Why is mississippi so horrible? (Jackson, Vicksburg: public school, casino, income)

[peppermint]

Originally Posted by Innotech

I was calling other areas of the country xenophobic, because they are.
Segregation and racism are at ridiculously intolerably high levels in other parts of the country. It doesnt exist to nearly the same degree down here. Not even close. I was appalled at how racist people are up North for example. But people dont see the forest for the trees. They pretend that everyone gets along up there while the minority groups are starving in a corner in the inner cities. But thats ok because nobody can see it. THey make sure of that.

Um, ok. That's not my experience. Which cities/states "up North" are you calling more racist than MS? I feel like I should remind you that majority groups are also starving in corners of inner cities. Inner cities all over the country are bad. I wasn't thinking of inner cities when I mentioned racism. True, it exists everywhere, but where I grew up in MS, blacks and whites rarely lived next door. Where we lived in PA, we were the only whites on our street. Our neighbors were black, Hispanic, and Asian, and we lived in a middle class neighborhood. I have not seen that in my hometown in MS, and I'm not sure I will.

[GrandviewGloria]

Originally Posted by randy8876

It's nice of you to explain what a troll is, but unfortunately you've applied it incorrectly.

I carefully listed 11 things that I don't like about the state. They are all legitimate complaints, and I received several PM's from people agreeing, and a couple people on here throwing a temper tantrum and calling names.

The best part is nobody has disagreed with the list I wrote. People are just upset that someone acknowledged how bad off this state is.

I think you just described what certain posters here find most offensive about you. Nothing upsets Mississippians more than someone's being analytical. Got me in trouble a lot, and my husband even moreso, until a former Governor took us aside, and taught us how to 'good-ol'-boy' people (yes, it's a Verb). Analytical Thought is something to be ashamed of, and to be hidden, in Mississippi.

I'm open to theories on why that is. My guess would be that it is a result of a culture once centered around dealing with the help. Once I'd crawled out of our little mudhole of a village, and was surrounded by Middle Class people, I kept hearing "Never tell one of them what not to do. Because that's what they'll remember, and that's exactly what they will do." Also, I'd hear "Never let your right hand know what the left is doing."

Apparently, dealing with the help was not easy. My best friend is a Delta Aristocrat who grew up in desperate circumstances, because her Uncle told their best Tractor Driver not to burn the weeds by the Bridge. He burned the weeds by the bridge, of course. It was a large wooden bridge belonging to the Government, and that disaster was the coup de grace that collapsed her Great-Grandfather's highly-leveraged plantation empire, like a house of cards. No swimming at the Country Club for my friend...no Delta Debutante Cotillion...no sorority...Undergrad Degree from the podunk college where we met, rather than Ole Miss...not even money for a proper church wedding (when you're broke, you 'elope')....all because her uncle thought their best Tractor Driver had enough sense to not do what he'd been told not to do. The local culture is built upon two centuries worth of bitter lessons like that. So you can't really blame people for being as they are.

The ideal in Mississippi seems to be to keep one's mouth running continuously, without conveying anything of substance. Substance is considered bad form, as is Critical Analysis. Again, I don't think one can blame anyone. It's a Celtic culture, and as my Decorator says, "Celtic people use words to amuse and manipulate, rather than to instruct or communicate." Wish he'd told be that twenty years ago. Would have saved me a lot of wondering.

[randy8876]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

I think you just described what certain posters here find most offensive about you. Nothing upsets Mississippians more than someone's being analytical. Got me in trouble a lot, and my husband even moreso, until a former Governor took us aside, and taught us how to 'good-ol'-boy' people (yes, it's a Verb). Analytical Thought is something to be ashamed of, and to be hidden, in Mississippi.

I've noticed that a lot. I was raised in WA state, so I'm used to the way people think in that region. From there I spent 18 months in the most academically challenging school the Navy had, so I got used to be surrounded by fairly bright critical thinkers. Then I went to Hawaii and worked with those people and outside of work most of my friends were still west coast style critical thinking college students.

I like analytical people, even if they disagree with me. My friends and I disagree a lot on politics and social issues, but they still have respect for my views since it's all well thought out. But the type of answers I hear in MS are usually "just because it's what I think" or "I don't know why, I just think it's that way" or "you're wrong and I'm right, HEY EVERYBODY THIS GUY IS WRONG!!!" It reminds me of talking with very young children.

I'm more than willing to accept that it's the culture here. Which is why I'm more than willing to leave. During my time here I'll offend more than a few people with my way of thinking, but that's just my way of venting and hoping to stumble across some individuals that are still willing to think(for lack of a better word) for themselves.

[covedweller]

I love the smell of fried chicken and cheap perfume in the morning......

[pandorafan5687]

Mississippi, is alot of country, It's probably best for those who like country living. I found Biloxi to be quite enjoyable, and it seems to have a nice selection of casinos to pick from.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by randy8876

I've noticed that a lot. I was raised in WA state, so I'm used to the way people think in that region. From there I spent 18 months in the most academically challenging school the Navy had, so I got used to be surrounded by fairly bright critical thinkers. Then I went to Hawaii and worked with those people and outside of work most of my friends were still west coast style critical thinking college students.

I like analytical people, even if they disagree with me. My friends and I disagree a lot on politics and social issues, but they still have respect for my views since it's all well thought out. But the type of answers I hear in MS are usually "just because it's what I think" or "I don't know why, I just think it's that way" or "you're wrong and I'm right, HEY EVERYBODY THIS GUY IS WRONG!!!" It reminds me of talking with very young children.

I'm more than willing to accept that it's the culture here. Which is why I'm more than willing to leave. During my time here I'll offend more than a few people with my way of thinking, but that's just my way of venting and hoping to stumble across some individuals that are still willing to think(for lack of a better word) for themselves.

I actually noticed this too reading this thread. My thoughts as a complete outsider: While you received many personal attacks as well as attacks about generalizations in your post, I did not see anyone actually attempting to refute any of the items on your list with any kind of credible evidence. The only attempt was the one post showing Hawaii's crime rate to be higher than Mississippi's, though I failed to see how that was significant to the argument that Mississippi had crime problems.

It'd be nice to see some actual advocacy for the state of Mississippi, but it is not apparent on this thread.

[jacksonian]

Originally Posted by Bluefoxwarrior

I actually noticed this too reading this thread. My thoughts as a complete outsider: While you received many personal attacks as well as attacks about generalizations in your post, I did not see anyone actually attempting to refute any of the items on your list. The only attempt was the one post showing Hawaii's crime rate to be higher than Mississippi's, though I failed to see how that was significant to the argument that Mississippi had crime problems.

It'd be nice to see some actual advocacy for the state of Mississippi, but it is not apparent on this thread.

This particular thread was heading in the wrong direction from the first post. Any attempt to bring it back to decency is a waste of time.

Move along people, nothing to see here.

[covedweller]

Originally Posted by Bluefoxwarrior

The only attempt was the one post showing Hawaii's crime rate to be higher than Mississippi's, though I failed to see how that was significant to the argument that Mississippi had crime problems.

There is no denying MS, along with the United States as a whole, has crime problems. The point of my post was to show that, although Randy paints MS as some seemingly 3rd world country (as was previously pointed out) when compared to other areas he's graced with his presence, the crime statistics (statistics he himself posted), show there is little if any material difference in overall crime rates as compared to MS. As far as refuting other areas of his post, it really is a waste of time. You can read between the lines and get an idea of his psychological makeup to come up with a good read on his personality. Doing so will lead you to realize he'll never agree with anything contrary to his own expert opinion (as evidenced by his thinking the US will miss his $20K per year economic impact once he moves overseas). For instance, when he says no one is willing to come in and invest in our state, I could point out companies like Nissan, Toyota, Northrop, EADS, MGM/Grand, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney etc. would seem to disagree, but I'm sure it would do nothing to change Randy's opinion.

[randy8876]

I'm well aware that $20k a year isn't much. But it's another loss, and is this case it's $20k from the US taxpayer as it's my retirement pay. I didn't include any other income (as it would be pure speculation) And while you think it's better to lose people that dump money into your state and keep the the leeches you have the right to that opinion. It's why MS is evolving into such a wonderful place.

Yes, some businesses are coming here. But overall your cities seem to all be dieing, much like Detroit. And much like the people of Detroit you get angry and deny anything is wrong when outsiders mention how screwed up it is.

And as far as crime, MS is mostly rural, as nearly everyone agrees. But the crime rates don't reflect what I've experienced in other rural places.
A quick check shows that cities in America with a population of 40k-45k have an average crime rate of 3249/100k. You can download the FBI UCR's and put the info into Excel if you'd like to verify.

Here are MS cities, crime rates and population:

Meridian 5582/100k 40k people
Jackson 8405/100k 184k people
Gulfport 6420/100k 71k
Vicksburg 7855/100k 26k
Biloxi 6279/100k 50k
Hattiesburg 4832/100k 45k
Tupelo 5351/100k 34k
Greenville 6192/100k 42k


As you can see the similar sized cities all have major issues when compared to the American average.

[thrillobyte]

Try shopping online. You won't have to pay sales tax, so maybe you can apply the savings to an extra t-shirt with a nice little logo. Since you are a 21 year old worldy (or at least southernly) individual, I assume you know how to use the internet.

Lowky still owes Miss. a "use" tax for whatever he/she purchases online. Miss. may not have the resources to collect it but they sure as heck need the money down there and the revenue would probably help to bring in the stores Lowky so desperately wants, not to mention rebuild what Katrina wrought. It's a matter of honor, IMHO, to help one's resident state as much as they are legally and morally obligated to.