It may be wrong of me but I've come to believe there are some states

[cali]

in this country that have so few redeeming qualities that they are simply grotesque. I can't help but feel disgust for the people that vote in the politicians who have created this. These are states where women are second class citizens, where the poor are treated as criminals, where fundamentalist religion is deeply entwined with state government, where the environment is exploited and treated as a toilet.

Now I know that there are good people in all of these states, and I feel for them, but I despise the government of these states. They make me sick. I won't step foot in them.

And no, this isn't anti-southern, and no I won't name them.

[get the red out]

1. I agree

And I live in one of those states.

[NC_Nurse]

7. Same here.

[Nay]

10. Yeah, me too.

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. I hate pork rinds.

Cheers!

[cali]

3. Cheers. I despise laws that criminalize the poor and oppress women.

pork rinds suck.

[Fawke Em]

4. And I don't like California.

Too fake and too expensive.

[cali]

5. um, even were that uniformly true, it's hardly the same thing as states

like Arkansas which just had the dubious distinction of having a 44 page report issued about their prosecution of poor people, by Human Rights Watch and is passing draconian laws limiting women's access to healthcare- and yes, abortion is healthcare.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/05/arkansas-tenants-face-prosecution-over-rent-problems

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/arkansas-abortion-bill_n_2594501.html

[Paladin]

9. Aw....I Thought You Were Going To Let Others Do Your State-Bashing For You On This Thread. (nt)

[XemaSab]

8. You been to California?

10% of the state is fake and expensive, but the rest isn't.

[KamaAina]

16. Beverly Hills: Fake. Silicon Valley: Fake.

my friend who's from the city near Stanford calls it "Shallow Alto".

That still leaves a whole lot of realness out there -- and once you get away from the Bay Area or coastal SoCal, it's less expensive than you may think.

[Cali_Democrat]

18. It's more like 10.23%

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. California is real I swear.

[Go Vols]

14. Yep

I saw it on TV.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

19. Northern Cali is gorgeous

You've got the Bay Area, Napa and Yosemite. In the south you have Big Bear and Joshua Tree.

Hell-A and the rest of SoCal are what they are, however. No thanks.

[Cali_Democrat]

20. I'd rather live in Southern California than Oklahoma City

Just sayin.....

[Floyd_Gondolli]

21. I can't blame you

I hate Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. Born and raised here. So nice try but no cigar on the attempt at a dig.

[Cali_Democrat]

23. Attempt at a dig? Not quite.

Calling a city Hell is somewhat of a dig. I made no similar statement with regard to OKC. It's OK. Southern Californians are used to it. Trust me. We're fake, we're all into celebs and we live in bubble blah blah blah. Heard it all before. As if the millions of people that live here are all the same. Not even close.

I've lived in numerous cities from LA to New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami.

My two favorite are LA and Miami and it's not even close.

To each his own.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

24. It's a longstanding nickname

It's what some of my friends who live there call it, even though when push comes to shove they love it.

I never wrote anything about California or Californians being fake. You must have me confused with someone else. I have generally favorable opinion of the state. I don't care for large cities, and masses of people, or most people in general frankly, so LA is not my cup of tea.

But believe me, when it comes to being painted by a broad brush on DU because of where you live, I'm well acquainted with what that feels like.

[Cali_Democrat]

27. I agree about the broad brush

I suppose every place has its pluses and minuses. I've done consulting work and I've had to live in large cities. I'm used to masses of people.

[The River]

6. I Agree Wholeheartedly

and almost posted about it yesterday. You don't need to name the states, we all know
which ones they are. Some may vote Dem in presidential elections but are governed by
right-wing nuts the rest of the time.

I'm tired of the right-wing agenda in my state and will be moving as soon as Spring arrives.

[patrice]

11. I don't understand why that isn't, at least de facto, the same Social Darwinism I/you/we repudiate

those same states for and, hence, a relatively reasonable justification for what may or may not be some degree of skepticism about what is referred to as "the Left".

[patrice]

12. for example, people come to my state, make their reputation/career & then leave again. nt

[KamaAina]

17. By no means all of the states you're talking about are southern

Kansas is among the worst, especially in terms of theocracy and misogyny.

North Carolina, meanwhile, was close to rejoining civilization until McCrory came in.

[Fumesucker]

22. The simple things you see are all complicated

If only it were as simple as which states are red and which blue.

You really have no idea how high the price can be for thinking blue in a red area, read the DU threads about wingnut family members who have fallen completely for the Republican propaganda pumped over the airwaves 24/7/365 on eleventy brazilian media channels.

This shit is tearing America apart, it's tearing communities apart, it's tearing families apart and you pointing your finger at those of us who don't happen to hail from Lake Wobegon isn't helping.

[raccoon]

25. Good post. nt

[patrice]

26. K&RRRR...

[Dreamer Tatum]

28. If you change "may be" to "is", you'd have a legitimate thread.

Otherwise it's just more of you waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

And if it wasn't anti-Southern, you'd name them.

You are an ANGRY person lately.

[graham4anything]

29. Yeah.

I do agree as things stand now, I will never move to about 40 of the United States.
If I had the money and didn't have so much stuff, would move back to NYC specifically to Manhattan.
There or someone in mid to southern California overlooking the ocean.

Did a complete 180 on Florida. Won't go there
(and north of NYC is too cold)

Damn thing is New Hampshire was the state that was most important in 2000.
Had those 4 electoral votes gone to Gore, Florida would never have mattered.
Damn Ralph Nader.

[Bicoastal]

30. I'm not crazy about the government of China, either...

...but I still went there to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and the Warriors of Xian.

I've been to Israel too, for much the same reasons.

Can you not divorce yourself from the politics of your environment for just a short period of time? Life is not politics. Politics is not life.