Thoughts on Indiana

I lived in Indianapolis, Indiana for most of my youth, up in till the age of 18 when I left for the east-coast.

Unlike most of my friends and acquaintances in Indiana, however, my family was not from the area, nor did I have any extended familial roots there. Most of the people in my circle had seemingly been there for generations, so my perspective was somewhat different. In general, I found the community friendly, but somewhat insular to outsiders.

The demographic make-up of Indianapolis seemed to be comprised mainly of Protestant Christian and whites, or Protestant Christian blacks, with some Catholic pockets as well. As with most areas of the country, the Hispanic population is increasing steadily.

Although a member of the Union during the Civil War, Indiana borders the Mason-Dixon Line and has a somewhat confused relationship with the South. Southern Indiana is very hilly and rural and almost looks and feels as if it could be a part of the greater South, despite the cold winters. In contrast, Northern Indiana is clearly Mid-Western and fits with its Northern neighbors, although it is marginalized in this capacity, serving as somewhat of an extension of cheap real estate for bordering Chicago and Michigan municipalities.

Indianapolis, a planned capital, is located at exactly the center of the state rather than on Lake Michigan or the Ohio River as would have been a more natural position. It thus straddles this north-south divide. Overall, I would place the city in the Northern domain: it feels fairly akin to what one might find in Michigan, although the cornfields that surround the city for miles lend life there a rural hue.

As a core Mid-Western state, Indiana has somewhat of an inferiority complex amongst its compatriots. In terms of national importance among Mid-Western states, it likely only exceeds Iowa (one can debate Wisconsin), the former of which plays an integral role in Presidential elections nominations. Michigan defeated Indiana in the auto-manufacturing war of the early 20^th century and, despite its problems, continues to assert economic dominance over Indiana. Ohio has Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati -- multiple major cities to Indiana’s one. Illinois has Chicago, which uses North-West Indiana as a repository for disgusting manufacturing (try driving through Gary, IN with the windows down this century). IN residents from this area nonetheless will tell you they are from Chicago.

Make no mistake, Indianapolis is self-conscious of its reputation as part of “Indiana no-place.” I can see why.  East-Coast residents in my experience demonstrated little to no geographic or cultural knowledge of or in interest in Indiana, and were mostly bemused that someone would come from there.

However, this inferiority complex results in some nasty behavior: Indianans enjoy expressing misguided disdain over the supposed backwards habits of poverty-stricken neighboring Kentukians.

More broadly problematic, the intergenerational residency creates somewhat of an insular culture resulting in certain career paths (business or very local law), interests (college basketball) and values (Protestant Christianity/conservatism) becoming community myopic fixations such that deviating from them can earn you the title of “weird.” I suppose every area has similar problems, however (for Boston, it would be unwarranted elitism) and this could also be a product of my school-driven particular social circle.

Re-visiting Indianapolis, I am reminded of Orwell’s observation on country life in England in Homage to Catalonia: it can be hard to imagine that a world of strife, pain and action exists somewhere far beyond these rows of house that stretch out before you as far as the eye can see.

More pressingly, it is a place where you drive to get anywhere, a merciless tax on your time to counteract the lower cost of living.