What is WV like?

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by redwine

I really don't mean to be rude but everytime I hear something about WV it is something crazy that make my jaw drop? In my head I picturing WV as the most "country" place in United States? Now, I don't really believe this but why has it stuck to my mind?

Because the media instills this in the minds of gullible people, who then chit chat with other bored and gullible people about how strangely different these "mountain people" are. I think people do it to reassure themselves that they are normal and that they are just like everyone else.

One of the quietest and still politically correct forms of racism.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

One of the quietest and still politically correct forms of racism.

You got that right. I was watching Damages the other night. The really rich bad guy character who is poisoning the environment and murdering people who get in his way, is from West Virginia but now lives in New York. Another character said to him that he could still be down in West Virginia ruling over the toothless masses. If anybody had said anything like that about any ethnic group the producers would have been sued and the show would have been boycotted. The character who said it ─ well, he is black.

[king0]

There is a lot of gang/street crime in the larger cities. Wheeling, much like Charleston, has gone bad lately. Drugs are huge prblem and there are many places it is available now. Also, gangs ad street violence are back on the rise as there ae ocassional battles for street corners and neighborhoods. Until you live here you dot really get the full impact. East Wheeling and South Island are probably the 2 worst ghettos in WV. It is genrally fine during the day bu at night you have to watch yourself. Also, beatings and muggings at ball parks are a big problem. As, Wheeling keep getting older nd older, it keep getting worse and worse.

[vec101]

Originally Posted by king0

There is a lot of gang/street crime in the larger cities. Wheeling, much like Charleston, has gone bad lately. Drugs are huge prblem and there are many places it is available now. Also, gangs ad street violence are back on the rise as there ae ocassional battles for street corners and neighborhoods. Until you live here you dot really get the full impact. East Wheeling and South Island are probably the 2 worst ghettos in WV. It is genrally fine during the day bu at night you have to watch yourself. Also, beatings and muggings at ball parks are a big problem. As, Wheeling keep getting older nd older, it keep getting worse and worse.

I must have my head in the sand cuz I live in Charleston and have not heard of any gangs. I wouldn't walk around Charleston alone late at night, and some areas I wouldn't drive through in the wee hours (can't think of any area I would not drive through in the day) but I've not heard of any gangs. Someone needs to call our media and let them know I guess so they can report it to the rest of us.

[red.ochre]

Originally Posted by vec101

I must have my head in the sand cuz I live in Charleston and have not heard of any gangs. I wouldn't walk around Charleston alone late at night, and some areas I wouldn't drive through in the wee hours (can't think of any area I would not drive through in the day) but I've not heard of any gangs. Someone needs to call our media and let them know I guess so they can report it to the rest of us.

Second that.

If there are gangs, then just organize a citizen task force or back up a local law enforcement who will put them in the grave. The solution to eliminate gang activity is : kill them all.

Next problem?

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

Because the media instills this in the minds of gullible people, who then chit chat with other bored and gullible people about how strangely different these "mountain people" are. I think people do it to reassure themselves that they are normal and that they are just like everyone else.

One of the quietest and still politically correct forms of racism.

Welp, GHO, hate to say this but not many outside know a thing about WV. Sad fact is I've heard worse things said about WV'ns by native born than anywhere outside these hills. Just last week I got quite an earful of badmouthing about WV males from a hairdresser born and raised in charleston. She couldn't help bragging on the epicenter of culture & progress- the life she had in Atlanta years ago. Sometimes it takes more than a grain of salt listening to folks. Sometimes it takes a pillar.

Racism isn't PC no matter who is speaking about whom. Trend of anti- PC giving any loudmouth on jerry springer the stature of preaching gospel no matter how weak minded they are is the method by which our american culture devolved. They're only fishing for like minded idiots whether it's 'boo-rah' or 'hoot hoot'. There's no difference between slack jawed yokels and archie bunker. Choose a villain for everyone to fixate upon as group identity, control the information, repeat lies often enough... FOX news is just better funded & more consistent at mind control, but know that liberals are not blameless. The nature of trying to win an argument at any cost is a huge red flag when you mean to discern.

Whatever WV'ns want for themselves as individuals or as a state can only be accomplished by it's residents and not by some mystery savior. The worst poverty in america is being held up by christian charities on late night TV; the ozarks portion of appalachia, where children regularly starve, freeze to death, burdened with jobless uneducated parents. Somehow these children aren't obliged to attend school for lack of a road a bus can drive down. Home schooling & malnourishment will guarantee them another generation of the same.

Americans have a problem with that occurring in the land of plenty, so they'll make their pledges, and perhaps 30% of what's donated actually helps someone after 'administrative costs'. Here's the kicker- charity can often times exacerbate problems rather than solve the root causes. Charities and government programs that aren't in the business of enabling people to help themselves aren't much more than what you describe in your post... people wanting to feel superior to others via PC "charity". Sometimes it's ego pay off, sometimes it's a wholesale cottage industry to keep people needing THEM.

I took no issue with natives comparing appalachian whites to black folks. Both have been sold on victim mentality and have relinquished their own authority to self determine as a result. Might as well be drunken for life, a full time excuse to never try at anything hobbling every generation ahead physically and emotionally. Quite a devil's bargain. Others who didn't buy into it (and also don't appear on 6'o'clock news) build a life for themselves despite what's socially acceptable "victimhood". The adage 'You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink' applies.

Whatever criticism anyone might throw out there is moot if you're content with your choices. Whomever makes a hobby out of being miserable, they have the option of looking in the mirror at any point in their lives, but their ignorance isn't something I ever take personally. There's another WV I know beyond a hairdresser with a lousy attitude. Any other whiners insisting outsiders are the bane of their existence... if you'd quit whining, people wouldn't mistake it for a plea for charity.