This is pretty damning for the South. I have to ask: is there a connection between all these quality of life issues where the South comes in very low and often dead last and the fact that they are not just red states, but hard right tea party strongholds? Is there a correlation between the fact that they are least educated region of the country, the most strongly religious (this is the heart of the Bible belt), the most outspokenly anti-science and anti-labor? Although, the Wonkblog article doesnt make these connections or draw any conclusions beyond just a straight report on the data, its hard questions like these that need to be asked. Governors and pundits sometimes tout the states as laboratories for the nation. Look at which states have the strongest economies, the greatest standards of living, the healthiest and most educated citizens and see which party is in control and what policies they have implemented. By the way, another laboratory is the international one. Look at what austerity and narrow focus on deficit reduction has done to the economies of Europe that struggled after the Great Recession of 2008. None of them has recovered yet. In virtually every real life scenario, policies conservatives and Republicans embrace fail to help most people. They aid the rich while the middle class gets decimated. This is the laboratory speaking.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 18:16:35 +0000