Tag: Southern States

Why So Poor?

In case you did not know it the South is the poorest region of the country……but how are they so poor after all they have the same opportunities as the rest of the country, right?

I will try to explain this situation as best I can…..

Lastly we in Mississippi had our state elections and I wrote a letter to a magazine that covers the state with the hopes that it would make a difference but as usual it was ignored for it did not fit the paradigm that the publication pushes….

This is the letter I sent….

Open Letter To The Voters Of Mississippi

I tried to explain why Mississippi ranks at the bottom of the social ladder….to illustrate my point….WalletHub looked at all 50 states and the District of Columbia

Worst economies

  1. Ohio
  2. Maine
  3. Iowa
  4. Rhode Island
  5. Kentucky
  6. Louisiana
  7. Arkansas
  8. West Virginia (last in “Innovation Potential” category)
  9. Hawaii
  10. Mississippi

This is NOTHING new for the state of Mississippi.

I read an article that also tries to explain the poverty thing in the South…..

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana had the highest poverty rates in the U.S. at over 15% each.

However, understanding how these states became so poor requires an examination of their histories and the structural challenges they face. Let’s look at some factors contributing to these high poverty levels.

The economies of these states have historically been less diverse and relied heavily on single industries. For example, a Mississippi Department of Agriculture study stated, “Agriculture is Mississippi’s number one industry, employing approximately 17.4% of the state’s workforce either directly or indirectly. Agriculture in Mississippi is an 8.76 billion-dollar industry.”

When the agricultural sector is suffering due to declining commodity prices, international competition and other factors, these states acutely feel the impact. Industries in these states often also provide low-wage jobs, contributing to the persistent poverty.

Many of the poorest states are located in the South and have histories deeply intertwined with slavery and plantation economies. Post-Civil War, the South struggled to transition to an industrial economy, unlike the North which experienced rapid industrialization. Compared to the North, Southern states kept taxation and government spending at lower levels, which resulted in less development over time.

The economic model of the South remained heavily agrarian, dependent on low-wage labor and slow to adopt technological advancements.

Educational achievement in these states has historically lagged behind national averages. For example, Arkansas has one of the most undereducated populations in the nation when considering the percentage of adults with college degrees. Poorer states often invest less in education due to limited tax revenues, creating a cycle of underfunded schools, lower educational outcomes and a less skilled workforce.

The state of Arkansas explained that the COVID-19 pandemic worsened an already struggling school system, and students are now struggling to recover from earlier learning disruptions. Although non-profits like Forward Arkansas are committed to growing the state’s education system, just like other poorer states, the historical lack of investment continues to hamper economic growth and limits residents’ opportunities to break out of poverty.

Investment in infrastructure is another critical factor. Poorer states often have less developed infrastructure, which can deter business investment. Poor roads, limited public transportation and inadequate broadband access make it difficult for businesses to operate efficiently and for residents to access opportunities.

The poverty of the poorest states in the U.S. is not the result of a single factor but rather a blend of history, economic structures, social inequities, and political decisions. Addressing this complex issue requires comprehensive strategies that include investing in education, healthcare, and infrastructure; promoting economic diversification; and implementing policies that address racial and social inequities.

(Gabriel Vito)

If the South wants to change this downward spiral then they need to learn what real issues are and stop being goddamn stupid and fall for BS issues that nothing to do with their lives.

Sadly this will not happen any time soon….all I can say is “Stupidity Is The Deliberate Cultivation Of Ignorance”……and Mississippi is cultivating a butt-load of stupid.

And the South has ignorance is spades….and they are proud of it.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Succeed Or Secede?

I have written many times about those parts of this country that have rumblings of secession…..Texas, Alaska, part of Oregon but that is not where this story ends…..a recent survey has shown that many Southern states would like to see a secession.

A shocking YouGov poll found that 66% of Republicans in southern states want to secede from the United States.

The survey, by YouGov in conjunction with BrightLineWatch, looked at the current political climate in America. The most stunning question concerned support or opposition for the state in which respondents lived in “seceding from the United States to join a new union with [list of states in new union]?”

Five prospective new unions were constructed (by region) “and inserted the relevant states for respondents into the question wording above. For example, a participant from California in our survey would be asked about joining a new union along with Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska,” explains BrightLineWatch. These sets are provided below:

Pacific: California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska
Mountain: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico
South: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee
Heartland: Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and Nebraska
Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia

SHOCK POLL: Two in Three Southern Republicans Want to Secede From the United States

Seriously!

Apparently these morons slept through the class on the Civil War and how it ended not so well for the South…..

For me this is very disturbing.

But if they want to go then let them.

Cut off all Federal aid and payments….most Southern states who depend on those dollars will become a third world nation….more so than they are now.

When a disaster or crisis hits the region they will be begging and pleading for help…

I say let them beg!

If they turn their backs on this country thn they deserve whatever is that comes to bite them in the ass.

I have NO time for this stupidity.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–19Mar21

How many times have you heard what a draw those Blue States on the government…..all those programs that are draining the treasury with their liberal BS?  How many times?

The problem with that accusation is that it is pure bullsh*t…a “big lie”…..

States run by Republicans are far more dependent upon the help of the federal government than their Democratic-run counterparts, based on the latest annual study from Wallethub.com.

In ranking the 50 states, the financial website listed 11 red states among the 12 most dependent upon Washington D.C. No fewer than 19 of the 25 of the most-dependent states were Republican dominated. Conversely, 12 of the 14 states least dependent on the federal government were run by Democrats.

“Blue states are less dependent on federal government than red states,” the site observed, noting that in its 50-state ranking, red states ranked 20.68 in dependency to Washington DC, versus a much lower average ranking of 30.32 for blue states.

https://www.rawstory.com/federal-mooching/

I live in deep red Mississippi and the residents for the most part hate government programs that gives free money to those that they feel do not deserve it.

And yet Mississippi is in the top ten states that depend on government funds to continue their existence.

In 2020 Mississippi was number 4….in 2021 we are still the fourth highest recipient of federal funds….

The U.S. is a federal republic, meaning that power is held by both the central federal government, located in Washington, D.C., and by the governments of every state and territory that make up the union. But the “division of powers” isn’t as simple as it seems — and neither is the division of finances, since states rely on the federal government for money and various programs to help them operate. With all this in mind, SmartAsset crunched the numbers to see which states are the most dependent on the federal government.

To do this, we considered data on all 50 states across the following metrics: the federal share of state government revenue, the ratio of federal funding to income taxes paid, the percentage of workers employed by the federal government and the ratio of median earnings for federal workers to median earnings for private for-profit workers. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, check out the Data and Methodology section at the end.

This is SmartAsset’s 2021 study on states most dependent on the federal government. Check out the 2020 version here.

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/the-10-states-most-dependent-on-the-federal-government/

It always amazes me just how damn ignorant people can be……even when federal handouts benefit them and they still hate those that receive them…..

The voter in Mississippi has always voted against their best interests….just how stupid can they be.

Is your state cited?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Way Down South

This pandemic has shone a spotlight on the those morons in the Deep South that never believe science.

I read a couple of these idiots and their views about the virus and the wearing of masks…..

First in Alabama an elected official had this to say…..(Maybe Kim, https://cadburypom.wordpress.com/ can give us the rest of them story)……..

Alabama Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh suggested that he wanted more people to get coronavirus — because he thinks America would develop “herd immunity” and reduce the spread enough to protect more vulnerable populations.

“I’m not as concerned so much as the number of cases. In fact, quite honestly, I want to see more people, because we start reaching an immunity the more people have it and get through it,” said Marsh. “I don’t want any deaths, as few as possible, say, I get it, but those people who are susceptible to the disease, especially more serious pre-existing conditions, elderly population, those folks, we need to, you know, do all we can to protect them. But I’m not concerned, I want to make sure that everybody can receive care.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/alabama-republican-i-want-to-see-more-people-get-coronavirus/

Then a few hundred miles West to Louisiana…..

A Republican lawmaker in Louisiana has launched a strange new kind of attack ad in which he fights a piece of paper and a mask. 

In a video released on Facebook, state Rep. Danny McCormick crumples a piece of paper with a mask mandate on it and hits it with a stick. Then, he battles a mask with a blowtorch and a chainsaw to show his opposition to mandates requiring face coverings to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 

“Masks aren’t bad,” McCormick said as he attacked the masks. “Mandates are.”

He also compared those who support mask mandates to Nazis.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/louisiana-mask-chainsaw-guy_n_5f0688e5c5b63a72c33cfb6f

These are people of authority, I use that term loosely, and as such should not go on with the charade that they care about the people they represent.

The more they babble the more they prove the old saying….”Can’t fix stupid”.

Be Well…..Be Safe…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–30Apr20

It appears that the people in South Mississippi have something in common with the people of the African country of Nigeria….they think they are immune to Covid-19…..

First of all, Nigeria where 3 in ten people think they are immune to this virus…..

Despite the daily rise in the number of infected persons, nearly three in every ten Nigerians believe they have some form of immunity to the coronavirus, a recent poll reveals.

The latest survey from NOIPolls Limited, a country-specific polling service, shows that poor knowledge and perception of the virus is still rife, even as fact-checkers and health officials work furiously to provide accurate information and save lives.

Nigeria has 442 infections as of Thursday night with 13 deaths but about 6 per cent of Nigerians in the survey consider the COVID-19 outbreak in the country to be fake.

They believe the outbreak “is real in other countries but not in Nigeria.” Some said it is propaganda and a means for the government to embezzle funds. Others said they have not seen anybody infected by the virus in their states, hence their disbelief.

https://allafrica.com/stories/202004170279.html

Then there are those countries that are saying they have NO cases…..

Most of the world’s countries and territories have reported coronavirus cases—and 166 of them have reported deaths—but a few dozen locations are still virus-free, or claim to be. According to Reuters, all but 33 of the 247 countries and territories recognized by the United Nations have reported COVID-19 cases as of last week, though the list of 33 includes three secretive and authoritarian countries in Asia. North Korea’s claim not to have had a single case is widely considered about as believable as Kim Jong Il’s claim to have shot 11 holes in one on his first-ever round of golf, while authorities in Turkmenistan have reportedly been arresting people for even talking about the virus.

In Tajikistan, which also claims to have had no coronavirus cases, there has been a steep rise in reports of fatal pneumonia cases; some people are not being allowed to see the bodies of deceased relatives, Radio Free Europe reports. Apart from Lesotho in southern Africa, the other countries and territories with no reported cases are islands, most of them small, isolated ones in the Pacific. Only eight of the 29 countries and territories in Oceania have reported cases. Others, including Nauru, Niue, and Palau, have declared national emergencies and banned visitors. “Their best bet without a doubt is to keep the bloody thing out,” Colin Tukuitonga, a doctor from Niue living in New Zealand, tells the BBC . “Because if it gets in then you’re stuffed, really.”

Now for the statement I just made about the people in South Mississippi……

When we go out to the market these days less than half the people are wearing masks and good percentage are unaware of the 6 foot rule until I remind them to back the f*ck up.

A group came around the neighborhood looking for tree trimming jobs and out of the 5 man team not one was wearing a mask and going door to door asking for work…..

Apparently the people in South Mississippi are listening to the bullshit the president is spreading as news…..and think they are immune…all this bad news is for others they do not need to adhere to it.

If anyone comes to the door without a mask I let my MoMo greet them with snarls, teeth and barking.

Image

…….and she watches…….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Southern Democrats

In the last round of primaries my state of Mississippi voted for Biden (go figure)….but that was going to be a “gimme” for Biden.

The turnout in Mississippi was up 17% from last election and that was a surprise for me.

Southern Democratic voters are more conserv than most GOPers….why is this?

the website….fivethirtyeight takes a look at these voters….

From 1964 to 2008, three Democratic presidential candidates made it to the White House. All of them were southerners. Yet for the last half-century, the GOP’s Southern strategy eroded the Democratic Party’s stronghold on the South. States on the edges of the South — Virginia, Florida and North Carolina — have turned purple or a light shade of blue, but the heart of the South unquestionably remains Republican territory in presidential elections.

Nonetheless, Democratic voters in the South still exert significant influence on the party during the primary season. The states of the former Confederacy1 will elect a little over one quarter of Democrats’ pledged delegates in 2020 — six of them on Super Tuesday (Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia). And so as the 2020 Democratic primary contests move to the South, I figured it was worth a dive into what happened there in the 2016 Democratic primary, based on a 2016 survey of 3,668 Americans by the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics, of which I am the director.2 It illustrates the ways in which Democrats in the South are different from Democrats outside of the region — differences that may again come into play in 2020.

What Makes Southern Democrats Unique

The problem I see, especially in Mississippi is the voter has a tendency to vote against their own best interests.

Take Rep. Gene Taylor who was a staunch conserv Blue Dog Dem and voted with the feelings of his people only to lose his seat in 2010 and his only crime was he was a Dem and was linked to “demon” Pelosi….his voting record meant NOTHING to low information voters.

Now my state has a toadie sycophant that will be lead around by his genitals by the president and business.

So Biden’s win in the primary was not a surprise for the Mississippi voter will fall for every one liner and slogan that comes down the pike.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Southern Strategy

Us old farts will know what I mean by the “Southern Strategy”……..it was a Reagan idea to gain the support of the Democratic Southern states….by focusing on social issues and not reality…..

But for those that are too young to recall this political strategy……

In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans.   As the civil rights movement and dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and 1960s visibly deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States, Republican politicians such as presidential candidate Richard Nixon and Senator Barry Goldwater developed strategies that successfully contributed to the political realignment of many white, conservative voters in the South who had traditionally supported the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party. It also helped to push the Republican Party much more to the right.

The “Southern Strategy” refers primarily to “top down” narratives of the political realignment of the South which suggest that Republican leaders consciously appealed to many white Southerners’ racial grievances in order to gain their support.   This top-down narrative of the Southern Strategy is generally believed to be the primary force that transformed Southern politics following the civil rights era.   This view has been questioned by historians such as Matthew Lassiter, Kevin M. Kruse and Joseph Crespino, who have presented an alternative, “bottom up” narrative, which Lassiter has called the “suburban strategy“. This narrative recognizes the centrality of racial backlash to the political realignment of the South, but suggests that this backlash took the form of a defense of de facto segregation in the suburbs rather than overt resistance to racial integration and that the story of this backlash is a national rather than a strictly Southern one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy

There seems to be a bit of this political strategy being employed by the Trump machine, if we could call it that…….hyper-nationalism and racist undertones……

Contemporary Republican politicians like to invoke the legacy of Ronald Reagan to bolster their policies. However, the type of White nationalism being espoused by Donald Trump and his supporters more accurately traces back to two less appealing Republican personalities: Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon, and to the backlash created by the Civil Rights Movement of the nineteen sixties.

It was the Civil Rights Movement that weakened the Democratic Party’s hold on the South, a hold that dated back to the post-Civil War period of Reconstruction. The Goldwater 1964 Presidential campaign took advantage of the opportunity by appealing to Southern White prejudice, and thus pioneered the “Southern Strategy” that was further developed by Nixon and has continued in effect to the present day. Goldwater’s opposition to the Civil Rights Act and his defense of “states’ rights” won him five Deep South states that had not gone Republican since Reconstruction. Donald Trump’s electoral “base” is of course not limited to the South, but it’s nevertheless true that Southern and border states constitute the bedrock of the GOP today.

The Southern Strategy and Donald Trump

Mr. Trump’s largest group are old white men in the South……so he will use the “Southern Strategy” to help vault him into the good graces of other like minded “people”…..

The new South is much like the old South…just with a few minor tweaks….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wrote and now You Know”

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thought–10Jul17

There is a debate going on about climate change…well there is a discussion because twats are denying there there is anything different….that nothing is changing and if it does it is only as nature wants.

Well and good but I personally do not give a shit which side one cares to take….I am talking about what I see….you may dispute what I see that is your right as it is my right to think negatively……

I have a small orchard with plums, tangerines, satsumas, limes, peaches and olives and since we have NO winter to speak of here in my state these trees do not bear the way they should…so something is changing and not for the good…..10 years ago I was getting so much fruit I was having to can to keep from losing the crop…..these days I do get enough to make a good snack.

I then read an article about the change climate here in the South……

As the United States confronts global warming in the decades ahead, not all states will suffer equally. Maine may benefit from milder winters. Florida, by contrast, could face major losses, as deadly heat waves flare up in the summer and rising sea levels eat away at valuable coastal properties.

In a new study in the journal Science, researchers analyzed the economic harm that climate change could inflict on the United States in the coming century. They found that the impacts could prove highly unequal: states in the Northeast and West would fare relatively well, while parts of the Midwest and Southeast would be especially hard hit.

There is some good news for some states other than the South but since I live in the area mentioned I really do not give a crap about Ohio or New York or any state in the Northern quadrant….sorry about that just being honest.
Not good news for my orchard….the one upside is that the olive trees are doing well these days so there is that……
There is nothing I can do to change this….I need a winter of freezing weather for the fruit to set without it I got a tree…all this is sad because I do love my fruit…well maybe things will improve when my granddaughter inherits the house and land…..
Day is done……..I am off like a dirty shirt…..be well, be safe….chuq

How Slaves Built American Capitalism

My regulars will know that I am a bit of a history buff….there is so much fascinating stuff in our history that there is just no end to the stories……

Slavery was a dark hour in the history of this country….but thanx to the practice American capitalism flourished….

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in America and contrary to popular belief, slavery is not a product of Western capitalism; Western capitalism is a product of slavery.

The expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American Independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States.

Historian Edward Baptist illustrates how in the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton empire, and the United States grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy.

Source: How Slaves Built American Capitalism

This ought to get the juices flowing in my “alt-Right” (new media term) brethren flowing……

“Alt-Right”?  What the Hell is that?

Does that answer the question?

GOOD!

American Civil War And Egypt

Have you ever experienced those Egyptian cotton sheets?

If not then you have missed an amazing experience.

Why I bring up this subject will be apparent very shortly.

The weekend begins and I will step away from the news and the insanity these and enjoy some time with family……as most of my readers know I am a geek when it comes to history…..for if you ignore history then you are dooming yourself to mediocrity….

Over the next four years, roughly 700,000 Americans were killed, and millions of others were injured or made destitute. The south was reduced to a weakened state ravaged by war and no longer able to thrive on the free labor provided by the pernicious institution of slavery.

But for a number of fledgling countries and colonies across the world, America’s loss was their great gain. As northern warships blockaded southern ports, closing them off to commercial shipping, the cotton plantations of the Confederacy struggled to export their ‘white gold.’ With the great textile mills of England now deprived of the lifeblood of their industry, 80 percent of which had previously come from the U.S, the price of cotton very soon went through the roof. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, birthed in Britain, the United States and its former antagonist and overlord  had symbiotically thrived on the massive revenues from the cotton trade, a titan of commerce reliant on the lives of the American South’s enslaved population. Now, the Civil War imperilled everything for the moneymakers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: How the American Civil War Built Egypt’s Vaunted Cotton Industry and Changed the Country Forever | History | Smithsonian

Now with your history lesson in tact please spend some time enjoy yourself and get some rest…..