General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 5 Things Red State Liberals Want Blue State Liberals To Know [View all]mentalslavery
(463 posts)Did 8 years there....left about a year ago. Its amazing how the conservative propaganda affects people, even highly educated people. I have a couple of friends who I visited about a month ago and they were generally conservative before or moderate libs (for mis), but now they are raging teabaggers. The worst part is that they teach, so they are passing their bullshit off to the next generation. Just 7 months without any pushback from me and they have become total lunatics....I mean shit like LBJ created black dependency via great society programs...ETC. And these people teach history to kids in basically all-black schools.
Overall, it was a depressing experience and I, like most other libs, left. The fight just seemed to be largely a waste of time and I felt like I could get more bang for my buck (so to speak), somewhere else. And that, my friends, is a major problem, one that I am guilty of participating in (to those who would attack me for this as tom hartman would say-tag your it). Mis has both the brain-drain phenomena and the lib-drain phenomena. All my lib students could not wait to get out and would secretly pull me aside to talk about the north as if we where having some dirty conversation and all my conservative students refused to visit anywhere north of ten. or west of texas. All the libs that decided to stay, largely became dormant libs....out in the sense that they would not deny being libs but not really involved in politics...or scared to do too much because of their careers (and these are academic libs who should theoretically be the most protected of all libs).
Its one of the structural problems the continues to plague the south (speaking as an outsider, that become and insider, who is now an outsider). I dont say any of this to demean the south (there are parts that I miss bout mis) but to offer my unique insights as a yankee passerby. And to the peeps from Idaho who think their state is similar I would say, not in a million years. Im in your area now, teaching kids from idaho (and visiting around the area to get a lay of the land) and a conservative from idaho is basically the equivalent to a moderate lib in Mis. There really is no place like the deep south, what I call the cultural south (LA, MS, AL, GA) and you have to experience it for a while to really understand all the issues and its difficult for southern libs who have never left and lived in a deep blue state to grasp. Personally, as someone who travels and spends a lot of time in different regions of this country I think will all need to get out a little more. Blue state libs are blind to this or that, red state libs are blind to this or that.... To scuba or any other red state lib who might be reading this post, if you have never lived in a deep blue state for over 5 years after the age of 18, the best way to help your state might be to get out for a bit and come back. The only problem with this advice is that you might not come back.
All things being equal I think the bright light in the darkness is that within time, things will change in Mis. I was impressed with my students, especially the conservative ones, who did not want to fight the culture wars anymore. I remember teaching a class on the quad (drill field) about the concept of moral entrepreneurs (groups whose business is morality) in front of one of those groups that demonizes homosexuals and it was my most conservative students who showed up to class with bible in hand for the big "bible-off" and used scripture to pushback. Not exactly how I would prefer to pushback as I prefer arguments based in logic and law but it was still probably one of the most significant teaching experiences I've ever had and one of my proudest moments. They used what they had, what they were familiar with, to fight back and they did it in public.
In the end, I guess all I can really say is (cap lock trigger warning) THANK GOD FOR DU! I can honestly say that at times, this place was all I had during some of my hardest times in mis.