Why I don't like Mississippi (Jackson, Gulfport: rental, crime rates, homes)

[randy8876]

Originally Posted by jacksonian

Something tells me that you'll be back here voicing your opinions regardless of where you live in the future. Just ask GrandviewGloria.

Why would I care about this state if I'm not forced to be around it?
Did I post about MS before I moved here? Nope.
I spent the 2 years before here living overseas and outside of the presidential election I had no concern about the defunct places in America.

[jhadorn]

Originally Posted by randy8876

And if you think I will treat a person with respect that doesn't deserve it you've lost your mind. The criminal, welfare junkie and career unemployed don't deserve to be treated with respect- they are treated to part of of my paycheck instead. In return they treat me to higher bills and lower quaity of life.

Mississippi has nearly 3 million residents, and if you think it's ok to generalize and disrespect the residents of an entire state based on your small, limited experience here you are wrong. You don't pay my bills, I am an intelligent person who makes my own way. Sounds like you think the entire state is nothing but criminals and welfare recipients.

I have traveled as well, and Mississippi may have it's problems, but it's far from your description. You just need a month or two in a place that really is less fortunate.

[randy8876]

Originally Posted by jhadorn

Mississippi has nearly 3 million residents, and if you think it's ok to generalize and disrespect the residents of an entire state based on your small, limited experience here you are wrong. You don't pay my bills, I am an intelligent person who makes my own way. Sounds like you think the entire state is nothing but criminals and welfare recipients.

I have traveled as well, and Mississippi may have it's problems, but it's far from your description. You just need a month or two in a place that really is less fortunate.

Yes, denial is the best way to address my complaints. It is a fact that all the cities (population 25k+) in MS have tremendous amounts of social problems, ie crime, welfare junkies and the career unemployed. Much worse than any state I've ever been to.

Also, overwhelmingly I hear the "I pay taxes" line. Yet at the end of the year when the person gets back 100% of what they paid in, plus a bunch more as EIC they feel that they've still paid. Unfortunately they're not bright enough to realize it's the same as not paying.

[sues1]

Originally Posted by randy8876

I've been in the state 9 months, and honestly hate it. This is the worst place I've ever been, and when my tour here is complete I'll eagerly leave. I've lived in Washington state, Hawaii, Florida and Japan. I'll be so grateful to never set foot in the state again. I was raised in a small town and have no issue with the relaxed way of life or missing the "big city" stuff. My complaints:

1. Crime rates that are unbelievable for the area. Mississippi is very rural, yet the small towns have crime rates that rival most cities. While the natives here in Meridian celebrate that the crime rate is not like NYC, they are too ignorant to realize NYC has a massively lower crime rate.

2. I hate welfare junkies and the career unemployed. But that's a way of life around here. Everyone has an excuse, and I really don't care to hear any of them.

3. I'm not a fan of hypocrites, but I meet a ton here here. The state is full of Christians yet they seem to think divorce, single parenting and crime is acceptable, or that abortion is wrong, but unprotected premarital sex is right. I didn't realize the bible had become a choose your own adventure story.

4. Lack of activities. I like biking, scuba, nightlife, hiking, national parks and sightseeing. Biking is possible, but sketchy since the drivers are the worst I've seen. How much Civil War sightseeing can a person do before it's boring?

5. All of the "keeping it real" or "thug life" culture. It's garbage, and it's everywhere.

6. The lack of intelligent people. It isn't so much that the people lack knowledge, I can understand and accept that. But they believe things that are not true, and are dead set it is a fact. There are a lot of people that seem to lack the ability to learn.

7. I sincerely hate paying $720 a month for an apartment just so I don't have to be in a slum. I paid $700 for a place in Hawaii and $680/month for a place in Japan. Both places were better located to work, shopping and fun without having to be surrounded by slums.

8. I enjoy fishing, just wish I could find some better places. Hawaii and Japan had great fishing, but it's saltwater and isn't really fair to compare to freshwater fishing.

9. Are there any non-muddy lakes that allow swimming?

10. I feel that free speech and free thought is severely stifled in this state. Mention the garbage cultures and people cry racism, mention the crime and you get outright denial. Wake up MS, if you want investors to come here you'll need to fix the problems here.

11. The South in general is lacking. MS, AL, LA and GA don't seem to have much to offer. All the cities with populations over 30,000 are so rundown and have crime rates that should make everyone ashamed. There are little areas of niceness, but if someone offers me a steak full of maggots and points to a corner and say "that part is good" I'd still throw the steak out.

For the people that believe the lies (it's low crime and wonderful communities) and have always been in this region I'm sure it's fine. But for the people that have lived in other places with a lot of things to do, low crime and intelligent people MS is pretty horrible.

So please bash away, call me a troll and try to say my comments are all lies. But sleep well knowing that in 2 years you'll be rid of me recognizing how messed up this place really is.



**split off from the other guys thread.

I know nothing about Mississippi, but just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for serving our country and you're more than welcome in Pa and New Jersey.!!!!

[daltrey]

I honestly believe some people could spend their whole lives being miserable and making those around them miserable as well. Congrats! Instead of running off at the mouth maybe try and better yourself. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world".

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Randy8876, thank you for the giving/defending of your honest opinion of Mississippi.

People may disagree with it, but it's looking like few will defend your right to express it.

Thank you for your service.

[jhadorn]

Originally Posted by randy8876

Yes, denial is the best way to address my complaints. It is a fact that all the cities (population 25k+) in MS have tremendous amounts of social problems, ie crime, welfare junkies and the career unemployed. Much worse than any state I've ever been to.

No denial needed. I will let facts speak for me.

Mississippi ranks 27th in total welfare recipients, and 25 per capita.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Mississippi ranks 28th in crime based on FBI data.
CQ Press

Mississippi is the poorest state, yet it doesn't have nearly the most total or per capita welfare recipients. That speaks volumes about Mississippi people to me.

[jhadorn]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Randy8876, thank you for the giving/defending of your honest opinion of Mississippi.

People may disagree with it, but it's looking like few will defend your right to express it.

Thank you for your service.

Absolutely, he has a right to express it and no-one is trying to take that from him, however, we also have a right to disagree. I don't see the problem.

[covedweller]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

but it's looking like few will defend your right to express it.

I'm not really sure where you get impression anyone is trying to stifle Randy's ability to express his opinion. Randy has the right to make any comment he wants, no matter how incorrect and unfounded it may be. If you'll notice in the other thread, I addressed his statement regarding no outside entities being willing to come in and invest in MS, given the "state of our state". When I pointed out that is incorrect and offered names of just a few of the companies that have in fact invested substantial resources in our state; no response from Randy.


Randy says he doesn't like MS because it doesn't offer activities he enjoys, such as biking (we've got excellent resources for road biking where I live in MS, and while I'm not sure about road biking, I know for a fact there are resources available for off-road biking in the Meridian area, where Randy is located). In fact, a state-wide law went into effect July 1 of this year making MS one of the first states to pass a law requiring motorist to extend a 3 foot buffer between themselves and bikers on the road, among other safety measures provided by the law. Saltwater fishing - the MS gulf coast offers excelllent saltwater fishing. Randy can be there in approximately 2 1/2 hours if he chooses, so stating MS offers no saltwater fishing is nothing more than a lie. And muddy lakes, well they're the product of the type of soil we have in MS, and have nothing to do with all of us "wannabe thug, wlefare receiving lazy bums" not maintaining them. National parks; while we may not have national parks, there are many beautiful state parks he could check out, if he chose to do so. Randy is indeed a piece of work (I'm sure we've all encountered the lowest paid yet smartest guy in the room before), and unfortunately, anyone basing their opinion of MS on what he's posted is being given a false impression of our state.

[randy8876]

Originally Posted by daltrey

I honestly believe some people could spend their whole lives being miserable and making those around them miserable as well. Congrats! Instead of running off at the mouth maybe try and better yourself. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world".

Yawn. Was I miserable in Florida, Washington, Hawaii or Japan? Nope, not at all. All were a pleasure to live in with many varied activities. Outside of Japan none were great performers in all 11 areas, but they all were better than MS overall. And if all it takes is to state some negative experiences about MS to make the people here miserable, then there truly is something wrong with the people here.

I appreciate the assumption that I'm not bettering myself. I'll have my degree finished when I leave here.

Originally Posted by jhadorn

No denial needed. I will let facts speak for me.

Mississippi ranks 27th in total welfare recipients, and 25 per capita.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Mississippi ranks 28th in crime based on FBI data.
CQ Press

Mississippi is the poorest state, yet it doesn't have nearly the most total or per capita welfare recipients. That speaks volumes about Mississippi people to me.

CQ press doesn't give any reference where they get their numbers from, or how it is even computed. The numbers I posted are from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports- it's the standard. Pretty much if you want a low to average crime area in MS you need a city with less than 10k people.

I'll give you the 25th in ranking for welfare. Researching it more it turns out you had some politicians that cracked down and made welfare much harder to get. I'll give credit to the state for that. But, I found what gave me the impression of this being a welfare queen state- 45% of kids are in single parent homes.
http://diverseeducation.com/article/13986/
Looks like another area where MS is the worst- child welfare. Must be a special part of the "Southern family values" that I can't understand.

I didn't say there was no saltwater fishing, I said it would be unfair to compare the saltwater fishing that was so cheap and readily available in my prior residences to the freshwater fishing here. I could drive to the coast and fish, but the sea fishing here doesn't really compare to Hawaii, Washington or even Japan. It's not the fault of the MS people, it's just how things are. Although the prices for deep sea fishing and scuba diving are much higher here than what I paid in Hawaii.