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Let me let you in a little secret...the vast majority of people don't hate the south. They simply don't care about it. This idea that the south is this persecuted and hated region exists solely in the mind's of southerners.
Let me let you in a little secret...the vast majority of people don't hate the south. They simply don't care about it. This idea that the south is this persecuted and hated region exists solely in the mind's of southerners.
Uh, no. It exists in multiple posts in many threads on this very page. It is hardly imaginary.
Uh, no. It exists in multiple posts in many threads on this very page. It is hardly imaginary.
The thread started on the premise that the south is the new "American Dream" destination. People argued that fact, often by posting facts and stats that are inconvenient to that narrative (to be fair some people used this opportunity to unfairly bash the south). This led to southerners: throwing a fit, calling coast dwellers "bitter", denying stats from the Census Bureau, and denouncing anyone who posted anything remotely negative towards the south as a "hater" all while dumping on other regions of the country. The south has (on average) the highest obesity rates, the worst school systems and the lowest amount of college graduates, the lowest wages, and the cheapest real estate. These are facts whether southerners like them or not. People who point out these facts aren't "haters."
Hell JerseyGirl spent a lot of time being balanced, reasonable, and even handed in her posts on this thread only to be met with belligerence and snark from southern posters. The south seems to suffer from a giant persecution complex but truth be told the vast majority of Americans who don't live in the south don't care about it one way or the other.
The term "American dream" is so broad, you can achieve it mostly anywhere... even outside America
You really can, I've thought about this too. There's nothing too "American" about the "American dream." I guess it's just the perception of America as a free place where you can do what you want and where anything is possible.
The thread started on the premise that the south is the new "American Dream" destination. People argued that fact, often by posting facts and stats that are inconvenient to that narrative (to be fair some people used this opportunity to unfairly bash the south). This led to southerners: throwing a fit, calling coast dwellers "bitter", denying stats from the Census Bureau, and denouncing anyone who posted anything remotely negative towards the south as a "hater" all while dumping on other regions of the country. The south has (on average) the highest obesity rates, the worst school systems and the lowest amount of college graduates, the lowest wages, and the cheapest real estate. These are facts whether southerners like them or not. People who" point out these facts aren't "haters."
Hell JerseyGirl spent a lot of time being balanced, reasonable, and even handed in her posts on this thread only to be met with belligerence and snark from southern posters. The south seems to suffer from a giant persecution complex but truth be told the vast majority of Americans who don't live in the south don't care about it one way or the other.
Actually, here are some quotes from this thread that have ticked those who love the south off. I would hardly call these sorts of statements "balanced, reasonable, and even handed" and I would say that these sorts of comments are sure to elicit a defensive response:
Quote:
I guess its funny if you enjoy stifling humidity, ice storms, torrential rain, hurricanes, high crime, mosquito hordes, no skiing, swamps, gators, ticks, clouds, mud, and ridiculous accents.
I call the SE the American Nightmare. No thanks!
There is no region in the US with a more giant chip on their shoulder than the South. Hmm, why is that?
I get that an MBA from Columbia is nothing compared to your backwoods coon-skinning smarts,
Not a single person I know wants to move to the South.
The odds of meeting super ambitious, intelligent, forward-thinking people at a coffee shop in any major west coast city and creating something from scratch are outstanding. It happens every day. Your odds of doing that in Atlanta et al are roughly zero. Class-jumping in the South is nearly impossible. Creativity is not high; it's mostly old money. Religion still stifles a lot of scientific, forward thinking.
No matter how you slice it, the South is the poorest, least desirable part of the country. This isn't debatable.
Honestly don't you people think it is time to break this country apart, and let the South have what it wants. Obviously a land free of anyone they deem to different and not "southern" enough. This is why I say the US is done, over. Time to move on. We don't belong in the same nation anymore. We probably never did belong in the same country. Just too different.
As if anyone willingly moves to Greenville, SC from LA, SF, or Seattle?
"Regular people" least want to be in the South. If it were their preferred location, then the real estate costs would reflect this.
Speaking very generally, people move to the South because it has dirt-cheap housing.
I know many who have moved South and had the dilemma of "... well now what?" after moving primarily because it's cheaper there. Well yeah it's cheaper for a reason...
The South is, without question, the least desirable part of the U.S., not the most desirable.
Yeah...I'd say that this sort of diatribe pretty much smacks of "hater."
"The Southeast has replaced California as the place where many people now go to find the American dream."
The article states that holiday travel patterns have shifted such that most people now travel from the Southeast to California or the Northeast. In the past, it was the other way around.
The article cites that the main reason is cost of living and/or warm climate. It also mentions that the politics of the South are becoming more liberal as a result.
As the invasion continues, the fleeing Californians and New Englanders will turn the southeast into the same high cost/high tax mess they fled because it never dawns on them that they and their needs and demands are the reasons the old state was such a mess.
Arizona. Calling the southeast a nightmare. That is funny.
Arizona is very different from the South.
People in the South tend to be very religious and have strong socially conservative attitudes and ideals. Southerners are also more exclusive and suspicious of outsiders, not to mention they don't particularly care for Yankees all that much, either.
Well, if any of that matters, Arizona has none of those issues. Arizona has a classic live-and-let-live Southwestern vibe -- very casual; polite (e.g., you'll rarely hear a car horn in Phoenix, despite it being the fifth or sixth largest city in the country); generally open-minded; tolerant, even if not approving; and although people can seem aloof, they are almost invariably pleasant if you talk first.
There's far less emphasis on religion and tradition in Arizona than in the South, so no one cares what religion you are or who you sleep with. There's also less emphasis on community, too, even in the smaller towns and rural areas, which gives Arizona more of a transient/rootless feel than much of the South.
Arizona's population consists primarily of out-of-towners -- most people in Arizona are from elsewhere originally, so no one cares where you're from, and no one uses the term "Yankee" outside of reference to the baseball team.
Although most people in Arizona vote Republican, they're more libertarian, if anything -- conservative on fiscal issues, but left-of-center of most social issues, save, perhaps, immigration. Personally, I encountered significantly less small-mindedness in Arizona than I did in Florida, Georgia, or Texas (the three Southern states in which I've lived) -- not only is Arizona more open than the South, it's populace is much more open-minded.
People in Arizona are more health-conscious, overall, than people in the South, too -- fewer smokers; less obesity; lower incidences of chronic diseases associated with obesity such as diabetes and hypertension; a much stronger focus on healthy, active lifestyles; a greater emphasis on lighter fare, consistent with the West Coast; more support for organic and health food stores, farmers markets, and community-supported agriculture; a general culture of extreme sports such as hiking, mountain biking, skiing/snowboarding, et al. Nature and the environment are more well-respected in Arizona than in the South as a whole, too.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
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