Should the South secede?

[kentonio]

I was just thinking about Red's comment about it being economic suicide for the North. Isn't it generally considered to be the other way round?

[kentonio]

Btw, the author trying to claim that the North would keep Texas is retarded.

[regexcellent]

You know, all this talk of "the south"... why don't you guys visit "the south" for a change? Drive down all the way to Mobile, Alabama, park your car in front of the local police station, walk as much as possible on the streets of the town and observe how things are like.

HC and Kuci could do this together and do a video about their experiences

Maybe you should consider the fact that I travel south quite frequently and have been in Virginia all summer working for the Federal Reserve.

[regexcellent]

Btw, the author trying to claim that the North would keep Texas is retarded.

Texas is a huge and critical economic engine.

[kentonio]

Texas is a huge and critical economic engine.

Yeah which is why the author wanted to keep it in the north, but considering the discussion about different cultures surely it falls squarely in the southern camp?

[Hauldren Collider]

Maybe you should consider the fact that I travel south quite frequently and have been in Virginia all summer working for the Federal Reserve.

Last I checked the federal reserve is in DC, not Virginia.

Also, I hate to break it to you man, but being a federal worker in Northern Virginia is not going to give you a particularly good picture of southern culture...

Yeah which is why the author wanted to keep it in the north, but considering the discussion about different cultures surely it falls squarely in the southern camp?

Yes. It's ridiculous. Texas is more different from the rest of America than any other state, I would guess. Note I've never been there (apart from being stuck at the Houston airport for a couple hours), so I'm just going off what I've heard.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

To get a fair picture of the culture of north and south, one needs to stay away from the larger metropolitan areas where diversity is common. Rural north east is devastatingly white and devastatingly racist. In the south rural areas are more diverse, racist no doubt but less so in my opinion than my experiences in the north. Granted they have many more interactions with diverse neighbors so the liklihood of racist interactions is greater than lilly white segregated rural northeastern towns.

OTOH as it is all a matter of opinion I note similar northern transplant to the south, Imran, typically believes the opposite (i.e. racism is much more prevalent in the south than in the north).

[Hauldren Collider]

I would agree with Ogie and admit that I have rarely strayed from major populated areas in either the North or the South. So take what I say with an extra grain of salt.

[Docfeelgood]

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Abraham Lincoln

[regexcellent]

Rural north east is devastatingly white and devastatingly racist.

A friend of mine from Batavia, New York commented about how he went to Norfolk, Virginia saying "there are too many black people there."

[Docfeelgood]

To get a fair picture of the culture of north and south, one needs to stay away from the larger metropolitan areas where diversity is common. Rural north east is devastatingly white and devastatingly racist. In the south rural areas are more diverse, racist no doubt but less so in my opinion than my experiences in the north. Granted they have many more interactions with diverse neighbors so the liklihood of racist interactions is greater than lilly white segregated rural northeastern towns.

OTOH as it is all a matter of opinion I note similar northern transplant to the south, Imran, typically believes the opposite (i.e. racism is much more prevalent in the south than in the north).

Who is the racist people? hispanic?, asian?, black?, or white? or all of them?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Who is (sic) the racist people?

Humans.

[Docfeelgood]

Humans

True.
We claim to be the most intelligent species on this planet but cannot trust each other.
Shame

[Docfeelgood]

A friend of mine from Batavia, New York commented about how he went to Norfolk, Virginia saying "there are too many black people there."

Atlanta, Georgia

[Kidlicious]

It's a little more complicated than that. Some states do, sure, but for instance in the case of Virginia and Alaska it's complicated by the fact that much of it is federal spending that would happen anyway, the only question is where. Alaska gets federal money because it's incredibly strategic for air and missile defense. These are things we would want to have anyway, but they go in Alaska because that's the best place for them.

It's inevitable that some states take in more than they put out, but that doesn't mean they are a drag on the economy.

That doesn't really change the fact that if you broke away you would have a huge budget shortfall, and the North would get a windfall.