Posted on 09/18/2003 10:08:02 AM PDT by sheltonmac
As if the Yellowhammer State had not received enough attention over the Ten Commandments controversy, Alabama has once again piqued the nation's interest. By an overwhelming majority, voters struck down a major tax increase proposed by Republican Governor Bob Riley. They recognized the tax hike for what it was: an effort to justify government spending increases in spite of a $675 million budget deficit. Unfortunately, some of the more "progressive" states see this as a sign that Alabama is every bit the backwater, trailer trash community they always thought it to be.
Most of the negative reactions to the recent vote are coming from those in the North. This isn't surprising, given that the in-bred, hillbilly stereotype of the South is very much alive and well north of the Mason-Dixon line.
While a native of Louisiana, I have spent most of my life in Minnesota. Needless to say that in a state where the majority of residents believe mayonnaise is a spice, keeping in touch with my Southern roots has been a bit of a challenge.
Most people up here have never heard of boiled peanuts. If you serve them grits, the first thing they reach for is the sugar. Sorghum molasses is about as rare as chicory coffee. The term "Cajun" is used to describe anything served with an extra sprinkling of pepper. There are no "sirs" or "ma'ams." College football doesn't exist outside of the Big Ten--and as a lifelong LSU Tiger fan, I can tell you that this has made life up here very frustrating!
People in the North truly have a misguided understanding of the South and its inhabitants. This is especially true when it comes to politics.
In a recent editorial appearing in the Sept. 15 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Alabama voters were castigated for their out-and-out refusal to raise their own taxes. As with most Star Tribune editorials, the main point was to praise socialism as the answer to life's ills. Bemoaning the decline of trust in government, the author said that "the nation will find out if Christian charity can run the public schools, pay the medical bills of the poor and elderly, build highways and prisons and do other work heretofore associated with government."
The unnamed editorialist saw nothing but doom and gloom in Alabama's future, saying, "The result will be a deepening of the two-tier society apparently sought by the anti-tax lobby: minimal public services for the unworthy poor and a lush, walled-off, privatized world for the privileged." And those of us in favor of smaller government are considered to be the extremists?
The faux compassion exhibited by those who love to be generous with other people's money betrays an underlying distrust of the private sector. Terms like "free enterprise," "individualism" and "personal responsibility" have no place in their vocabulary. They see government as society's great equalizer. They firmly believe that if everyone can't be rich, then no one should be rich.
Fortunately, these elitists seem to have underestimated the will of the people. In one resounding "No!" the people of Alabama have spoken volumes. They sent a message that more government spending isn't the answer.
The concept of shrinking government is a completely foreign concept here in Minnesota. We pay the fourth-highest taxes in the country, and people continue to brag about how generous our government is.
Our Southern counterparts in Alabama get it. They know instinctively that if more money is given to the government, the government is going to spend it. It's a fact of life. Once the trend of increased spending catches on, it's very difficult to cut back.
It is my hope that this independent and defiant spirit coming out of the South is catching. This is the kind of thing we need to see in places like California and New York.
Keep your eye on Alabama. A crimson tide is rising in the heart of Dixie, the beginning of a great flood that may begin to spread across the entire nation.
Nice work Sheltonmac
I couldn't believe that my brother and his wife, and my own mother, all of whom live in Alabama, didn't vote on this.
I chastized them, rightly..
You will notice that the fine folk in Washington defeated the tax on coffee by about the same margin as Alabama defeated the Riley tax. WAR EAGLE
I'm a Jersey boy who's seen the light and moved to Texas. When I was about to go to school in Nashville, my Dad told me never to underestimate Southerners because they talk slowly. He said, "they may talk slow, but they're thinking in between the words." The reality is that large and diverse groups of people have, on average, the same level of intelligence. Only willful ignorance (i.e. prejudice) keeps stereotypes like the "dumb Southerner" alive.
The South essentially runs America.
Sorry, but I think that you are dead wrong on that one. To me, the elitists in the Northeast and in California have much more influence than all of the South combined, mainly because they (or their ideological brothers in other parts of the country) control most of the media, much of the judiciary on all levels of government, and almost all of our educational system. If the South runs the country, why are we so heavily taxed and regulated? Why is private gun ownership still up for debate? Why is the Constitution itself regarded as a mere formality by much of the nation? A southern, rural-oriented society tends to raise more self-reliant people, whereas crowded, industrial ones produce socialism-oriented people. We are clearly not a nation run by people who want us to be self-reliant.
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