but the ones like my ex-brother-in-law, #2 are why we got Donald Trump and a bunch of Trump wannabes who believe that the entire nation deserves the same level of ignorance they possess. You can own hogs and grow corn. There's nothing wrong with that. However, if you read a book or a national newspaper or even paid a little more attention to the world outside of your own, then you'd improve your own life as well as the lives of others.