Friday, April 6, 2018

The State of the Electorate

While I will not include all of the states whose Electoral Votes went for Romney and Paul, a number of them seem to be hopelessly backward in their political and social outlook.   Progress does not take place at the same rate in different places.  Some parts of the United States, such as New England, New York, and California are eminently progressive and will continue to be.  They are closely followed by Washington, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and the rest of the Midwest except for Indiana.  

But the Deep South appears to be the most recalcitrant to change.  They, despite their large numbers of African-American citizens, managed to come out for Romney.  What do these crackers have in common with a rich person from Massachusetts, I don't know.  Maybe they are more susceptible to fear messages than most due to the lower levels of education and culture.  Maybe it's the perverse culture that fosters these ideas.

How can a region that proclaims itself so Christian have such attitudes?  It is hard to reconcile racism and professed Christianity; but so it hard to reconcile the militarism so pronounced there with Christianity.  The arts languish; their idea of culture seems to be baton twirling and country music.

Their Christianity is really a veneer that is in the form of prayers before public events and other visible piety.  Their girls dress like strippers when at the beach.  Their politicians regularly lie with no shame and appeal to the worst of human nature.  Of course, they routinely elect morons who cater to their baser motives.

It seems to me that these states cry out for some form of social missionary activity to bring them up to date.  However, considering the cultural differences that would be overwhelming, it is a brave person indeed who would expose herself or himself to such an atmosphere.
It is true that there are enclaves of enlightenment there like Atlanta and Charlotte; but there's a stark barrenness otherwise.e


Unfortunately, things were worse in 2016. The bleakness has crept into Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. I'm afraid we should even consider partition to remove the rotten branches of the tree,
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nt there, such as Atlanta.  But the living in some of their small towns can be numbing.

1 comment:

  1. Missouri used to vote a split ticket. Not so much anymore.

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