How bad is the provincialism of Ulster County?

Well, it's pretty damn provincial. But the strange thing about that is that American cities, including the once sophisticated and cosmopolitan elements of New York City, have reverted to their own kind of provincialism. A case could be made for Ulster County having led the way, but that would be absurd. Nothing happening here counts very much even for here, much less for anywhere else. The general dumbing down of America just took hold here far earlier.

Speaking of NYC, before the Corona Era I was down there one morning and had to get on the subway during rush hour. I squeezed myself onto the L Train and noted all the "sad millennials" arriving in Manhattan from Brooklyn. I'm used to New York City deadface, the demeanor of the typical broken NYC transit rider, but this was something out of a sci-fi story. A can of sardines showed more life.

Meanwhile, Ulster County has become an economy class Camelot for New Yorkers from overpriced Brooklyn and Manhattan, and that's been driving up the prices in the Ulster housing market, bringing with it an even duller set of people than the ones already here. I used to call them the "generics." But that's a little too neutral. They're the dishwater cosmopolitans, with all the attitude and twice the dullness.

"They must have some redeeming qualities!" Not so far, but their money is green. That counts, a little.

Hereabouts, the natives are not only not restless, they are perfectly comatose.