Midwest. Flyover country. 330 million citizens and not many people live in flyover country. They're not representative of most Americans.

Is it not equally ignorant to judge us all by one element. Kinda like jidging all Mexicans by the cartels?

Further, there's different kinds of ignorance. People of the land tend to know the land, and know it well. People from the city say they're ignorant. Yet when shit hits the fan, you crumble; you freeze to death in your houses, you eat each other because you can't find food or grow food, etc. Ignorance is usually the culprit there.

I've lived in both and have consistently found that people who look down on whole groups as being ignorant can usually be counted upon to display the most jawdropping, raging ignorance imagineable. Truly startling.

And what's so horrible about not having a passport or not wanting to travel. Maybe he or she couldn't, actually. Not everyone can just up and leave and go travelling whenever. And yet a degree in international relations can be helpful to a community there, to smooth things for foreign business interests and what not. Get some investment into these communities. Stabilize and grow economies. Work with exchange students. Help immigrants settle.

There's things of use that can be done locally after studying international relations. Without ever getting a passport or stepping outside the country.

You enjoy that PhD.