General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Would the nation be better off if the south would go away? [View all]Nay
(12,051 posts)in Florida, which is only Southern in name, except for the north part, central FL, and the panhandle (those areas were the real South). I've lived in southern states (TN, VA, AL, GA) for most of my life due to family and job pressures, but I felt free and happy only in non-southern states (MT, CO, WA) and in Canada. It's hard to explain to folks who haven't experienced it exactly how the religious, social and racial indoctrination blankets your life if you grow up in the South. I missed a lot of it only because my parents were not Southern, and they were careful to correct some of the godawful nonsense I heard in school, from 'friends,' etc.
The ignorance is the worst problem, IMO. The number of southerners who have not ever been outside their home state shocked me. (Just my anecdotal observation.) Churches are little more than indoctrination centers, and they make sure that they are literally the only social outlet for millions of people. I also heard plenty about how black people were stupid, smelly, dirty (dark skin automatically signaled 'dirt' to an unholy number of people, apparently because of the fairy tale/Bible/historical linking of black or dark with 'bad' and white or light with 'good'). All in all, large numbers of southerners seem wedded to such primitive associations, and are moved by them. That's why the crafty preachers and self-serving politicians do so well here -- the audience is totally primed for them. Of course, all humans are subject to the same sort of emotional manipulation, but the degree of civilization expressed by a society is directly related to the ability of the people in that society to understand and moderate their own emotional responses with their intellects rather than let their emotions always run their actions. IMO, a more civilized society recognizes that humans can be manipulated in ugly ways, and rather than set up structures that glorify and exploit that trait, it tries its hardest to set up structures that moderate that trait - like science-based schooling, public debunking, keeping religion out of govt, etc.
Another factor that no one has mentioned is the Scotch/Irish factor, so well-explained by a couple of southerners, Jim Webb of VA and Joe Bageant of VA. It's way too much to put in a post, but googling either of these guys will give you plenty of info.
It would be an interesting experiment to separate the regions and fast-forward 100 years, but it ain't gonna happen unless we have a total meltdown of some sort, which we may just be heading for. I'm old enough to be pretty sanguine about the human race's chances -- it may or may not do well, and IMO we are just as likely to degenerate into nastiness and brutality as we are to advance to the stars -- and my only regret is that I didn't move to Canada when I had the chance.