6 ms·

How Many Americans Have a Passport? The Percentages, State by State

14 points by trustfundbaby 16y ago

r00fus 16y ago
Seems like this correlates well with the red/blue spectrum of voting preferences. I'd be nice to see those two data sets visualized together.
- timclark 16y ago
  Just remember that correlation is not causation!
  - seiji 16y ago
    This was making the rounds a few days ago: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/08/passport-ownership-p.html http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/08/passport-ownership-p.ht... (Passport ownership prevents diabetes)
- rsayers 16y ago
  My guess is that the correlation is with poverty rather than voting preferences. As a former Mississippi resident (and one who did not have a passport until the age of 26) I can tell you I personally knew very few people who could afford to travel. The wages in the state may match the low cost of living, but a plane ticket is going to be the same leaving from Jackson Mississippi as it is LAX. When this was posted on Reddit quite a few people used it as an opportunity to take jabs at how ignorant people in the south are because they did not "want" to see places outside our borders. It's quite difficult to do when a ticket to Europe would equal an entire months salary for many people.
cezary 16y ago
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." -Mark Twain
- dmm 16y ago
  Living in the US, it's easy to travel quite a bit without needing a passport.
  - cezary 16y ago
    I live in the US, but there's a difference between traveling within the borders of your country and traveling abroad and experiencing new cultures.
    - anamax 16y ago
      If you think that the US is a single culture, you need to get out more. Yes, the coastal cities appear to have the same culture, but there's a lot more to the US. And, even in the coastal cities, there are multiple cultures.
      - cezary 16y ago
        If visiting another city or state is culturally awakening to you, maybe you're the one that needs to get out more. The difference between countries is always greater than that between cities. LA to NYC is not the same as NYC to London. Even then you're still speaking the same language. How would you deal with a language barrier? Different religions? Different laws? You'll never get the perspective of an immigrant in the US, but you would being a foreigner in another country.
        anamax 16y ago
        > If visiting another city or state is culturally awakening to you, maybe you're the one that needs to get out more. I'll be happy to compare passports. Let's start with how many months you have lived outside the US. (I've have three months in Europe, plus trips. I also have trips to the Philippines, Fiji, Equador, and others.) And, since you're claiming that the US is culturally uniform, where in the US have you lived? If the SF bay area, what parts of Oakland, SJ and PA have you experienced? (No, getting ribs at Everett and Jones doesn't count.) I've lived in both EPA and black Oakland, in addition to "fly over country". I've even done farm labor (and my father did it as a migrant). > Even then you're still speaking the same language. Interestingly enough, I referred to places in the US where English is not the dominant language.

14 points by trustfundbaby 16y ago

Seems like this correlates well with the red/blue spectrum of voting preferences. I'd be nice to see those two data sets visualized together.

timclark 16y ago
Just remember that correlation is not causation!
- seiji 16y ago
  This was making the rounds a few days ago: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/08/passport-ownership-p.html http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/08/passport-ownership-p.ht... (Passport ownership prevents diabetes)
rsayers 16y ago
My guess is that the correlation is with poverty rather than voting preferences. As a former Mississippi resident (and one who did not have a passport until the age of 26) I can tell you I personally knew very few people who could afford to travel. The wages in the state may match the low cost of living, but a plane ticket is going to be the same leaving from Jackson Mississippi as it is LAX. When this was posted on Reddit quite a few people used it as an opportunity to take jabs at how ignorant people in the south are because they did not "want" to see places outside our borders. It's quite difficult to do when a ticket to Europe would equal an entire months salary for many people.

cezary 16y ago

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." -Mark Twain

dmm 16y ago
Living in the US, it's easy to travel quite a bit without needing a passport.
- cezary 16y ago
  I live in the US, but there's a difference between traveling within the borders of your country and traveling abroad and experiencing new cultures.
  - anamax 16y ago
    If you think that the US is a single culture, you need to get out more. Yes, the coastal cities appear to have the same culture, but there's a lot more to the US. And, even in the coastal cities, there are multiple cultures.
    - cezary 16y ago
      If visiting another city or state is culturally awakening to you, maybe you're the one that needs to get out more. The difference between countries is always greater than that between cities. LA to NYC is not the same as NYC to London. Even then you're still speaking the same language. How would you deal with a language barrier? Different religions? Different laws? You'll never get the perspective of an immigrant in the US, but you would being a foreigner in another country.
      - anamax 16y ago
        > If visiting another city or state is culturally awakening to you, maybe you're the one that needs to get out more. I'll be happy to compare passports. Let's start with how many months you have lived outside the US. (I've have three months in Europe, plus trips. I also have trips to the Philippines, Fiji, Equador, and others.) And, since you're claiming that the US is culturally uniform, where in the US have you lived? If the SF bay area, what parts of Oakland, SJ and PA have you experienced? (No, getting ribs at Everett and Jones doesn't count.) I've lived in both EPA and black Oakland, in addition to "fly over country". I've even done farm labor (and my father did it as a migrant). > Even then you're still speaking the same language. Interestingly enough, I referred to places in the US where English is not the dominant language.