"We are the second oldest state in the Union because too many of our young people are leaving Pennsylvania. They are leaving Pennsylvania behind for opportunities elsewhere"
About this Quote
A clever little statistical sleight of hand is doing the heavy lifting here: Rendell turns “second oldest state” into a punchline with a villain, and the villain is inertia. The line is built to sound like a demographic fact, but it’s really an indictment. Pennsylvania isn’t “old” because seniors are living longer; it’s “old” because the state can’t hold its future.
Rendell’s intent is plainly political: reframe population aging as an urgent economic problem that can be solved by policy. The repetition of “leaving Pennsylvania” is not accidental. It mimics the rhythm of a lament, a parent watching a kid pack a suitcase, and it also brands the state itself as what’s being abandoned. He’s appealing to a bipartisan anxiety: even voters who dislike big government tend to hate the idea of their towns hollowing out.
The subtext is sharper. “Opportunities elsewhere” is a polite way of saying Pennsylvania is losing the competition for jobs, wages, and cultural momentum. It quietly concedes a failure of local elites - business, education, government - without naming culprits. That vagueness is strategic: it lets every listener insert their preferred reason (taxes, schools, industry decline, lack of startups) while keeping Rendell positioned as the grown-up offering a fix.
Context matters: this is Rust Belt rhetoric with a numbers veneer, the kind of line meant for budget fights, workforce pitches, and “brain drain” narratives. It works because it turns a slow-moving demographic trend into a moral story about neglecting the next generation.
Rendell’s intent is plainly political: reframe population aging as an urgent economic problem that can be solved by policy. The repetition of “leaving Pennsylvania” is not accidental. It mimics the rhythm of a lament, a parent watching a kid pack a suitcase, and it also brands the state itself as what’s being abandoned. He’s appealing to a bipartisan anxiety: even voters who dislike big government tend to hate the idea of their towns hollowing out.
The subtext is sharper. “Opportunities elsewhere” is a polite way of saying Pennsylvania is losing the competition for jobs, wages, and cultural momentum. It quietly concedes a failure of local elites - business, education, government - without naming culprits. That vagueness is strategic: it lets every listener insert their preferred reason (taxes, schools, industry decline, lack of startups) while keeping Rendell positioned as the grown-up offering a fix.
Context matters: this is Rust Belt rhetoric with a numbers veneer, the kind of line meant for budget fights, workforce pitches, and “brain drain” narratives. It works because it turns a slow-moving demographic trend into a moral story about neglecting the next generation.
Quote Details
| Topic | Youth |
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