I’m not sure if this is a word, but “geographism” does turn up in the web zone, just not the Webster zone. Maybe it’s a phobia – fear of not knowing where you are. So I’ll define how I’m using it in this post. What I’m referring to is being profiled, sized up and sometimes discriminated against based on where you live, and more-so where you were born and grew up.
Take for instance Chicago. All politicians from Chicago are corrupt. Does that let Louisiana off the hook? That’s what I mean by geographism. As for the former and the recent distraction (IL Gov. Blagojevich) from things that really matter, I’ll let Jamison Foser’s Media Matters blog express my sentiments on that topic.
Here are few more:
Everyone in West Virginia is married to their cousin which counts for the dip on the smarts meter.
People from California are airheads, or blonde, or addicted to botox and plastic surgery. I’m sure this one needs updating.
All Texans are cowboys.
None are Indians
People from the UK have tea at 3 PM and have attended Oxford or Cambridge or both.
Being from France makes you a great lover.
Is Paris the only place on earth to fall in love?
You can’t trust anyone from China. I guess the flip side is to ask why construction on the new Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC is being done completely by workers from China.
If you are from an Arab state, you must be a terrorist, pal around with them, or will be one eventually.
If you stay in Washington, D.C. long enough, you will become a corrupt bureaucrat. I remember being grilled about Marion Barry in the UK. It’s not like he’s my cousin. And may I add the “all night” bar tab for the Inauguration seems to be sealing Washington’s fate among non-residents as a pay and play party town – pun intended.
And may I add, don’t bother using your Wall Street address if want to impress; it doesn’t matter that you work at Century 21 discount department store.
Remember the old real estate adage? “Location, Location, Location.” That was before it became “Buy house, Buy big, Buy now…Pay, Pay, Pay later.”
Geographism happens on a local, national, and global scale. Remember what either you or others said and thought about people who lived on that side of the street? Or in that neighborhood?
“Geographism” can be argued up to a point in conjunction with Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Outliers: The Story of Success. The book was inspired by the rise of Bill Gates. If the mothers of Lakeside’s students had put their eggs into auto shop in 1968 and not the computer lab, where would the Big Three be today? Does credit go to Bill or to the mothers? We always thank our moms.
The human element still sticks out. Family sticks out. Community sticks out. Resources help. Where do we draw the district lines to benefit what tax brackets?
But just to stay on topic:
If you’re from Seattle, Washington, you must be super computer genius. And you know your coffee.
Is there something in the water? Or can we draw our own map?