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I lived in GA for many years and the most educated people in the state of GA live in metro Atlanta and metro Savannah. Both of those cities have a ton of "educated liberals" as does Baton Rouge, LA and New Orleans, LA.
In regards to WV, it actually is not a heavily educated state in general. And this is not a knock on WV as I have family who live there, but it is not a state known for its colleges/universities or for having a highly educated populace. Its neighbor to the east - Virginia, is different being that it has a large educated populace, which is one of the reasons it has become a "purple" state over the last 2-4 election cycles.
This and add Virginia and NC to the mix that counters the OP opinion. Red states overall but cities/counties where the educated populace overwhelmingly vote blue (e.g., Fairfax county in VA, Wake, Durham, Orange county in NC).
It's the reality of flyover country. They call the West Coast and Northeast "educated elitists". They want jobs but they don't have the education to attract companies. West Virginia is waiting for coal to return even though it's been declining for decades. Trump played to them specifically saying "I love the uneducated!" They weren't offended by that at all.
And they demean themselves by calling it "flyover country?" I know what you're getting at, however, and yes there are liberal/progressives in the interior of our country. The vast concentration of them are on the coasts, however. Oh, yeah, and Chicago, etc.
Voters in WV stated they supported Trump in part because he would bring back coal and all those high paying coal jobs.
Hard to imagine an educated person believing this.
If coal mining ever does come back, and that looks unlikely, it will be done by giant machines with very few high paying jobs. WV residents would be ruining their mountains and poisoning their rivers for a few, short-term jobs.
Would be? They already are. Fracking is the new WV Coal mine.
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Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler
It's generally accepted that liberals tend to be better educated than conservatives. Others have posted the stats, and I'll give you the reason for why the stats fall the way they do. The republican party has gone all out to win over the once traditionally democratic voter - especially in the South. These voters tended to be blue collar workers with decent factory jobs back in the 60's and early 70's. They didn't need a fancy college degree because American corporations still believed in hiring and TRAINING Americans. What a concept!
Alas, then Reagan came along with his trickle down get rich quick con and Clinton fell in love with the billionaire class while Trump was still just a slumlord struggling to get invited to the right kind of cocktail party over in Manhattan. Together, Reagan and Clinton did a really nasty take down of the American working class. Both implemented policies that weakened the social safety net and gave the big corporations the high five sign to take off for the race to the global bottom. Once Sam Walton got his first factory staffed by Chinese children working 16 hour days for 2 cents an hour, there was no looking back. Ain't globalization grand?
American workers in the South and the rustbelt quite rightly felt betrayed by their political leaders and they felt most betrayed by the democrats when the Clinton administration turned its back on American workers. Those high paying jobs and all those goods with the proud label "Made in the USA" became things of the past. Working class folk who were middle aged and older were plumb out of luck, and even for the younger generation it wasn't (and isn't) pretty.
Unfortunately, the rural South never did see the need to get all that interested in education. They'd gotten by on a 3rd grade education for at least 200 years if not longer and saw no need to change now. In fact, republicans in general and Southern republicans in particular have developed a down right aversion to any sort of learning at all. The Evangelicals don't want their kids getting any bright ideas about evolution and deserting the Baptist Church; the Fundamentalists become bitterly angry over the very idea of being "enslaved" by paying a modest tax to educate their own children, never mind some one else's. And finally, the billionaire class has realized that uneducated people can be led around like the sheeple they really are and the upper 1% has funded a massive disinformation campaign against science along with an all out assault on teachers, schools, and libraries. Let the book burnings begin! Thus the uneducated, republican Southern voter.
Urban dwellers tend to be nearer such amenities like colleges and universities and can attend performances and exhibitions featuring the fine arts. The denser population in cities means - among other things - much more competition for available jobs. The idea of getting an education comes to urban dwellers on both coasts far more easily.
And the upper 1% is right about one thing, anyhow - knowledge is power. Educated people are much harder to turn into sheeple. They don't vote to give the upper 1% even more obscene tax exemptions while at the same time voting to allow deregulated banking giants throw seniors out of their homes for falling .27 cents behind on their mortgage payment as happened in the great recession. These days, not supporting the billionaire class makes you a democrat and you have a diploma to prove it.
I grew up in rural AL and two of my best friends and neighbors had parents that had not advanced beyond third grade. However, both the men worked at a Monsanto Plant and they lived very well - in a nice suburban neighborhood with two vehicles, etc. The women stayed home - not a bad life at all.
They were rigid Southern Baptists who I adored - except when they tried to tell me how I was going to hell.
None of my old friends from back there went to college. Exactly NONE.
But the Monsanto days are over - living that well on a third grade education.
And they demean themselves by calling it "flyover country?"
Look, I grew up in middle America. The only thing my hometown has going for it right now is an Air Force base; a couple of universities, one of which is sadly embroiled in financial scandal; and, like a lot of down-and-out Rust Belt cities, a growing craft beer industry. It's called a flyover city for good reason. The term is realistic, but it does give rise to a subset of educated liberals, most of whom eventually end up leaving for greener pastures. I still live in middle America, but now I reside in what is called a fly-in city, which is an equally appropriate moniker.
Last edited by randomparent; 09-20-2017 at 12:13 PM..
Would be? They already are. Fracking is the new WV Coal mine.
I grew up in rural AL and two of my best friends and neighbors had parents that had not advanced beyond third grade. However, both the men worked at a Monsanto Plant and they lived very well - in a nice suburban neighborhood with two vehicles, etc. The women stayed home - not a bad life at all.
They were rigid Southern Baptists who I adored - except when they tried to tell me how I was going to hell.
None of my old friends from back there went to college. Exactly NONE.
But the Monsanto days are over - living that well on a third grade education.
My ancestors are mostly from Texas and every sermon ended with "you will burn in hell for all eternity if you sin!" Sin included everything from dancing to creating lust in someone else's heart. It's a very disturbing culture in the middle and southern states. They can have it.
Look, I grew up in middle America. The only thing my hometown has going for it right now is an Air Force base; a couple of universities (one of which is sadly embroiled in financial scandal); and, like a lot of down-and-out Rust Belt cities, and a growing craft beer industry. It's called a flyover city for good reason. The term is realistic, but it does give rise to a subset of educated liberals, most of whom eventually end up leaving for greener pastures. I still live in middle America, but now I reside in what is called a fly-in city, which is an equally appropriate moniker.
Again, I understand what you are saying. It is just more evidence that our society has moved to cities, and continues to URBANIZE. Not just inner cities, but metro areas/suburbs. To me this is a scary trend, as for whatever reason people become even more liberal/progressive in metro areas.
I see the divide more urban/metro vs. semi rural/rural/small town.
And they demean themselves by calling it "flyover country?" I know what you're getting at, however, and yes there are liberal/progressives in the interior of our country. The vast concentration of them are on the coasts, however. Oh, yeah, and Chicago, etc.
LOL, I live in Ohio and our entire state is considered "flyover country." Nothing wrong with saying it.
We have a lot of liberals in Ohio, especially in our urban areas. It is one of the reasons why we are a "swing" state. We have more urban areas than most other states.
And Chicago is considered "flyover country" too since it is between the east and west coasts.
There are a lot of liberals in the midwest.
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