Nix Stix Hix

From.

Sat. long form (several entire paragraphs each) links to exactly why this country sucks assfails to perform to its potential: Stupid goddamn farmers & other ignorant rural types,

Increasingly the urban-rural divide looks less like a political split and more like socio-economic and cultural chasm that looks very difficult to bridge.

Also crackers:

The United States would be much less exceptional in general, and in particular more like other English-speaking democracies such as Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were it not for the effects on U.S. politics and culture of the American South.

I don’t mean this in a good way. A lot of the traits that make the United States exceptional these days are undesirable, like higher violence and less social mobility. Many of these differences can be attributed largely to the South.

Oh look, now I'm descended from an ethnic minority:

The states of the former Confederacy include ethnic minorities like Louisiana Cajuns and Texas Germans, along with African Americans. And the dominant conservatives in the South have always been challenged from within the ranks of the white community by populists, liberals and radicals.

But the South really is different from the rest of the country. Here are some examples of how the South skews American statistics.

Blah blah blah, click & read the grim truth if you like.