Mississippi has a lower HDI (Human Development Index) than Puerto Rico

[OriolesBuccaneers]

Puerto Rico's HDI (Human Development Index) is higher than two U.S. states, Mississippi and West Virginia.

The HDI is a summary composite measure of a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, education and standard of living.

Source: [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_Human_Devel opment_Index_score[/url]

[Southern man]

Connecticut, No comment necessary.

[OriolesBuccaneers]

Originally Posted by Southern man

Connecticut, No comment necessary.

Exactly. Connecticut's HDI is second in the nation.

[MrDee12345]

Originally Posted by Southern man

Connecticut, No comment necessary.

I don't understand your comment.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by MrDee12345

I don't understand your comment.

He's saying that once again a Yankee (from Connecticut) is taking a pot shot at the South, a place the former long have considered backward and ignorant.

[Suesbal]

A Connecticut Troll in City-Data’s Court..

[Jardine8]

Let me guess here: a made-up metric by a left-wing "academic" think tank is used as part of a study (paid for using my tax dollars via a government "grant", no doubt) and then the "findings" published to a Wikipedia article and presented as "facts". Ah, yes, that's obviously going to be legit.

Look, we get it - Leftists in academia and Leftists in general on the East Coast, West Coast and in the North absolutely hate us (Mississippi) and view us a "problem" and as a backwards community and a source of embarrassment to the country. We don't need you trolling here for us to understand that. Stuff like this is why so many Mississippians dismiss the opinions of outsiders who have probably never even visited the state.

[Listener2307]

I had never heard of HDI.
So I looked up up. Sounds reasonable to me; "The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country." (LINK)


And guess which country is at the very top (follow the link).
The US. If there is one thing Americans can do if they like, it's move. People can live wherever they want in America. So if someone is unhappy in Mississippi they can move somewhere else. And they do! Lots of people move away.
Anther good example of people moving away from a place they don't like is Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020 they lost about 100,000 people.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

I had never heard of HDI. So I looked up up. Sounds reasonable to me; "...their capabilities (by demonstrated and measured outcomes?) ..."

This was my response so thanks for doing the legwork.
Meh on their flourishy 'ultimate' ... but the underlying objective metrics aren't any sort of secret.

[bus man]

The Human Development Index has its place in sociological research, but it's not the be-all and end-all. Compare the list of states by HDI:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...nt_Index_score

With this list of states ranked by Net Domestic Migration between April 2020 (the start of the COVID pandemic) and July 2022.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._net_migration

One would think that people would want to move to states with a higher Human Development Index and move out of states with a lower one, but in fact it's nearly the opposite. Of the 15 highest states for HDI, only ONE of them -- Utah -- is in the top 15 states for Net Domestic Migration. Conversely, of the 15 lowest HDI states (plus Washington, DC), only THREE of them -- Ohio, Michigan, and Louisiana -- are also in the states with the lowest Net Domestic Migration. Apparently, having a higher development index is not a magnet that draws people to live somewhere. In fact, it seems to repel them.

My theory is that it's not HDI, but rather politics, and the impact that it has on people's daily lives, that is driving the migration numbers. Liberals might be good at creating societies that rank well on the HDI list, but they're also good at creating policies that drive people, at least the non-elite people, away.

To be sure, Mississippi could stand to improve its rankings, both for HDI and for Net Domestic Migration. It, along with Louisiana and Virginia, are the only Southern states to have a negative Net Domestic Migration on this list. But I wouldn't stay up nights worrying about what people in Connecticut might think of you. They have their own issues to sort through.