What does it say that most of the ten poorest states are Republican?
(Question posed by CNN’s Jack Cafferty)
On measures of poverty, obesity, diabetes, teen pregnancies, and high school dropout rates, the Southern states in specific and Red States in general lead the nation. Please note this irony: Conservatives are the first to blame every social ill on liberals and the last to acknowledge extremes of inequality and poverty in their own backyards. Where conservatives control state legislatures and exercise power over the purse, they beg the question.
Is Jack Cafferty’s question akin to Freakonomics, or are there as yet undiscovered phenomena to connect these seemingly disparate variables?
Researchers from NYU and UCLA have published this often-quoted study, Neurocognitive correlates of liberalism and conservatism, which states:
“… conservatives show more structured and persistent cognitive styles, whereas liberals are more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty. We tested the hypothesis that these profiles relate to differences in general neurocognitive functioning … and found that greater liberalism was associated with stronger conflict-related anterior cingulate activity …” [and conservatism was associated with larger amygdalas where fear and aggression are processed].Your intrepid Octopus offers another hypothesis. There are anomalies of fetal development [think in terms of conjoined twins, variant craniopagus parasiticus] wherein the amygdala has not yet separated in utero from other organs systems of the body. In such cases, the amygdala remains attached to the gall bladder (Tea Party Representative Joe Walsh), the kidneys (Representative Louie Gohmert), the lower bowel (Texas Governor Rick Perry), or the anus (Rush Limbaugh). In rare cases, especially among Tea Party Republicans such as Congressman Steve King R-Idiot, the amygdala separates after conception - leaving the higher functioning cerebral cortex stuck in the fallopian tubes - as the amygdala eventually develops into a viable, air-breathing Tea Party Republican that never matures beyond early adolescence. For reasons still unknown, the incidence rate of amygdala-connected birth defects is higher in Red States than in Blue States.
Your hypothesis, please!
Thanks, Octo. Your analysis never occurred to me but I think I like it better.
ReplyDeleteI like to point out to conservatives who call me "libtard" and say all manner of rotten things about liberals that true blue Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country [the highest is in the Bible Belt], it ranks among the top 5 states with the lowest unwed mother rates, and it is number 1 in the country in terms of its student achievement in math and science [Mississippi is the worst with many southern states at the bottom].
ReplyDeleteMassachusetts also has the highest number of residents with post graduate degrees [after Wash. DC] as a percentage of its population [the lowest in high school diplomas, college and post graduate are in the south.] Also this liberal state has a lower than average unemployment rate--7.5%, lower than Texas.
Massachusetts was the first state to recognize same-sex marriage, and the first to implement universal health care for its citizens {thanks Mitt]. Boston is also among the top 5 cities in the country with the cleanest tap water. And surprisingly, Boston came in the top 5 states for places to retire because of many factors [weather was not one]. There's more, and I intend to do a post on this soon.
These achievements are evidence that a liberal state like Massachusetts can actually work with government to make people's lives happy and productive AND, apparently, better at what the red Bible Belt states see as moral values.
I forgot to include at the end of that last sentence that Massachusetts and the rest of New England is an area in the country that is the least religious. I think the Pacific Northwest is the second least religious.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to ask a conservative Red Stater how we blue nonreligious liberals manage to have a lower divorce rate and lower unwed mother rate than do the Bible thumping states.
Shaw - Your stats are correct, and one cannot argue with them.
ReplyDeleteMass, and New England in general is quite frugal and fiscally conservative by nature. Maybe a through back to the Puritans? What do you think?