'Violence Somewhere Else' (VSE) Theory
SENSE
A Field Guide to Science & Culture
Theory . Storytelling . Transformation
The New York Times has a modern obsession with Arizona -- it's such a weird place to them -- golf & retirement? Ha! Many articles are about illegal immigration and real estate booms, and now articles today about identity theft and Biosphere II.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/us/30identity.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/realestate/28nation.html
Years ago historical Arizona earned a violent reputation (Fort Apache; Tombstone), and later, Arizona developed a reputation for land fraud and as a desert home for mafioso. Much of that imagined reputation was fueled by ready telegraph connections and east coast newspaper reporters in search of stories about violence somewhere else. In their imaginations, New Yorker's need a place weirder that New York to make them feel better about themselves. Arizona's violence gives them smug pause to think they are better off. They understand geopolitical violence like 911 & WTC. They don't understand Arizona. Fiorello LaGuardia spent his early years in Arizona -- and then left -- and that still gives New Yorker's pause.
These days, articles about Arizona routinely appear in the New York Times. These daily stories often contain apochryphal elements, and by design or chance, editors produce a subliminal signal. When I travel and tell people I am from Arizona, they look at me like I have three eyes. They ask me about golf and violence, and almost in the same breath...
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