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Having half my extended family in the rural South, they don't often do much to offset that impression. There are nice ones and mean ones, but none of them real

Having half my extended family in the rural South, they don't often do much to offset that impression. There are nice ones and mean ones, but none of them really have their lives together and there's obvious stuff they could be doing, like cutting sugar consumption in half (so many diabetics). One of my uncles died of complications from willfully unmanaged diabetes. His foot was literally rotting off one toe at a time, he was in direct pain and he still pounded can after can of Mountain Dew and ignored anyone who tried to advise him otherwise, including his own wife and son. My nicer uncle is half-functional due to neck injuries he sustained in a car crash, but he just pushes through things and doesn't look after his health, and just makes things worse for himself despite his good intentions. That seems to be the identity of the modern south, various flavors of denial and defiance. Those who defy the stereotype tend to leave, or cluster in/around the better developed urban areas. I've met a lot of awesome people who immigrated from the south, but not many living there outside of a major metro.

23B1 4y ago
Thank you for illustrating my point. Yeesh.
- scottLobster 4y ago
  How so? Is it patronizing to say the Bears had the worst record in the NFL last season? The proof is in the pudding. My experiences are just anecdotal evidence that supports the objective stats. Respect is earned, and sometimes, when lots of people tell you you're wrong, it's useful to have the humility to consider they might be right.
- opportune 4y ago
  I am from the South and I concur with that poster, I’m not sure why takes like these are invalid due to having left. If a place has a lot of problems, you would expect people to leave it and then freely tell other people about the problems after getting more exposure to the world outside of it. The South has educational problems, lack of opportunities, a lot of poverty, health problems, and different cultural values when compared with the rest of the country. This is a fact, it’s not a “yikes” to state this. It’s not entirely willful, but it’s also not a completely unavoidable state of affairs either. A lot of it is cultural - when you’re in that environment, it’s normal to you. But at the same time, the people making up the culture as a whole are not helpless individuals incapable of understanding things like diabetes or obesity

23B1 4y ago

Thank you for illustrating my point. Yeesh.

scottLobster 4y ago
How so? Is it patronizing to say the Bears had the worst record in the NFL last season? The proof is in the pudding. My experiences are just anecdotal evidence that supports the objective stats. Respect is earned, and sometimes, when lots of people tell you you're wrong, it's useful to have the humility to consider they might be right.
opportune 4y ago
I am from the South and I concur with that poster, I’m not sure why takes like these are invalid due to having left. If a place has a lot of problems, you would expect people to leave it and then freely tell other people about the problems after getting more exposure to the world outside of it. The South has educational problems, lack of opportunities, a lot of poverty, health problems, and different cultural values when compared with the rest of the country. This is a fact, it’s not a “yikes” to state this. It’s not entirely willful, but it’s also not a completely unavoidable state of affairs either. A lot of it is cultural - when you’re in that environment, it’s normal to you. But at the same time, the people making up the culture as a whole are not helpless individuals incapable of understanding things like diabetes or obesity