Because there are not enough threads about the South on here lately...

[Cirque du So-What]

38. Regional chauvinism on DU has long been a sore spot with me

and I'm glad to see that the issue is again receiving a lot of attention. More than any other type of squabbling amongst ourselves, there is perhaps no more effective means of creating division than making 'witty' comments about specific regions of the country - and, by extension - all those who live there or hail from there. It's a highly personal attack that ranks right up there with race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin. Other types of discriminatory remarks aren't tolerated on DU, so why are state/regional remarks given a pass - ever? It's a question I've been asking for years now, but it still continues. I hope that at least one admin weighs in on this - in a highly public manner - before this festering boil comes to a head...once again.

Anything that creates strife among the poor, the working poor, the middle class and the upper middle class is just fine with the 1%, who fear our unity as much as losing all their money (and THAT'S WHY they fear our unity). A cursory glance at history (for purposes of my argument, the so-called 'Gilded Age' specifically) reveals that the 1% plays an active role in fostering this divisiveness, so I consider those who insist upon maintaining their this bigoted attitudes to be unwitting tools of the 1%; they're certainly doing themselves no favors.

Some choose to pat themselves on the back for the 'achievement' of living in a virtual paradise that is utterly above reproach in any & all ways. A clue: it's not helpful - at all. Mere residence in a so-called 'liberal oasis' counts for nothing - as though its virtues get absorbed by its residents through osmosis. Touting one's place of residence over all others makes no more sense than claiming that descent from some great historical figure makes *you* great, and it is in fact a form of chauvinism - despite reluctance to recognize or admit it. Whether or not it gets recognized it comes across as, 'my dog's better than your dog' - ad nauseam- and if civility were used as a measuring stick, many would be found sorely deficient.