What “Minnesota Nice” really disguises is our love for a polite and passive-aggressive scolding of one sort or another. “That hot dish you served at the potluck was… interesting.” That sort of thing. It only really works if the recipient of the comment has to think for a moment—just a moment—about whether or not they have just been insulted. Which, of course, they have. However, an amazing thing happens. We allow it. We allow it to just roll over us and accept the insult without further comment. Storing that information for later retribution. We’re a patient people, we can wait.
The remarkable result is that this social contract we’ve cultivated over the years called “Minnesota Nice” has allowed us to get on with life. We don’t get bogged down in an argument over the comment, rather, we politely smile, file that moment away, update our list of enemies and move on with the business of getting through the conversation. It’s not personal, it’s just, “ya know, how he is. No biggie.” To an outsider this becomes very annoying, very quickly. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard transplants from Boston or Philadelphia lament, with confusion and expasperation the idea that people simply do not say what’s really on their mind. Sadly, their crys fall on deaf ears because they are speaking directly and forthrightly about the subject to a bunch of Minnesotans who simply won’t abide that sort of thing. I try to explain to them, that this is how it works. And frankly, it works quite well. It’s how we’ve built a social structure that allows us to roll up our sleaves, get past an awkward situation, get beyond an unneccesary argument and move on with the important work of living our lives.
But recently, all this has changed. And I think I know why.
For some reason, “Minnesota Nice” has all but dissapeared. Now the conversation seems to be a bit more direct: “Your hot dish sucks.” This sort of thing is just not what I’ve become accustomed to. As I said, we’re a patient lot for the most part. But also proud. There’s simply no way out of the argument now. There’s no room for negotiation in this sort of social brinkmanship. I can’t pretend that it’s “no biggie” and just move on. We are now at an impass. There can be no compromise. Sound familiar?
There was a time in this State when we got things done. When we could shelve our differences, pretend to be civil to one another and get on with it already. It used to be called the “Minnesota Miracle”.
Excerpt: History of Minnesota, From Wikipedia.
In 1970, Wendell Anderson (DFL) was elected as governor of Minnesota. He spent two years working with a split Minnesota Legislature to enact a tax and school finance reform package that shifted the source of public education funding from local property taxes to state sales taxes, as well as adding excise taxes to liquor and cigarettes. This achievement, dubbed the "Minnesota Miracle", was immensely popular. In the next few years, the Legislature enacted other facets of their "new liberalism", including ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, strong environmental laws, increases in workers' compensation and unemployment benefits, and elimination of income taxes for the working poor. Time Magazine featured Wendell Anderson and the state in an article entitled, "Minnesota: A State That Works".
“Minnesota Nice” was an organism. It evolved over time to suit a very specific need—the need to get along, at least superficially, in order to get things done. Some would call it a virus that infected those exposed. People who lingered too long in our beloved state would ultimately succumb. I prefer to think if it as an ox. A trusty work animal designed to do the hard work of sowing the seeds of our society. Minnesota is the land of Paul Bunyan after all. “Minnesota Nice”, to me, is a trusty blue ox named Babe that is always at your side, ready to help get the job done.
Michelle Bachman killed Babe.
It used to be that if we didn’t know much about a given subject we would shut the hell up about it and move on. We were willing to accept the fact that we didn’t have all the answers, and as such, should probably not be telling everyone else what those answers were. “Minnesota Nice” was a way to say: “I don’t think I agree with you, but let’s not dwell on that point. How about we focus on something we can agree on and we’ll get back to that later.”
Now we find ourselves in a political and social climate where the louder and less informed you are, the more of a “real American” you become. We are told by extremists on both ends of the political spectrum (but let’s be honest, mostly from the far right), that ignorance is a virtue, that compromise is tantamount to surrender and that surrender is un-American. “Don’t retreat. Reload.” We’re told to ignore those “elitists” who spout off their “facts” and “rational arguments”. They’re just a bunch of socialists or communists… or whatever-ists. In this world, there is no need for “Minnesota Nice”. It serves no purpose. There is only one right way, and that’s my way. Period. I don’t need to understand the details; I just know I’m right. End of discussion. Any disagreement is a direct attack on my way of life. There can be no compromise on this.
I for one, could really go for a nice big serving of interestingly flavored tater-tot hot dish right about now. But could I get some without the "crispy on the outside"?
