New England and Midwest are Rich and Healthy; the South is Poor and Overweight

[Rman]

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1105_health_state/source/1.htm

It's a pretty detailed and informative slideshow and it continues to illustrate the political dichotomy in the U.S.  Southerner's are stauchly Republican, yet in terms of economic vitality, schooling, employment and employee compensation, and healthcare they continue to lag behind.

An author by the name of Thomas Frank wrote an interesting read called What's The Matter with Kansas in which he looks at how South continues to support policies and leaders against their own interest.  It's worth a read.

[demi]

Midwest :usa

[demi]

Here in Michigan, everyone's poor.
And fat.

Or, at least, I'm both. 

Send me a pic and I'll treat you like a king

[demi]

Well show me, I will determine if you are hot

[MrAngryFace]

Couldnt have ANYTHING to do with southern cooking.

[Mandark]

An author by the name of Thomas Frank wrote an interesting read called What's The Matter with Kansas in which he looks at how South continues to support policies and leaders against their own interest.  It's worth a read.

How is it?  I followed some of the debate about it, but never read the thing itself.

If I already know that large amounts of social conservatives vote against (what I see as) their own economic interests, am I going to get anything out of it?

[Rman]

I don't think so.  Southern cooking isn't new.  Widespread obesity is.  

[Rman]

An author by the name of Thomas Frank wrote an interesting read called What's The Matter with Kansas in which he looks at how South continues to support policies and leaders against their own interest.  It's worth a read.

How is it?  I followed some of the debate about it, but never read the thing itself.

If I already know that large amounts of social conservatives vote against (what I see as) their own economic interests, am I going to get anything out of it?

Conservatives won the South because they framed their points better than the Dems.  They appealed to family values (LoL), the right to bear arms and they cast the government as the enemy.   Once government was cast as the enemy they went after taxation, since taxes feed the ''beast''.

[Mandark]

Yeah, I know the outline of the argument.  Democratic economic policy would actually lead to a better quality of life, but Republicans use social wedge issues and anti-government rhetoric to keep mostly Christian, mostly white voters on their side.

What I'm asking is whether I could get a lot more depth from reading the book, or if this is a case where you can pick up the argument through secondhand sources.

If it's just a list of all the different things the GOP's campaigned on over the last few decades, I already know the drill.  If he gets into the nitty-gritty of demographics or history, that might be different.

For example, I've read an argument that the US has always seen people vote based on their cultural identity, and that the New Deal era of putting economic interests first was an anomaly that only happened because of the Great Depression.  I don't know near enough history to lean one way or the other about it.

[Synbios459]

We need a new roaring 20s!

[FlameOfCallandor]

I blame all the mexican food down here.  Yum!

[Synbios459]

I blame all the mexican food down here.  Yum!

Is Mexican food only popular in the south?

[FlameOfCallandor]

I blame all the mexican food down here.  Yum!

Is Mexican food only popular in the south?

What kind of garbage do people up north call mexican food?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

When I'm elected president I'm going to set up the Department of Not Eating So Damn Much and forcibly regulate people's diets.

When Mexican food is outlawed, only outlaws will have Mexican food.

[demi]

I blame all the mexican food down here.  Yum!

Is Mexican food only popular in the south?

Also known as

* Cuban food
* Spanish food

Just group it all as Immigrant Food and we'll be alright

[FlameOfCallandor]

When I'm elected president I'm going to set up the Department of Not Eating So Damn Much and forcibly regulate people's diets.

When Mexican food is outlawed, only outlaws will have Mexican food.

This already happened, they are called mexicans. 

[TVC15]

When you are eating well, you feel so much better.  Maybe if people in the south ate better they wouldn't be so racist or easy to hook with TERRIST paranoia.

[hyp]

holy shit @ hawaii being #3.  i go there once a year to visit my in-laws and the local food is comparable to the south.  there's a shitload of overweight people there too.  WTF 

[Rman]

Are those overweight people native Hawaiians or mainland expats?

[Fragamemnon]

An author by the name of Thomas Frank wrote an interesting read called What's The Matter with Kansas in which he looks at how South continues to support policies and leaders against their own interest.  It's worth a read.

How is it?  I followed some of the debate about it, but never read the thing itself.

If I already know that large amounts of social conservatives vote against (what I see as) their own economic interests, am I going to get anything out of it?

I read the book when it came out-it was an easy read with lots of anecdotes, but I didn't find it very memorable or really informative by any measure.

[hyp]

Are those overweight people native Hawaiians or mainland expats?

mostly natives.  they probably had someone poll a sample of people from waikiki where all the hot bodied people are.  the area where my wife is from (waipahu), didn't look much different from mainland obese USA, except for the ethnicity of the people.

[demi]

Here in Michigan, everyone's poor.
And fat.

Or, at least, I'm both. 

Send me a pic and I'll treat you like a king

(Image removed from quote.)

nicca that ain't fat, get out of here

[Mandark]

I read the book when it came out-it was an easy read with lots of anecdotes, but I didn't find it very memorable or really informative by any measure.

Thanks.  I get the feeling the new Krugman book's going to be the same way.  Maybe heavier on the stats, but still making a pretty basic argument that I'm already familiar with and generally agree with.