Why do so many southern towns struggle with lowering their poverty rates?

because the southern rural culture doesn't value education.

quote:

---

Was it always like this, even when the region was very supportive of the new deal? Education is not always the only means to economic advancement. Ohio, for example, grew tremendously due to good manufacturing jobs.

---

Yet may decline precipitously as those jobs leave Ohio.

My guess would be a combination of things, including: lack of major cities, lack of industry or services growth in mid sized cities, high minority populations with disproportionately low levels of wealth, education, employment (including on a generational level), historically agricultural focused communities (now usurped), etc.

My guess is that if Mississippi and Arkansas and Alabama had larger cities as you see in other regions, you'd have higher concentration of urban poverty and less rural poverty (at least in lower density in rural areas).

In those three states especially, it is difficult to chart the way forward. I'm curious to see if NWA or the growth of Birmingham can really catapult those states forward, but I'm just not sure that's a big enough lift.

I think the work ethic in the south has died out with the generations. Machines now plow the fields and harvest the crops. Everything has been stream lined. The southern culture has not transitioned to the technological age a quickly as other parts of the country which where not agronomical based. Its not limited to certain races. The government spending over a $130 billion on people to not work doesn't help.

quote:

---

here are towns all over Northern Louisiana, the delta, and Mid-Alabama that have poverty rates over 50%. In a highly developed market economy, this is unacceptable.

---

1. The increasing technology in ag has done away with alot of jobs. My brother farms more acres today with less men than my dad did in the 80's
2. Welfare recipients (black and white) that have no desire to leave the system
3. CORRUPTION

quote:

---

demographics...

---

I was going to post inb4 "demographics" a few minutes ago, but figured I would hold off to make sure it would happen. You didn't disappoint.

Maybe those people chose not to participate in the economy.

Let it go. It's not our place to force people to do something against their will.

quote:

---

It's not our place to force people to do something against their will.

---

Then why is it their right to live off the people who choose to participate?

quote:

---

Wouldn't natural market forces cause factories and cities to spring up, though?

---

To some extent they do, I suppose. You've seem some success with the introduction of industry into those areas (albeit with great pushes from government).

But it's hard to build infrastructure these days. Despite our advances in technology, some of the tasks to bring major cities up from the dirt seem nearly impossible with modern regulation, the increasing cost of human labor, etc.

Moreover, nobody sees the advantage in doing it. That region is surrounded by medium to large cities, most of which are experiencing growth and success. We have ports in Mobile, large enough professional services cities to meet needs in Jackson and Birmingham and Little Rock, and sufficient transportation to service the existing industry in those areas. It may be a situation, too, that advances in technology and transportation have devalued some of these areas. Who cares about access to ______ in Jackson when you can get it from NOLA or Atlanta or Houston without significant delay.

quote:

---

Then why is it their right to live off the people who choose to participate?

---

Because their voting block is bigger.

quote:

---

define "poverty" ... there's a lot of poverty to be sure, but there are a lot of folks who live just fine without all the modern accoutrement we all take for granted ...

---

This is somewhat true, but it can obviously be abused as a way of thinking. From a national/regional perspective, we want well-educated and practically-skilled folks for competition purposes. I don't want to infringe on how people want to live, but obviously it's not great for Alabama's future that generationally folks are taught to be content in working low-skilled jobs and living in low-income conditions.

I can see value in the moral, work-ethic aspects to some extent, but we all know the rural poor aren't totally composed of hard working folks who are content to stay at their station in life.