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Old 04-27-2008, 01:07 AM
 
Location: Renton, WA
614 posts, read 1,369,108 times
Reputation: 603

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Here is an article that appeared in Newsweek by an author who bemoans the "Southernization" of our country. He writes that Southernism is taking over our national dialogue, so he explains that it may be time for the North to secede from the Union.

It would appear that this author believes that the North superior to the South. Do you agree that he is correct?
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Old 04-27-2008, 03:08 AM
 
146 posts, read 687,156 times
Reputation: 74
I don't think it's a northern-southern, per se, but it's a pretty well-known fact that a good segment of American popular culture is childishly prudish and reactionary compared to pretty much any other developed country's. Witness the furor generated over Janet Jackson's nipple slip during the Super Bowl, or the sheer ridiculousness of the FCC in general (whose censorship may soon finally be challenged in a 1st amendment lawsuit).
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Old 04-27-2008, 04:54 AM
 
252 posts, read 387,621 times
Reputation: 72
That man is a Idiot with incorrect assumptions abound...
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Old 04-27-2008, 07:40 AM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,737 posts, read 40,783,268 times
Reputation: 61961
The author apparently hit his head when he fell off his high horse.
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Old 04-27-2008, 09:18 AM
j33
 
4,626 posts, read 14,039,217 times
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The author article in question mistakenly equates social and religious conservativism with southernization and as a liberal, he doesn't like it. I a liberal who is not a huge fan of social and religious conservatism either, but unlike the author, I don't dismiss it as being confined to one region of the country.


However, I do believe that the US culture as a whole has become more southern over my lifetime, and as someone who grew up very removed from southern and southwestern culture, it is noticeable to me. That being said, unlike the author, I don't make sweeping negative statements about what that means, and the notion of secession is an absurd one.

What I have noticed over my lifetime is the increasing popularity of southern food and country music and sports that were originally popular only in the south (e.g. NASCAR) gaining popularity across the US. Perhaps for the xenophobic and the culturally insular that could be seen a decline, but for me I just shake my head and wonder what would possess someone to put sugar in their tea and watch cars go in circles ignoring the fact that I put milk in my hot tea and like to watch guys hit balls with big sticks.
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Old 04-27-2008, 12:05 PM
 
Location: yeah
5,717 posts, read 16,292,780 times
Reputation: 2974
Insular posing as cosmopolitan...
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Old 04-27-2008, 12:20 PM
 
1,178 posts, read 3,821,209 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by j33 View Post


However, I do believe that the US culture as a whole has become more southern over my lifetime, and as someone who grew up very removed from southern and southwestern culture, it is noticeable to me. That being said, unlike the author, I don't make sweeping negative statements about what that means, and the notion of secession is an absurd one.
I think that culture in the US has become more southern in the northern states, and more northern in the southern states. The U.S. is becoming more homogenized, in areas where illegal immigration, and wide-scale legal immigration is not impacting as much.

Places like northern Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina have lost degrees of their southerness over my lifetime.
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Old 04-27-2008, 12:24 PM
 
1,178 posts, read 3,821,209 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by j33 View Post
I just shake my head and wonder what would possess someone to put sugar in their tea and watch cars go in circles ignoring the fact that I put milk in my hot tea and like to watch guys hit balls with big sticks.
Have you tried true sweet tea? Why knock it if you haven't tried it. True sweetened tea is where the sugar is added when the tea is hot. This allows the tea to become a solution, not a suspension, as some northerners tend to think sweet tea is (sugar packet to cold tea doesn't dissolve).

Sweet tea is delicious. If you've tried it and dislike it, your tasted buds are not functioning properly.
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Old 04-27-2008, 12:43 PM
 
86 posts, read 306,527 times
Reputation: 63
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast View Post
Have you tried true sweet tea? Why knock it if you haven't tried it. True sweetened tea is where the sugar is added when the tea is hot. This allows the tea to become a solution, not a suspension, as some northerners tend to think sweet tea is (sugar packet to cold tea doesn't dissolve).

Sweet tea is delicious. If you've tried it and dislike it, your tasted buds are not functioning properly.
Sweet tea is disgusting. I don't know how people drink it. I just vomited in my mouth thinking about it.
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Old 04-27-2008, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Southeast Missouri
5,812 posts, read 18,752,047 times
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I don't like tea either.

An author's job is to write something that shocks people. That's exactly what he's doing.
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