Soooo........ Bible Belt

[stromboli]

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/75/6c/93/756c932884b009c8d2acb9ff8d29148a.jpg

[PickelledEggs]

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/75/6c/93/756c932884b009c8d2acb9ff8d29148a.jpg

do you have a higher res link? I wanted to share this on the facebook page

It's kind of hard to read the words in the picture

[SGOS]

I would appear that religious belief correlates with a host of negatives ranging from education to diabetes and poverty.  Do you think a causation exists there?  If it does, then what is causing what?   For example does a lack of education cause more religious belief, or does religious belief cause a lack of education?  I can make up scenarios that explain it, but I'd be going out on a limb.  Or is it just a cluster of crap that goes together, and if so why?

[Munch]

Diabeties = religious nutballs? O.o

I'm diabetic though :(.. these are not my people!

[Mike Cl]

From my stay in the south, I think those maps reflect pretty accurately why we should just sell off the south to Mexico.  I have little good to say about the south generally.  The best thing that I remember about it was leaving it. 

In school each teacher had a paddle and used it in class.  Some proudly displayed their old paddles on the walls.  A few even had those who had received at least 100 swats to sign them, and when there was no more room on that particular paddle, it was retired to the wall.  According to them, there was no Civil War--it was the War Between the States or more often, the War of Yankee Aggression.   The weather sucked--took a shower and a half hour later had to have another one to wash out the gnats from your eyes and nose.  There are bugs there that have not been classified yet.  Yes, it was a great place to leave!

[aitm]

Poverty leads to cheaper food higher in fat and starches, such as rice and pasta's and potatoes with heavier cheaper meats, lots of butter and grease drippings and deep fried foods hence the diabetes. The education is notoriously lower what I think is a willful attempt to keep social boundaries, but if not then certainly the economic social stratus keeps the poorer in a poorer district which has a lower tax base and less money for qualified teachers…….yada yada yada...

[Aletheia]

In rural areas and 50,000 or less population towns, the poverty rate is extremely high. I currently live in one of the towns in Texas that has the lowest pay rate in the state. Minimum wage is $7.25 and the average rate of pay around here is literally $7.25. My measly $7.50 an hour goes a little further than most because I live in an RV where my bills are the lowest possible and the chance of eviction is almost non-existent.  The town I'm in has a population of 30,000 with 10% to 20% being homeless and close to 50% are below the poverty threshold. The middle class barely exists and the other segment of the population are retirees who subsist off of their savings and take an interest in the town's politics and economics, which keeps the town "poor" to avoid rapid urbanization and growth. This town experiences a "brain drain" as well due to the community college educating the younger generations which then promptly leave.

Education in this area is very low and most people either have faith in the after life or feel powerless and insignificant. The fact that I have a job I actually like has made living here much more bearable.

As for the weather, it's unpredictable but not severe enough to be un-liveable. In the last 10 years or so, the climate has begun to form a distinctive wet season (winter) and a distinctive dry season (summer). The wildlife here is fascinating, and insect repellent tips and tricks are well known and thus  peace with the insects. There are poisonous snakes, but to be perfectly honest, you could go years without ever seeing one. As a general rule, the people are friendly to strangers but firm in their convictions when someone intends to stay. This stems more from the poverty rate, scarcity of resources, and strong sense of pride in their possessions and accomplishments.

I believe it is the poverty rate and low quality education that encourages religion here to thrive. Whenever someone around here acquires wealth, they believe that God had less to do with it and become more realistic about life.

Well, that's my 2 cents from living here in Texas.

[stromboli]

Hard to say where it starts, but they all feed into each other. This is one set of illustrations everybody in the South should see.

I'll look for a better link.

[stromboli]

Hard to say where it starts, but they all feed into each other. This is one set of illustrations everybody in the South should see.

I'll look for a better link.

http://www.reddit.com/domain/media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/

is the origin, but not much help.

[PickelledEggs]

Hard to say where it starts, but they all feed into each other. This is one set of illustrations everybody in the South should see.

It's definitely a vortex. It makes it really hard to fix something when there are so many huge factors. I'm reminded by when I read "The Old Man and the Boy"... with the part about hunting quail. You don't shoot at the flock; you need to focus at one bird at a time if you are going to get any" How do you fix poverty in the south when it's fueled by poor education and religion?/ how do you fix the problem of religion when it's fueled by poverty and poor education?/ how do you fix poor education when it's fueled by religion and poverty?

A true clusterfuck vortex of shit.

[Hydra009]

I'm reminded by when I read "The Old Man and the Boy"... with the part about hunting quail. You don't shoot at the flock; you need to focus at one bird at a time if you are going to get any"

That sounds like something a guy without a grenade launcher would say.  :P

[PickelledEggs]

That sounds like something a guy without a grenade launcher would say.  :P

We can't all afford things that offer convenience.

[undercoverbrother]

This is a question that could be answered by Social Economics. It is a surprisingly vast field.

If you like podcasts, you might like Freakonomics as it deals with subjects such as the OP.

[stromboli]

My son told me about Freakonomics (sp?) awhile ago, saw the movie. here is the website.
http://freakonomics.com/

Haven't read any of the books; the podcasts look very interesting.

The vortex analogy is good, because a vortex happens due to certain conditions that feed on each other. Change some elements like direction of the water, velocity, current volume and so on it goes away. You could fix the situations in the Bible Belt through education or providing better jobs and improving the economy. It would certainly help if they just moved into the 21st century.

[Solitary]

Diabeties = religious nutballs? O.o

I'm diabetic though :(.. these are not my people!

But you're still too sweet. He! He!  Solitary