The South killed the safety net

[coldmountain]

37. Lively discussion over at Salon about this article

Here's a great post.

esmense 1 hour ago
@t.sopraon1 Actually, it is a result of a slave state past. The notion that there are basic resources, that encourage success, security, and upward mobility, for both the individual and the community, that ALL members of the community should share in and take responsibility for doesn't fly in the South -- because it undermines more traditional, slave state values of hierachy and rewards based in privilege and status rather than in work.

Southerners not only don't believe in a safety net, they don't believe that work is something that deserves reward -- which is why they object to labor rights, the notion of a living wage, etc., as violently as they do to a social safety net (that is, those that apply to those without privilege -- they are fine with government programs that mostly benefit the rich, because they support the success and promote the prosperity of the "right" people). Labor rights, living wage, safety net, are things that promote economic mobility -- and in the process undermine a system in which privilege and status is determined by who and what you are, rather than earned. (It is the value that most contributes to the regions poverty).

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/07/why_dont_americans_want_a_social_safety_net/