Posted on 10/13/2016 9:33:15 AM PDT by rktman
One big hole in that theory is that Appalachia probably had fewer blacks than the northeast (even back then); slavery had no role for mountaineers. In fact, West Virginia was created during the Civil War by people in the mountainous west of the state with no interest in preserving slavery at all; they would support the Union, but feared being left at the mercy of the Richmond government when it was all over. The North acted accordingly, separating them from the slavery-supporting east of the state.
I’m Irish but not Scots-Irish (who are historically Protestant and enemies of my people), so I have no reason to defend them, but I do believe the people you describe as “unproductive” probably contributed more to founding/settling this country in its early days than just about any other group. Appalachia’s challenges, like many urban areas’, lie in a changing economy that simply needs less coal miners (just as cities need less factory workers); they’ve both definitely fallen on hard times for the past decades.
FWIW, I believe Appalachia has produced more Medal of Honor recipients than any other part of the country; certainly not a trait shared by the descendants of slaves (or Irish people, for that matter).
I was raised at the end of national segregation and discrimination
Born in 1957
We were not taught to dislike or wish harm upon blacks
But we did fear their negative culture and crime and potential political power
Look around you
Yankees in whitelandia
Get in your car and head to Memphis and look around
And tell me about it
We were paternalistic
Noblesse Oblige
Yes I do but you evidently didn’t get my point
Not related, but I haven’t seen a post from blackarmycaptain in a while...Anyone know if she is ok? She usually is prolific and content of what she digs up is great.
Saw something from BFAC the other day. Maybe 2 days ago?
Oh I understood what you said. I discounted it
***When I hear whites speak like urban blacks I assume they have the same poor English skills;***
I remember my parents, High Plains, Rocky Mountain and Hill country of Tennessee always spoke with good English.
Then they moved to the Ozarks and it grated on my 10 year old nerves that they allowed their communication skills to fall to HILLBILLY backwoods levels! They NEVER used to talk like that!
They were afraid they would sound “better” than the locals, and would be considered “uppity”.
Whether you discount it or not it is true
I guess I understand that; they didn’t want the neighbors thinking they were Yankees...
They were from the High Plains-rocky mountains and the back hills of Tennessee. Nothing Yankee in either of them.
Walter has hit the nail squarely on the head. This is the reason colleges have become a joke and a college education has become less of a requirement with hiring companies.
I understand, but if you didn’t speak “hill people” you’d be regarded as a foreign entity.
Maybe but unproductive behavior is prevalent in many other cultures. I have been reading a book the growth of entrepreneurship, finance and capitalism (i.e. productive behavior!) around the world. Some cultures are about product behavior, some less so, some not at all at least in above the minimum to survive. Geographical northern regions have more. In northern climates staying alive is harder to do, so with severe winters you have to plan, defer gratification & produce! Southern climates less so, food, clothing shelter issues less severe so solutions to these problems need not be as immediate or efficient. Other factors:
1) Weaker central governments in the west & northern latitudes, property rights to a greater deal respected & individual freedom of action allowed to a greater degree.
2) Tribal oriented society (Order of loyalty & deference family, clan, tribe, maybe nation) much weaker in the north and west, where it’s stronger productive behavior is weaker, examples Scotland, & Ireland.
We think of Asians as being very productive & entrepreneurial and many such as the Chinese and Japanese are. Historically it was much harder for them to be, historically they were under governments that were weaker on property rights, and more arbitrary in its action & Confucianism made them look on government as something paternal. So they still had productive societies, productive to a certain level due to the fact they were laboring under huge inefficiencies. Remove those constraints & they take off. One of the PRC officials asked the very “un-Maoist” question, “Where are there poor Chinese? Answer in China!”. So he (Deng I think was his name!)was the one that started moving China away from Communism to authoritarian capitalism. It did make the average Chinese a little freer and better off, but they have a long way to go.
My 2 cents
Why socialism hits economic barriers in the south faster (Spain, Greece) versus Nordic nations.
Very likely!
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