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

1) Education
2) Jobs
3) Tax Base
4) Culture

All these things are related. Some of the school systems are really, really bad. Thus, they can't produce good employees. Good jobs won't come in becauuse there are no good employees. Well paying jobs create taxpayers. Companies are taxpayers. Not having them means there is no tax base, which means there is no money for the schools, etc.

These people never made a lot of money, but they did work. But when work doesn't pay much more than welfare, why work?

Because of the above two paragraphs, whenever anyone grows up in these areas that actually is smart and wants to work, they leave at the first possible opportunity. For example, and hear me out here, look at Bill Jefferson. Grew up in Lake Providence, maybe one of the poorest areas in the country. Got into SUNO, did great, got a scholly to law school, did great, then went into law practice. Not in Lake Providence, but in New Orleans, and went from there.

So you end up with a bunch of poor uneducated people, and a few wealty landowners in these areas. The political scene varies between the rich only caring about themselves, or sometimes, the poor people get their own in office, who become corrupt.

Further, the really poor areas are not located near intersates, etc, which means plants, etc, don't want to locate there.

I have no idea how to fix it. I think the best you can do is somehow improve education, and go from there.

Lots of really good responses thus far.

I grew up on the tail end of cotton being king in the South. This was a time when small farming towns in North La prospered because there was no competition for cotton and people were still of the mindset of shopping locally. I can remember just going to Monroe was considered a big deal.

Fast-forward through the 80's and you see the effects trickling down from the popularity of man-made fibers, encroachment of cheaper cotton imports from the East and more efficient farming technology slowly eroding that agricultural foundation.

Fifty years ago it would have taken a good half-dozen farm hands (plus various family members) to farm 1,000 acres of cotton. That's from planting to hoeing to picking to stomping to pulling it to the gin. Near every cotton gin was a community store where the locals would buy sandwiches, Cokes, etc during their dropping off of a cotton trailer during ginning season.

Forty years ago in the 30-ish mile run along Hwy 165 from Monroe down to Columbia there were 4 cotton gins (Columbia, Riverton, Bosco and Charmingdale). Now there are none.

With the improvements in farming technology (more powerful tractors to pull larger plows and planters, cotton pickers that completely modulize the cotton in their baskets, etc) a farmer can now farm that same 1,000 acres with only 3-4 people, and some of those are usually going to be family members.

With improvements in vehicle MPG, people are now more likely to travel farther for their purchases if it means saving a buck or two and you have more choices.

With less money to go around and a greater ability to access more goods and services farther away, these towns are slowly drying up.

While I used cotton as an example, you can swap that commodity out for anything. Cane, soybeans, even corn (especially if that ridiculous ethanol bill is ever repealed).

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3. CORRUPTION

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This is a big one. I've been trying to enter a market with a business lately here in the Delta.

I have investors backing me with 350 grand. I need a loan to cover the rest...with personal assets, the investment, and assets to be purchased with the loan and the inventory of the business our value will be twice what the loan is.

Local banks won't give me the loan. Found out today thoruhg a source it's because the good ol boy network is blocking me behind the scenes..they don't want the competition and are buddies with the bank presidents and such. shite happens all the time here and it really keeps growth from happening because you have a select few wealthy families that run the show and they aim to keep it that way.

Doesn't matter. I'll just go out of the region or out of state to get the loan. Then I'll laugh at them and it will be glorious.

Because...(not PC) black people.

Black people as a culture lack drive.

Because the Good Ole Boys Network likes it that way and will keep it that way. It's why I hate and left the South.

I'm thinking this post might get me banned so yeah.

Really telling when racists respond with "I'll get banned"

He says as he inherently supports racism.