HuffPo hates the South (with maps)

[DC Al Fine]

ITT: white liberal elitism

Also, I wish there were more county maps.

[DC Al Fine]

I did a little digging and was depressed to find that my region is comparable to the south in many respects

[DC Al Fine]

Yet we keep electing the same right-wing governments we've been electing since Reconstruction ended. We do it to ourselves. Very frustrating.

I doubt that's the cause. My part of the country is an underdeveloped craphole with many of the same problems as the South (except race). We keep electing governments significantly to the left of the Democrats... yet somehow, we're still an underdeveloped craphole.

[DC Al Fine]

What statistics specifically are you thinking of, DC Al Fine? Many of the ones at the link are fairly US-centric measures.

Yes that's true. Refusing Obamacare funding doesn't really apply here

The one that stuck out for me in the Huffington Post article was obesity because ours is comparable to the South. As for a general case, Atlantic Canada has high unemployment rates, low wages, and our governments are only able to sustain themselves due to massive transfers from the federal government. The federal government subsidizes us via transfer payments, locating large numbers of civil service jobs, military bases etc in the region, and making it easier to go on pogey compared to other regions.

For example Cape Breton and rural Newfoundland spent much of the past few decades with unemployment rates over 20%.

Go to Cape Breton.

Cape Breton's median income would make it one of the 10th wealthiest cities in Mississippi.

Yes in a currency that's worth 90% of the USD, and unadjusted for the cost of living. I doubt Mississippians are paying $9/gal for milk or $5.25/gal for gas

[DC Al Fine]

Go to Cape Breton.

Cape Breton's median income would make it one of the 10th wealthiest cities in Mississippi.

Yes in a currency that's worth 90% of the USD, and unadjusted for the cost of living. I doubt Mississippians are paying $9/gal for milk or $5.25/gal for gas

I accounted for the exchange rate. The Canadian dollar figure would be top 5.

Cost of living is a big deal, but a lot of the reason why American food/gas prices are so cheap is because of massive government subsidies on them.

Where are you getting your Mississippi numbers from?

Cape Breton Regional Municpality's median household income is about $41 500 CAD.

According to this wikipedia article. that would make the CAD # about tenth and the USD # would be right around the Mississippi median.

More to the point, even if Cape Breton or western Newfoundland are marginally better off than Mississippi, they are still well within the norm for the south, despite voting for significantly left wing governments.

Yet we keep electing the same right-wing governments we've been electing since Reconstruction ended. We do it to ourselves. Very frustrating.

I doubt that's the cause. My part of the country is an underdeveloped craphole with many of the same problems as the South (except race). We keep electing governments significantly to the left of the Democrats... yet somehow, we're still an underdeveloped craphole.

It's almost as though the politics of an area don't determine its overall well-being.