Mississippi is a prime example of what they like: weak labor laws that exploit workers and benefit land owners and industrialists, "tort reform" that actually doesn't cut into nuisance lawsuits, all it really does is put a cap on the amount of money you'll get to take care of yourself when some petty noble of a physician screws up and cuts off your arm during what was supposed to be gall gladder surgery. High grocery taxes, high car tag taxes. Super cheap cigarettes and plenty of nickel slot gambling, both of which appeals to desperate people looking for an escape. No money for health care, no money for education. Look at Mississippi, and look at our future.
One comment:
Kny said...
Look at Mississippi and look at the bottom rung of America. Our home state has turned out more famous entertainers, inventors and authors than most any other state... because Mississippians have no way or where to go but up. They typically thrive in the face of adversity. It is a state that has so much potential and promise, but at the end of the day you still have the same crooked, self interested politicos running the show so things will likely never really change a whole lot. Which is a pity
really.
I believe Mississippi is in bad economic shape, relatively speaking, because (a) its slavery-based economy never completely adapted to a wage-based economy during Reconstruction and (b) it has traditionally had a primarily agricultural economy, and there's not as much money in agriculture as there used to be.
ReplyDeleteI also think that many national leaders have a certain amount of contempt for Mississippi because of its history of racism (never mind that we also have the highest per capita black population of any state), and have used that as an excuse to punish Mississippians of all races by not giving us as much pork as we would otherwise have had.
I also think we've historically been cursed with inept state leadership. The long flap over slavery followed by segregation meant that an awful lot of people were elected because they were racists, and racists are not generally noted for having exceptional intelligence. To my mind, the first governor we had who could walk and chew gum at the same time was Bill Waller, and that was the early 1970s. Pretty much everybody who preceded him was dumb as a brick.
Lots to say about this.
ReplyDeleteAbout Mississippians who contribute so much to the culture: It's notable to me that most of these people are talented enough or fortunate enough to get out: to New Orleans, or Memphis, or LA, or Chicago.
About race: Look at the way our racial politics has been played since Reconstruction. Elites set middle- and working- class white people against middle- and working-class black people. The Southern Strategy wasn't something Kevin Phillips just pulled out of his hat in 1970. It was based on a pragmatic analysis of race relations over a long period of time.
Somewhere I have a link to a PBS Frontline that talks about Conservatives using Mississippi as a testing ground for political strategies.
And, I do think our history of racism is a factor in the contempt others have for Mississippi in general. As for the inept leadership, I have a hard time separating the ineptitude from the being greedy and playing dumb, at least for Mississippi political leaders in my lifetime.