re: Why does Louisiana continue to decline as our southern neighbors grow?

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But we have to take responsibility.

We allow it.

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define "we". Who have you voted for in the last four elections and why did you do so?

Dont blame "we" until you tell me how you vote. Then I'll know if you and I are "we" or you are the problem.

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Yall just voted to not lower taxes on people and businesses.

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This shite again.

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You name a bad statistic, Louisiana is almost certainly in the top 5.

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Yet almost the entire population will not only defend the bad behaviors but be arrogant about it. It's unreal!

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What people love to omit from the equation is that we have a large proportion of people who choose to live in poverty and suck the government tit. This brings the average way down however it doesn’t mean that those in the strata that is above average have a life That is less fulfilling or rewarding or whatever the metrics are than other places.

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Mississippi has a higher percentage of those types and is doing better.

I, personally, am doing much better financially in MS than I was in LA, and it's much safer here.

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yall voted them in. The victim complex is strong with you people.

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No, I didn't. I tried, and gave up on the state.

I looked around, realized nothing was ever going to change (based on voters and the track record of every governor and mayor of BR/NO while I lived there), and got out 20 years ago.

Because we are 5 states in one:

We’ve squandered god only know how much oil revenue, a chance at rebirth after Katrina, where did the bp money go?, we accept miserable schools, we accept poor leadership and reward poor decisions. And it’s all getting worse.

Career Politicians who enter politics to become wealthy while catering to the lowest common denominator voter in their district.

That would be a good start embedded in the State’s DNA since the Huey Long era. Politicians learned they could get rich while civic development declined.

Bad combo.

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try to build something like a solar farm

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Build it where? Cut down forests? fill in some wetlands? Convert agriculture fields? I do think more solar harvesting should be done and incentivized for businesses covering parking structures or roofs. There are also fair concerns with landowners who may be willing to lease their land about getting left upside down once the panels start to deteriorate and inclusive studies on leaching into the soil not allowing for the field to be reversed back to a viable agriculture option. The US has viable options for solar harvesting in deserts and other 'uninhabitable' environments. States like Louisiana do have some alternatives to solar farms like using 'waste spaces' to harvest minimally. I wouldn't call the concerns above in overhauling spaces to become solar farms as scared or small minded. Disregarding those concerns because "clean energy" is better is what I would validate as someone being close minded.

I have seen some good observations, but the biggest I see is the legacy of Long-ism (a very hands on style of governance in addition to the corruption). Most Southern states have gone for lower and simpler taxation and a welcoming attitude toward business. Louisiana has more complicated taxes and seeks to woo specific businesses (which is fine) but doesn’t focus enough on making the state more generally attractive to business (eg, by reining in torts suits).

One thing that I learned in school from my fellow students who came here from elsewhere was that the Texas students competed while the Louisiana students would collude. Time and time again, I would see Texas students cheat, undermine other students, and purposely give fake answers to rivals. The Louisiana students would, instead, form study groups, steal tests, and all cheat together.

Essentially, the Louisiana students were more collectivist and collaborative. They would form cliques and then work together to rig the system for their clique while excluding outsiders. They didn’t care who was technically number one as long as “they all got rich”. Meanwhile, the Texans were more individualistic and competitive. They seemed to generally take an “every man for himself” approach, constantly undermining their rivals and pushing for the best outcomes for themselves alone, screw everyone else. They viewed everything as a zero sum game, and saw being number one as most important.

In addition, I noticed that the collaborative spirit was much more prevalent among students from South Louisiana than North Louisiana, which indicated to me that this may be baked into the general Catholic cultural identity.

It is my belief that Louisiana stagnates because our government operates like the students I observed. They form cliques to “all get rich” and block outside competition. Louisiana is effectively run by a handful of families and corporations that control their territory not unlike organized crime. In the end, they will work together to protect their rigged system to keep it all in the family even if it means the overall pie stays smaller.

Meanwhile, the Texans are all behaving as individuals, creating a more competitive environment where whatever is best for the individual ends up being best for other players in the market as well.