Proud to be an Iowan

Recently, Steven Bloom wrote an article for the Atlantic discussing his twenty years of living in Iowa life. This controversial article has brought many disputes over its accuracy and the observations he reported. In Bloom’s essay he is blatantly bias and skews his observations to fit his one-sided opinion on the state of rural Iowa.


In his writings Bloom only describes rural Iowa and conveniently does not include the major cities that are a major part of Iowa’s culture. Bloom refers to many cities in Iowa as “depressed, crime infested slum towns… and some of the skuzziest places he has been.” The contrast between our agricultural societies and urbanized cities is unbelievable but instead of focusing on the positive aspects of this difference he completely leaves it out. His focus is centered on rural Iowa along with misleading information. He says that “hunting and fishing are main hobbies of rural Iowans” despite the fact that since 1992 the amount of Iowans receiving hunting licenses has decreased by 30 percent, according to Bernard Sherman (writer of “Look to Iowa’s Future, Not Its Past”).


Although Bloom attempts to make the point that Iowa is unqualified to host the first Caucus for the presidential election, our economic stability and political diversity compared to the rest of the United States prove that we are capable. Bloom states that Iowa “is a schizophrenic, economically-depressed, and culturally challenged state” but yet as written in Sherman’s article “Iowa enjoys lower unemployment, greater income growth, steadier home sales and fewer foreclosures than others. Iowa’s employment rate is seventh in the nation.” This contradicts everything that Bloom tried to accuse Iowa of being. This plants the wrong impression in everyone’s minds’ that may not know the truth.


The way that Bloom portrays the people of Iowa is also very unnerving. According to Carrie Olson of the Daily Freeman Journal, “It seems he (Bloom) has used his time here to gather clichés.” In his article Bloom describes the people who stay in Iowa as “elderly waiting to die, those lacking in education to peer around the bend for better opportunities, an assortment of meth addicts with pale skin and rotted teeth” and so on. This is an extreme exaggeration and he doesn’t even touch the fact that Iowa is full of wonderful people. Carrie Olson states” Iowa is a place with people you can count on- a simple, and yes, quaint location. You’ve lost something? It likely will be returned to you.” In an open letter response to Bloom’s article, University of Iowa President, Sally Mason, writes “What defines Iowans are their deeds and actions, people cultivate a sense of fairness, cooperation, and humility.” The way Bloom portrays the people of Iowa is nowhere near correct, he just comes up with stereotypes that will help his case.


In the end, Bloom has no idea what he is talking about. There is way too much evidence against him which proves he just has an extremely bias opinion. The employment and economics are thriving in Iowa and the people have rallied together to help one another in many different cases. Whether it is after a flood or tornado or even a neighbor’s death, Iowans tend to come together as one to fight for their cause. This is why Iowa is a great state and why were all proud to be Iowans.