The Southern Brain

As a pacifist I believe most wars are a big mistake. I believe we should have let the South secede and our country would have benefited. Sure, the slaves were freed but it took another hundred years before racist treatment became unlawful (although any visit to the deep south will still sicken any egalitarian). The South fought bitterly against the passing of the Civil Rights Bill and democracy was raped with poll taxes, literacy tests a lawyer would have trouble passing,and intimidation of the black voter . They are almost totally responsible for the Equal Rights Amendment
not being passed because the mentality that could accept owning other humans is a mentality that is antithetical to democracy - the idea that people are equal. It has been my experience in my many trips to Texas that all the low-paying dirty jobs are done by African Americans and Mexicans. The churches do not seem to be integrated from my observation so I have no doubt the faith based initiatives are a bad idea especially in the South.

The South is a backward place. In education the South makes up the lowest ranks. In the 44 standards used to judge the liveability of a place (things such as crime, high school graduation, per capita personal income, median household income, expenditures for education as a percent of all state and local government expenditures, books in public libraries etc.) the South again fills the bottom rungs. The Southern states (except for Texas) all receive more federal funds than they pay in taxes. The South claims it has the most advantageous climate for industry but that is because Unions are not allowed. Arkansas based Walmart mirrors the southern view on employees.

So my question is this. Why do the Southern Republican states get to dictate our nations agenda? Why do we go to the South to get so many of our Presidents when the area is responsible for pulling down the nation's standard of living average? In my lifetime we have had Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Bush and Brush.