These 9 Maps Should Absolutely Outrage Southerners

[Cali_Democrat]

The Huffington Post | by Emily Cohn

Look, there are lots of things to love about the South. It's clean and quiet. There's delicious food, good people and often amazing weather. But that's exactly why it makes us so sad to think about all the ways in which the region is struggling today.

First off, poverty rates are a lot higher in the South.


In fact, as many as one in four Southern kids lives in poverty, compared to the national average of one in five. In the map above, red shading indicates a poverty rates between 17.9 and 22.8 percent. Orange indicates 15.9 to 17.8 percent; light orange, 12.2-15.8 percent; pale yellow, 9 to 12.1 percent. As you can see, there's a lot of high-poverty red in the South.

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And minimum wages are much lower.



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And people living in the South are a lot less likely to move up the economic ladder.


If you want to achieve the American Dream, don't move to the South. That's because states in the South have extremely low levels of economic mobility. In the map above, pale yellow represents places with higher mobility, while red indicates low mobility.

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Many living in poverty in the South are being denied access to affordable health care.


States that didn't choose to expand Medicaid under Obamacare are highlighted in lighter gray.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/maps-of-the-south-bad-place_n_4855191.html

[Bandit]

1. You have those all wrong. According to Paul Ryan all of that is caused by lazy black men

in the inner cities. Funny how the Media never questions what Republicans say or ask them if what Republicans say is true, why is it that every state that is dominated by Republicans is more likely to have more poor people, more uneducated people, higher mortality rates, and higher teen pregnancy rates. Either they don't practice what they preach or what they Preach is horse shit.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Yep....these are solidly red states

Using their logic, shouldn't those states be the most prosperous in the nation because they strictly follow the GOP ideology?

[npk]

6. Ryan is smart enough to know that his "kind" of people benefit...

...by keeping so many people in red states ignorant. The rich and elite members of the GOP have always used race, bigotry, and fear as footholes to keep people in the south from rejecting the very ideas and principles that go against their interests

Do you think Paul Ryan really believes what he says? Do you think Ryan's kids don't have access to quality healthcare and a good education, oh yes they do. If ever the majority of the people in these red states and primarily conservatives in the south would wake up and see how different their beloved leaders are living compared to how they are living then we might just start to see some positive change.

[greatlaurel]

20. Great point!

How do we get the message out? You are correct, but so much media and the churches they attend are all invested in keeping these people ignorant of how they are being used.

[npk]

3. I've been trying to relocate but it's hard once you have lived in the south for so long

I wish I had stayed in California but I moved because of my job. While my pay has gone up it is sometimes hard to justify the ends.

It sucks that knowing the south will always be last in quality of life and moving towards a progressive future

We will be last when it comes to:

Democratic majority.
Affordable healthcare
Living wage
Legalizing gay marriage
Legalizing pot

And so on

[Blanks]

9. Hey, we are gonna legalize marijuana in Arkansas. It should be on the ballot again...

And it was close to passing in 2012.

[npk]

16. Is that medical marijuana or full legalization

If it is full legalization than that is very good news. I fear my state Georgia, will struggle just to make medical marijuana legal.

[Blanks]

18. Just medical. eom

[Fumesucker]

4. All the fault of ultra liberals who alienate moderates and force them to vote for Republicans

[geek tragedy]

5. no, it's the third way democrats in the south who don't realize

that the only reason people vote Republican down there is because there isn't a socialist alternative

[Fumesucker]

7. Max Cleland, a white Southern triple amputee vet, got morphed into Osama bin Laden in a political ad

Anyone not-Republican gets lambasted with the very same liberal labeling down here. They dialed the Mighty Wingnut Wurlitzer to eleven and broke off all the knobs a long time ago.

John Lewis for instance is another Congressman from Georgia.

And then there's my Congressman.. http://hankjohnson.house.gov/

[geek tragedy]

8. there are obvious reasons why Johnson and Lewis get elected

with their liberal voting records . . .

[npk]

17. It was disgusting what they did to Max Cleland.

I remember that very well. They basically tried to portray Cleland as anti-american. A man who gave his life and lost limbs was attacked by that piece of shit Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss makes me sick every time I see his face.

[Bonhomme Richard]

10. Based on the Republican Party Platform.

The truth of the matter is that these maps can be read as the Republican Party Platform. This is what they want to export to the rest of the nation.

[LuvNewcastle]

21. That's it! If you want to see the country's future under GOP

leadership, come down South. People who vote Republican but don't like the South need to open their eyes.

[DirtyDawg]

11. We're just...

...a bunch of frogs that been stewing in this mess for decades...we're already 'cooked', dead, and might as well be buried. Don't look for much good to come out of the south for generations. And in case you didn't realize it, we did it to ourselves - those that devour the earth...and those that stand by and watch em do it.

[NightWatcher]

12. and a map that explains a lot of these things

One of the main tenets of religion being not to focus on this world, but be good, and in the ever-after you'll get a solid gold house in the clouds.

Sounds like a pretty good way to get people on the bottom to stay on the bottom.

[quakerboy]

13. Why would they be outraged?

They have the government they want, collectively. Sure, there are progressives in the mix, who dont want it, but overall, the voters in the southern states have been proving that the things represented on these maps are exactly what they want, year after year, for decades.

[Leith]

14. They Blame Liberals for All the Bad

and take credit for what is good. And the ignorant voters believe them. Go figure.

[Fumesucker]

19. Welcome to DU

Stick around for a while, you'll find the South is not the only place where there is a real loathing of liberals.

[Leith]

24. Don't I Know It!

Some people in Nevada are downright scary.

[bkanderson76]

15. I don't really know if these graphs would outrage the average southerner....they

are really quite content they can use their food stamps to buy the bait they fish with.....its a win-win situation.

[Fumesucker]

22. Bless your heart

After relieving yourself of that post of anger and spite you could really use a

[cordelia]

23. Really?

Pretty callous. And highly misinformed.

[Tsiyu]

25. But, but, The South Will Rise Agin!

Yes, it is frustrating living here. The politicians use the people and their resources to help their rich cronies, but all they have to do is say "Jeebus" and the people here line up to vote for them. "FOX Noos Thankin'" is as ubiquitous as the Baptist Church. FOX tells these people what to think and they believe they have a secret only FOX will tell them!

But I have to laugh at those Southerners who swear they are "gonna take over the country and set it Raht!"

Those pistol-packing rebs think they have all the answers ( basically Jeebus, racism and gunz ) and they actually believe that they are gonna spread their low income, high divorce rate, high death rate around the nation. Don't the rest of you wanna make shit wages too for Jeebus 'n gunz?

It cracks me up sometimes, even though I do love so many people here. You just have to scratch your head at these "courageous patriots" who are too timid to ask for decent wages, who won't go after the corporations that frack their water to shit and poison their Gulf, but by Gawd they are gonna take on the rest of you very soon!

It's crazy making stuff. I will eventually leave this area because I cannot make any sort of decent living here, and I'm getting too old to kill myself for crap money. I've tried waking some of them up, but they only trust FOX Noos to tell them the "truth."

It truly is sad, Third World livin' here in the Bobble Belt. The politicians love it, though. They make a killing off ignorance and Jeebus.

[Historic NY]

26. They keep voting Republican...

and hope they hit the lottery. The south has always been about the haves keeping the have nots in check.