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I'd like to take this post to further explore the leftist talking point about Minnesota's supposedly wonderful "Quality of life" that our incredibly high taxes are supposed to deliver to us.
I'll preface this with the statement that I think MN is running on fumes right now. I would dare to say that few people understand the mix of economics and demographics that fueled our national economy from 1945 through 1970 and the unique factors at work in the state of Minnesota that allowed this boom to continue in Minnesota through 1990.
We all know that the US was the sole remaining industrial power post WWII, but do you know that unlike almost every major victor in history, post-WWII the US worked hard to rebuild the economies of the defeated. We in essence fueled further growth and power buy creating markets for our goods.
We also know that the 60's and 70's brought racial and financial turmoil to the entire US. But MN was mainly immune from many of these issues as we were geographically and racially isolated from the hottest spots.
Minnesota until very recently has been an extremely homogeneous state. The racial diversity of Minneapolis in 1970 was 8% minority. The entire state was well below 5%. Even today Minneapolis has probably well over a 40% minority population while the state is still close to 90% white.
The isolation, lack of regional competition and extreme lack of diversity has allowed Minnesota to not only avoid the worse of the 60's and 70's, but also to create a high tax/high service environment that was based on a shared culture and a demographic mix that no longer exists. At the time the prevailing white, Lutheran, Scandinavian ethos of the state allowed the government to create a high service welfare system with the unspoken understanding that few would avail themselves of the services and even then for a short a time as possible.
I would argue that this system was fundamentally flawed in the long term, yet the demographics of the baby boom made this system appear to be workable for a short term of 30 to 40 years. Proof of this is found in Norway and Sweden where they also have a high tax/high service system that worked relatively well in the post WWII era on a homogeneous society, but has started to fray as Muslims have moved in and the population has aged considerably.
As many will tell you, reflection of the "Good Ole Days" are always suspect as the people living in those days rarely thought things were that great. Living in MN during the 60's, 70's and 80's certainly wasn't bad. We started the computer industry (and lost it to CA). We created a variety of Fortune 500 companies (many have since left or been absorbed). Our schools were nationally ranked (Our schools are still nationally ranked, but this is a hallow victory as all public schools have been in decline since the 1950's). And our streets were safe and clean. (Our liberal, revolving door justice system has made every street in MN less safe).
So where are we in 2008? We still have the high taxes pushing away businesses, venture capitalists and investors. We have an ever increasing welfare roll that services tens of thousands of people that were not only born outside MN, they quite often were not even born in the US nor are they legally here. While 95% of us use cars to get to work, our government devotes a lower percentage of transit funds each year to roads. (Feel free to add to this list.)
Few people have the time or inclination to take advantage to the many boondoggles that absorb increasingly higher percentages of our tax dollars. Our publicly subsidized arts, sports and recreation facilities are all much larger than our population can support, creating a vicious cycle where ever more subsidies are require to support these government creations.
Minnesotans are getting older, poorer and less educated. Legal and illegal immigration have dramatically dropped the average education level in our state. Less educated people not only earn less, they use more government services. Old people also earn less and use more services. The very same Baby Boomers that fueled this unstable system in the 60's, 70's and 80's will bankrupt it in the 10's, 20's and 30's.
The 90's and 00's are most likely the tipping point. Many warning signals have been issued and ignored. Our "representatives" are increasingly out of touch just at the time we need them to see farther into the future.
Some people on this board wish that everyone like me would just leave MN so that they wouldn't have to hear these things. They forget that people like me invest hundreds of thousands (most likely millions) of dollars in Minneapolis (and greater Minnesota) every year. Those investments are reflected in higher home values creating higher property tax and higher state income tax receipts. They should be careful not to kill the geese that still lay the golden eggs.
PS. I forgot to mention that our weather still really sucks!
Cross-posted at Anti-Strib. Comments welcome.
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