How come the South is so kinfolky?

I have had the misfortune of living the last several years in a semi-rural, semi-urban part of the south in the TX AR LA MS TN area (one of those states, not including western TX or eastern TN). I have found it to be extremely clannish and cliquish. Many adults here go to family reunions EVERY WEEKEND. They spend so much time with their "kinfolk" that they dont have time for new friendships (speaking of men over 45). That causes them to be closed to new ideas and it seems to retard their speech. Some of the results of that inbred kind of culture include wreckless driving, smoking, bankruptcy, illiteracy, obesity, divorce, suicide, crime, etc. - see links below. I have lived in other parts of the country and have not experienced anything like this - especially in the west. Many of them dont even seem to like the kinfolk, but they stick with them anyway. The relationships they have with these kinfolk were formed at very early ages, and accordingly are very often childish. It seems like a very inbred way to live - sort of like a stagnant pond with no water flowing in or out. New people with new ideas are kind of like new water flowing through a body of water that is not stagnant. I have friends in other states that are from all over the world. I love the refreshing experience of interacting with people who have completely different perspectives. What do you southern pickup drivers think about that?

Here are links that show that the South, as a region, taken as a whole, has very very high rates of numerous general types of undesirable characteristics

South has highest crime rates:

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South has highest traffic fatality rates: (see page 2, Fatalities per

100,000 column)
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South has highest respiratory infection rates:

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South has highest divorce rates:

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South has highest bankruptcy rate: (see "Deadbeat District)

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South has high suicide rate (higher rate than Midwest and Northeast)

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South has high percentage of smokers:
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Reply to
Colorado Guy
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This is a southern pickup driver. I think "wreckless driving" as you put it, is a good thing, because that means driving without any wrecks.

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Reply to
John Busby

That's because ya'll are from the North and many folks in that region are still pissed that the South lost the "Wahr of Nohrthuhn Aggression." :-)

BTW I grew up in South Arkansas, I think you might be a little too quick to judge. Most of the "cliquishness" isn't due to inbreeding (with the possible exception of Mississippi) but just that there are few folks that have any significant personal contact with cultural diversity, and that's not atypical of Western states, either. Look at a map of 2004 election results, blue states typically had a higher population density, which often means large urban populations with high cultural diversity.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

When I used the word "inbred", I wasn't referring to biology, although I can see how you would make that assumption. I was referring to the closed culture of kinfolkiness, that blocks out new people and new ideas. I know it is a stretch, but webster defines inbred as:

1 : rooted and ingrained in one's nature as deeply as if implanted by heredity <an inbred love of freedom> 2 [from past participle of inbreed] : subjected to or produced by inbreeding

"as if implanted by heredity" - leaves open usages of the word that do not necessarily have to involve inherited genes. I dont get your point, though, about the western states. I am most interested in the 3 west coast states, which are all blue. I was a little bit general in referring to the west in general, although my experience living in Colorado for many years leads me to believe that even inland western states are much less kinfolky and culturally inbred than are southern states. I think there are reasons that western states are less kinfolky. Western states are very urban, with large percentages of their populations living within their largest metro areas. When westerners move to a different locale, they typically move a much greater number of miles than do southerners, who may move, for example, from Dumas to Stutgart. One who leaves Denver often moves to one of the other "nearby" large western cities. That might be Las Vegas, which is over 600 miles away. He is not going to come back to Denver every other weekend to get together with kinfolk because it is too far to go. The fellow who moves from Dumas to Stutgart, will return, though, for the weekly family reunions. The the wide open spaces of the mostly urban western states provide a barrier against excessive kinfolkiness in the west.

Reply to
Colorado Guy

the people there originally came from Scots-Irish and in the 'old country' had a deep mistrust of government types and outsiders. they brought that over with them, and there you have it.

Reply to
I Love Edsels

I think he was looking for someone he could "squeal like a pig for", and found out the area wasn't anything like the movie Deliverance portrayed it as. Dandies and pansies aren't looked up to, but down on and avoided. He also seems to have a fetish for men over 45.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Actually, the North lost the war. They ended up with the Yankees.

Spdloader

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Reply to
Spdloader

I think there's more Yankees in the south these days than rebs.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

What kind of Ford truck problems are you reporting?

Reply to
I. Care

Yep, those are called "Damn Yankees" cause they won't go home.

lol

Spdloader

Reply to
Spdloader

We're hijacking his off topic post, with more off topic crap.

Spdloader

Reply to
Spdloader

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