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So what are some note worthy comments about the south?
The South is like every other region in this country. You have good and bad everywhere. American people are more alike than they are different. Only ignorant people run down other regions because they either don't have a clue what they are talking about, or they are so insecure about themselves that they have to try to make others look bad to feel better about themselves.
Last edited by Scotty011; 03-23-2013 at 11:09 AM..
It's of my opinion that people aren't really qualified to make comments on certain states unless they have experience with them. It's entirely possible for people to be ignorant about regional things.
I went to Atlanta for a few days once and to New Orleans for Mardi Gras once so I do have some experience with the south.
States like Wyoming and Idaho are really no different than Mississippi or Georgia. They are social conservatives, and self proclaimed economic conservative (though they really aren't).
The Conservatives in the Mountain West don't thump the Bible quite as hard as far as wanting to push it on everyone else like Southern Conservatives do. But they do tend to be highly religious (in the generic aspect).
From my observation the mountain west type of conservatisim is more the "rugged individualism" type that probably comes from their ranching heritage. (Govt. cant tell ME what to do). The southern type is more based on religion, morals, and racial stuff due to their history and the fact that African Americans in the south actually constitute a real political presence.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
States like Wyoming and Idaho are really no different than Mississippi or Georgia. They are social conservatives, and self proclaimed economic conservative (though they really aren't).
The Conservatives in the Mountain West don't thump the Bible quite as hard as far as wanting to push it on everyone else like Southern Conservatives do. But they do tend to be highly religious (in the generic aspect).
Would generally agree, and the states with more Western and Cowboy traditions do seem to have a strong Libertarian streak running thru them, that often balances out a lot of that Fundamentalism. While Southerners may actually like having everyone "know their place" within the "natural order".... ranchers, cowboys and pioneer descendants, not so much.
People associate the south with conservatism. It includes states like Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and West Virginia.
Then there is a vast region in the North West also full of conservatives. States like Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana.
Is there any difference between the politicians of those two regions?
I don't really like my current governor in Florida, he's not the ideal conservative I am looking for...
Southern states are associated with some bad statistics, but I don't hear much about those north conservative states, although that could be due to their low population.
Southern conservatism is much more religiously based. In my experience with folks from the northeast, there are plenty of fiscal conservatives who are socially liberal, while the west is pretty libertarian in both respects.
Vast generalization, I know, but I think that covers it pretty well--again, just going off my experience with people from all three regions.
So what are some note worthy comments about the south?
I live in the South now but was born and raised in California.
The pace of life is slower and easier. There's little to no traffic and no pollution.
People are generally friendly and helpful.
The redneck stereotype is really fairly non-existent. They are around, but I've met very few of them. The stereotypical accent however is alive and going strong. I've picked up saying "y'all" myself since I've been here.
Unlike the liberals' cherished ideology, race relations are actually perfectly fine. Blacks and whites live in the same towns, work in the same places, shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, say hi to each other and open doors for each other. The racism that liberals love to go on and on about and feel so superior to simply doesn't exist. It certainly did 50 years ago but it's long gone.
There is a strange, to me anyway, custom that people call each other Mr/Mrs/Miss and the the first name. If you're John Smith then you won't be John or Mr Smith, you will be known as Mr John
The state is about 65/35 Republican/Democrat but the town I live in is more like 52/48 Democrat/Republican. Our Representative is a black Democrat, but he's a conservative Blue Dog Democrat, not progressive.
We actually have satellite TV, hot & cold running water, high speed internet, and electricity.
The buildings are mostly ancient. We have modern stores and businesses inside, but the outsides still look like something from the 1950s and we have a town square with a war memorial statue just like you'd expect from a rural Southern town. There's one hotel, a home depot, a belks department store, and a walmart. That's it as far as modern city type buildings.
There are a lot of churches and "what church do you go to?" is a common question people will ask just like people might ask where you work or what your favorite TV show is. However, church is mainly a social thing. When churches have events they are almost always open to the public and while people may go to one church on Sunday they may go to dinners or group meetings at many other churches. Many of the people who attend church weekly really have no interest at all in religion and purely do it to be part of the community. And people who don't go to Sunday services at all will usually have a church they will give as "their church". I go to 1st Presbyterian myself "officially" even though I haven't been in over a year.
There's almost literally no entertainment in town or in any of the surrounding towns. No bars, no clubs, no movie theaters, no concert venues, no shopping malls, no gym, only a couple of restaurants. There's a library but the entire stock of books fits in one room and you often have a waiting list a couple of months long to get a new book by a popular author. People get all their culture and recreation by going across the border into Florida. The kids tend to hang out at the Burger King since it's one of the few places open late.
The newspaper comes out twice a week and only covers local interest pieces. If you want national or world news you have to go buy the Atlanta Journal or the Tallahassee Democrat. There is no local TV or radio station. There is one radio station that covers about a 4-town area.
For some long-forgotten reason the town's called "Georgia's First Inland Port" which is sort of a point of local pride even though there is no port or even anything resembling one.
Outside of town there are farms as far as the eye can see. You can buy truly fresh produce harvested right here. Also pecan orchards, a horse farm, and some cotton fields.
So there's a little slice of life of what things are really like in a rural Southern town in 2013. All the hate and backwardness mentioned earlier in the thread is not a reality. It's a mix of the modern and the old fashioned. The people are certainly less sophisticated than you'd find in Atlanta but they make up for that with the famous Southern hospitality.
From my observation the mountain west type of conservatisim is more the "rugged individualism" type that probably comes from their ranching heritage. (Govt. cant tell ME what to do). The southern type is more based on religion, morals, and racial stuff due to their history and the fact that African Americans in the south actually constitute a real political presence.
Yea, the black presence in the South definitely accounts for some differences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mateo45
Would generally agree, and the states with more Western and Cowboy traditions do seem to have a strong Libertarian streak running thru them, that often balances out a lot of that Fundamentalism. While Southerners may actually like having everyone "know their place" within the "natural order".... ranchers, cowboys and pioneer descendants, not so much.
Very true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidkaos2
I live in the South now but was born and raised in California.
The pace of life is slower and easier. There's little to no traffic and no pollution.
People are generally friendly and helpful.
The redneck stereotype is really fairly non-existent.
.
Meh...the pace of life is just as slow all over America, not just the South. The rural South is no slower than the rural north or rural west.
People are generally friendly and helpful all over America. The South is no more friendlier than people in any other region of the country.
And to say that the redneck stereotype is nonexistent is ridiculous. Be serious.
A lot of southerners OPENLY profess to be rednecks. That doesn't mean they're bad, but it means they're rednecks.
What is it with people that move to the south and act as if the South is all perfection. It's just like everywhere else.
Last edited by Ibginnie; 03-23-2013 at 07:33 PM..
Reason: Deleted quoted post and reply
People associate the south with conservatism. It includes states like Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and West Virginia.
Then there is a vast region in the North West also full of conservatives. States like Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana.
Is there any difference between the politicians of those two regions?
I don't really like my current governor in Florida, he's not the ideal conservative I am looking for...
Southern states are associated with some bad statistics, but I don't hear much about those north conservative states, although that could be due to their low population.
frist of all: WV is not southern and you forgot a lot of other states that are very southern.. Now that I have done my rant, I will tell you, after living in CA, NM, TX, VA and now, AR conservatives are conservatives, that is all there is to it. No, they are not all that different. I think some southerners are still holding some prejudice against norhterners and blacks, they are more Bible belt mentality, so socially they are not as accepting, but you can see the same in Idaho, Utah and other states in the western Rocky mountain area. The more rural the state, the less diversity we see, thus people are not exposed to other life styles, as much. They are inclined to be more judgemental.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MightyGuy
Why should we let the South go to hell?
Southerners are still Americans.
Sure, but just like the muslim world and other "retrograde" places resistant to ""change", they basically gotta fix their own culture and come to some kinda terms with "modernism" on their own (within constitutional limits of course). And increasingly tech-oriented states like Georgia and NC are gradually helping with that "transition".
Though the irony is watching all these raging ''neanderthals'' (plus their muslim counterparts abroad) all hole up in their respective ''hillbilly hollers'', even as they resort to things like the internet and much of that same tech, in order to rant about ''elites'', "furiners", "lib-ruls", and the demise of ''the good old days''!
I think it is kind of pointless to attempt to differentiate southern conservatives and northern conservatives.
conservatives generally speaking are nearly the same in their ideology no matter where they reside.
conservatives are motivated by racial prejudice, this is not an opinion, but a fact that has been repeatedly measured over and over again.
Those who identify themselves as conservative are much more concerned about the changing racial demographics of this nation, they are much less likely to think that interracial marriage is a good thing. They are much more likely to hold a host of anti-black views. This is not projection. This is self identified conservative answering questions in polls.
conservatives are against gay marriage. They are against the Americans who don't pay income taxes. They are against a lot of groups of Americans.
conservatives everywhere generally hold backwards ideas that benefit the powerful few and people who look like them, and hurt everyone else.
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It's just like everywhere else.
