Well, you know, relatively speaking.

Yooper here. Your example is on the money, but perhaps moreso than you know: The UP is also heavily populated by Finnish-Americans, which helps explain the cultural resilience and independence as well. The same dimensions that have kept Finland independent from Russia, keep the UP independent from others - and, holy wah, if I had a nickel every time we talked about breaking away from the trolls South of the bridge while at deer camp…