Stu Bykofsky: Why 'out there' in Pa. they resent us 'in here'

THE SCOTTISH poet Robert Burns wrote about the gift "to see ourselves as others see us."

Let's take a look-see around Pennsylvania.

When was the last time you thought about Elk County? How about Westmoreland County? Pike? Lycoming and Wyoming? Do you even know where they are?

They know where we are and they don't always like what they see.

How do we see them?

We repeat James Carville's line about Pennsylvania being Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between, and we chuckle over President Obama's casual remark about how "they" cling to their religion and their guns.

They call themselves Pennsylvanians; we call ourselves Philadelphians. A smug portrait emerges. We see ourselves with arts, pro sports, finance, communications and culture. They see us as a concerto of crime, corruption and squandered tax dollars.

This stew of resentment is partly economics, partly politics, partly culture.

"Out there" thinks Philly soaks up more than its fair share of state spending. Philadelphia feels shortchanged. Does the state get more from Philadelphia than it gives, or the reverse? The answer comes later.

Money is one root of the Mutual Antagonism Society. Everyone feels deprived and wails like a redheaded stepchild.

A recent Daily News editorial described the rest of the state's feelings toward Philadelphia as "irrational hatred." Many share that opinion.

It's more contempt than hatred, I think. Whatever we call it, state Rep. Kate Harper doesn't think it's all that "irrational."

Harper took time to school me, at my request, on how Philadelphia is viewed from "out there."

Philadelphia seems a perennial beggar in Harrisburg, she says, "while in the Poconos, Monroe and Carbon counties have deep problems, too." According to the USDA's Economic Research Service, the poverty rate in the state's urban areas is 11.5 percent. It's higher - 12.4 percent - in rural areas, while Philly's 23 percent tops this unfortunate list.

A moderate Republican, Harper is a mother of two sons, a lawyer-turned-legislator representing an upper-middle-class slice of Montgomery County.

First, let me deprogram readers who see the word "Republican" and start projectile-vomiting and making the sign of the cross.

Harper doesn't hate Philadelphia. She was born in Roxborough, earned her undergraduate degree at La Salle. Her husband's an Olney lifer. She bleeds Phillies red and Eagles green.