Exactly. They aren't going anywhere so let's be practical!
I also agree about the immigrant mindset. You can see this in families that are 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation immigrants vs families that have been here forever; The more recent the immigration, the harder working and more patriotic the people. They CHOSE to come here and they worked hard to get here, how many of the people born here would even be capable of making that same journey were they born elsewhere? Very few, I'd guess.
Families that are born here and have never known life outside of the US have no idea how lucky they were to be born here, so they have zero appreciation. They also are not self-selecting as the most ambitious people, people who want more in life. The midwest and south are full of Americans like this, who have been here for 150 years and have never set foot outside of the lower 48. But they have all sorts of opinions on world politics!
Why do you think the midwest and south have crap universities? Are full of fat people? Take more money from the federal government than they give? Are generally considered stupid by northern/westerners? The whole region is pathetic and it pains me to know that some of my family choose to live there.