American Elephants

Do you care fiercely about the local news? And what do you consider “local”? Your community? City? County? State? Part of the country? How interested are you in news about cities, states, where you have never been and where you don’t know anybody?

I am apt to ignore news about Midwest cities in states that I have never visited, never known anybody from there, unless it is something pretty dramatic. As a westerner, I have never lived in Midwest or East Coast states or cities, and don’t pay much attention to events there, unless it is definitely something of national interest. I suspect that is true for most people. I have never been to Michigan or Kansas, or their surrounding states, and don’t pay much attention to what happens there unless it’s pretty dramatic. I grew up in Idaho, and pay attention to the surrounding stares, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Montana, and California and Arizona because I lived there for some time. I assume other’s interests are somewhat similar. Depends on where your relatives or close friends were born and grew up. That sort of suggests that we are all pretty provincial, does it not?