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Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 11:41 am
by Ack
bmoc wrote:
Ack wrote:
bmoc wrote:I'll be moving to Alabama soon.

Hey man, what part of Alabama? I'm from there and have kicked around all over that state.

Auburn/Opelika

I went to high school and college in those parts. Auburn High School is great, and if you're affiliated with the university in any way, it's a good place to be. However, the city council folks aren't really interested in preserving the town in any meaningful way. Opelika, conversely, used to have a lot of problems but had been cleaned up in the last couple of decades. Their downtown area is gorgeous and had both great restaurants and walkability last time I visited.

Also, Auburn has worse traffic due to the university, particularly during football season.

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 12:05 pm
by Ack
PretentiousHipster wrote:I am Canadian but I don't understand the hatred of the South? They seem like they would agree with me economically. They just went downhill because of the news that started a culture war, and said that a celebrity billionaire is someone who would best represent the poor. I find it gratifying and engaging to speak with the other poor people to get their perspective and to help shift it.

It's a long combination of things going back to our early days as a nation and helps illustrate what serve as our big national divides.

While the North industrialized and benefited/experienced problems from a relatively steady stream of immigration, the South was more agricultural and relied extensively on slave labor. Since slaves were seen as subhuman, it created both legal and cultural ramifications, and the biases that were built in from such a system continue to plague the US. Also, the South's adherence to slavery is a direct cause of the U.S. Civil War, and while slavery was outlawed as a result, both the North and South continued feelings of animosity towards each other during the Reconstruction era. As soon as it was able, the South fed off its own biases from slavery and instituted repressive laws against former slaves which lasted nearly a century and which further compounded societal biases and prejudice that still plagues us to this day.

To add to this, these differences were harped upon by the various political parties of the nation. The dominant party in the North tends towards an urban outlook, while the dominant party in the South tends towards a more rural, "small town" outlook. While the parties have flipped control, and while certain vestiges of their history are not lost (ie. Republicans still claim to emphasize business despite this being directly tied to the upper class development in urban areas during the Industrial Revolution and considerably less in the interest of what are often agricultural or menial workers in the rural areas that now tend to favor voting Republican).

Since the South tends towards decentralized population and agriculture, it also made things more difficult to build up, such as effective public education. Instead, the South tended to treat religion as a way to centralize a society and educate the population, particularly after the various Awakenings and Revivals that have occurred in US society over the last 250 years.

And then there are also the foundations, with many Northern immigrants coming to avoid religious persecution or economic disparity while many immigrants to the South were either here to serve in crown colonies or in penal colonies.

As a result, we have attitudes and prejudice regarding each area. The South is seen as backwater, overly religious, uneducated, and racist. The North is seen as unrealistic, snobbish, greedy, and desiring the destruction of Southern society.

And while there is some level of truth in all of this, it's overblown out of fear and frustration. But it also provides evidence that the ongoing struggle in the US is still between urban and rural.

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 12:47 pm
by prfsnl_gmr
Ack wrote:But it also provides evidence that the ongoing struggle in the US is still between urban and rural.


This 100%. A city in the South (such as Birmingham or Charlotte) is more similar, culturally, to a city in the North or West (such as Cleveland, Denver or Portland) than it is to the rural areas even 45 minutes outside its city limits. In my experience, the rural areas vary somewhat around the country, but culturally, they’re more similar to each other than they are to urban areas.

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 1:08 pm
by Markies
prfsnl_gmr wrote:
BoneSnapDeez wrote:Every US state is awesome; get this culture war bullshit out of here.


I almost agree with you completely. Every state is pretty awesome…Except Missouri. Missouri sucks.

As someone who grew up in neighboring Kansas, I know this better than anyone! :lol:


Image

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 1:12 pm
by PretentiousHipster
It's weird how the rural is around here. You've got the rural provinces like Alberta which are a lot more conservative, but then rural areas of other provinces tend to vote for the left-most major party here. Oddly enough, the reason why conservatives do well around here, aside from Alberta, is the 2 major cities (Toronto and Montreal). I think it's because the more leftist parties here are the ones that talk to the working class and puts their rights in the forefront, while the right wing parties like the Liberals and the Conservatives are more for the upper class interests.

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 10:28 pm
by prfsnl_gmr
Markies wrote:Image


:lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry, Markies! (St. Louis is pretty cool, and you’re a pretty cool dude. So, I guess, Missouri isn’t ENTIRELY terrible.)

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 10:46 pm
by Michi
prfsnl_gmr wrote:Sorry, Markies! (St. Louis is pretty cool, and you’re a pretty cool dude. So, I guess, Missouri is ENTIRELY terrible.)

Poor Markies.... burned twice in a row :lol:

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:31 am
by prfsnl_gmr
I fixed it!

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 11:03 am
by Markies
prfsnl_gmr wrote: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry, Markies! (St. Louis is pretty cool, and you’re a pretty cool dude. So, I guess, Missouri isn’t ENTIRELY terrible.)


I've lived in Missouri almost my entire life besides a few years in Indiana. Missouri is usually forgotten and fits perfectly into the "fly over state", so I thought it was kind of funny to see somebody hate Missouri that much. So, no offense taken. :lol:

Though, I never did go to Mizzou, so I'm not a part of the MU vs. KU rivalry that has been going on forever. I did visit Kansas City for about a week and I was amazed to see the MU/KU rivalry and them living so closely together as well.

For Eastern Missouri/St. Louis, it's Chicago. Mostly because of the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry, but it goes much deeper than that. But, I think Bone was right.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Every US state is awesome; get this culture war bullshit out of here.


It's also a sense of Tribalism that sports can reinforce. And it happens all throughout the world, but as long as it is not taken too seriously, I think there is no harm.

Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 11:54 am
by prfsnl_gmr
I grew up in KC, a few miles from the KS/MO border. I played sports against teams from MO, and I am keenly aware of the KU/MU rivalry. Bad blood between those two states has existed since the Civil War, when Kansas and Missouri, basically, went to war with each other. Nowadays, ratyer than conducting raids across state lines, we just talk trash! :lol: