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I certainly agree we have great people here in Kentucky. But aside from the anecdotal evidence, the hard evidence shows the problems with the south in general and Kentucky in particular.
For example, here are the bottom 10 states for high school diplomas:
Tennessee
Alabama
Kentucky
California
Rhode Island
North Carolina
West Virginia
Arkansas
Louisiana
Texas
Eight out of the bottom ten are in the south, including Kentucky.
So while I hate it as much as you do when people make fun of us, maybe the answer is to do what it takes to move us out of the bottom ten on all these lists.
The average nationwide was 86.5 and Kentucky was at 81.8, and while I agree we need to improve that is actually better than I expected. I am not sure where you got your data but that is the ranking I found which included New Mexico in the bottom 10 so it may be different.
Yeah, Kentucky is kind'a backwards. When the people of a state think their university exists for the purpose of fielding basketball teams, that's backwards. And when the guy who hands out the towels for that team dies and it's front page news for FOUR goddam days, that's backwards.
That would describe several universities from several states...not just Kentucky.
Here's my source for the data -- I'm sure there is some movement every year and we're probably looking at different years:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Only one southern state in the top 33 with Virginia at 15. No matter how you slice the figures -- and they can be sliced, no question -- it's not a pretty picture for the south in general or Kentucky in particular.
And I'm sure I could go right down the lists with regard to health issues, etc., unfortunately.
For example, the top ten in obesity:
West VA
Alabama
Mississippi
Michigan
Alaska
Kentucky
North Dakota
South Carolina
Tenn
Arkansas
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Again, seven out of the top ten are southern states, including Kentucky. (Not a single southern state in the bottom ten, btw.) Cancer incidents? There's Kentucky at #4. Teen birth rate? Kentucky at #14 with seven of the top ten being southern states.
And again, until we acknowledge these problems, we can't fix them.
The south in general is made fun of on the CT forum. They don't understand it so they make fun of it and put it down. I have lived all over NC and Georgia and parts of SC but I've only been uncomfortable one time around some young guys at a wholesale nursery I stopped at. It was a seen out of Deliverance and it happened two miles from my house in CT. These boys looked like they had never seen a woman or a shower. I left quickly. I've been to KY a lot due to my son at Ft Campbell and a lot of vacations and I've never run into anything that compared to that.
Let me correct my spelling "scene" It was a scene out of Deliverance, now I feel better.
If there is one child anywhere left behind, whether that child is in the richest county of our nation, or the poorest of the many poor counties of our nation, that is a terrible shame.
So long as remnants of LBJ's great society exist, there will be excuses by both politicians and the poor for why they are poor. I will sound harsh here, but until we recognize that we do no favors to the backwoods nor the ghettos by generous government dole outs, we will have great failures in our society.
until we recognize that we do no favors to the backwoods nor the ghettos by generous government dole outs, we will have great failures in our society.
I do agree with this statement, mostly... and in a political way..only I have a slightly different slant on it..As long as this is an imperfect society and people are of different personalities and levels of honesty we will always have those who are eager to take advantage of of the nations programs which are intended to be a "Handup" not a "hand out"..These people will not try to work because of their fear of losing that "check" (albeit so meager)The problem I see with the people who do not live in East Ky, but who put ALL the good people into the class of being illiterate, backwards and waiting for another handout should look outside their own backdoors..Yes unfortunately we ALL, here there and everywhere in this beautiful state, live in an imperfect society..We will always NEED a welfare system, simply because there are many, many productive, hardworking people who fall on hard times now and then due to reasons beyond their control..
We will always NEED a welfare system, simply because there are many, many productive, hardworking people who fall on hard times now and then due to reasons beyond their control..
You are so right. The key to your statement though is "hard times now and then." I agree 100% that we want to and will help, but we don't wish to make our help a permanent birth to death way of life.
Take Reagan's phrase... let's teach people not only how to fish, but that they can and must fish. Similar efforts will work in health care too.
The average nationwide was 86.5 and Kentucky was at 81.8, and while I agree we need to improve that is actually better than I expected. I am not sure where you got your data but that is the ranking I found which included New Mexico in the bottom 10 so it may be different.
That would describe several universities from several states...not just Kentucky.
Well I didn't say Kentucky was the only backwards place.
I read in the paper the other day that Kentucky ranks as the 48th state in income. That's backwards, hell, that pretty much defines backwards.
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