Just for the record re: The Flag

[L4Dawg]

I'm as conservative as it gets. I'm GOP to the core. The last Democrat I voted for above the county level (and where I live if you wanted a vote in county elections up until just recently you had to vote Democratic) was John C. Stennis. That being said I will NEVER EVER EVER vote for any candidate for any office that does not vote to get rid of that albatross around our neck of a flag. Even if your heritage is steeped in Confederates, and mine is, the economic and sports fallout is just to much. We won't even get into what should be Christian empathy for our fellow man.

 

[3000lbchicken]

Make it a poll. Who will vote their elected leaders out if the flag is not removed?

For the record: I will.

 

[blacklistedbully]

I'm as conservative as it gets. I'm GOP to the core. The last Democrat I voted for above the county level (and where I live if you wanted a vote in county elections up until just recently you had to vote Democratic) was John C. Stennis. That being said I will NEVER EVER EVER vote for any candidate for any office that does not vote to get rid of that albatross around our neck of a flag. Even if your heritage is steeped in Confederates, and mine is, the economic and sports fallout is just to much. We won't even get into what should be Christian empathy for our fellow man.

Our state deserves smart & serious people running it. Any that oppose this change are far too moronic to deserve office, regardless of party. And if we continue to vote in morons, we deserve what we get.

 

[RocketDawg]

Our state deserves smart & serious people running it. Any that oppose this change are far too moronic to deserve office, regardless of party. And if we continue to vote in morons, we deserve what we get.

Well, if Mississippi were to get smart and serious people running it, it would be unique among the states.

 

[$altyDawg]

And if we continue to vote in morons, we deserve what we get.

I have been saying this for years, yet somehow we end up with Tate Reeves as the guv.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Every State has their own idiots in charge. Look at Minnesota, California, Washington and New York. There is no level low enough on the IQ scale to describe their governors!

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Microcosm of America. Politics is so distasteful that only distasteful people enter the race. Perhaps some exceptions at local/lower levels, but certainly not in any substantial number by the time you go statewide and nationwide.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

I'd consider myself on the same page with all of that. I do wonder though...

Seeing that these sports figures have this much influence to make a change happen basically overnight when it's taken years to even get the legislature to acknowledge the issue, what other state problems could they make power moves to try and improve? For 2018 year end, we rank #50 in healthcare. #46 in education. #48 in economy. and obviously not very spectacular in anything else either. Would they be willing to do more than just the issues that are self serving? Just food for thought. I mean they got every president, AD, and coach together at the same time right in the midst of a global pandemic for God's sakes. Maybe they need to consider taking other issues as seriously?
www.usnews.com/news/best-states/mississippi

 

[dog12]

Microcosm of America. Politics is so distasteful that only distasteful people enter the race. Perhaps some exceptions at local/lower levels, but certainly not in any substantial number by the time you go statewide and nationwide.

Agree.

In my opinion, positions of leadership (e.g., US President, CEO of a corporation, President of the local public school board, Mayor, etc.) are most often sought by "ambitious achievers" that want: 1) the "power" that comes with holding that position; and/or 2) to create a legacy, so people will admire/remember them. Very often, these idiots enjoy controlling other people's lives and having those people lick their boots.

Very few people (<5%) go for positions of leadership today for honorable reasons.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Well on the education piece, Mississippi would likely be in the Top 40 IF you could take out the School systems in the landmass between Clinton, Byram, Richland, Pearl, Flowood and Ridgeland and the landmass between the Mississippi River on the west and a line from Vicksburg to Yazoo City to Grenada to Memphis on the East. You know what is common in this two areas? The same US Congressman for nearly 30 years who has done nothing to “fix” the problems.

And there is no reason to expect Mississippi to ascend any higher than Top 40 no matter what is done or who is in charge. The size and economics of this state will forever keep us in the lower 1/3 in Education and the subsequent effects. But on the bright side, we are in the Top 1/3 in costs of living here. So we got that going for us.

 

[dorndawg]

Well on the education piece, Mississippi would likely be in the Top 40 IF you could take out the School systems in the landmass between Clinton, Byram, Richland, Pearl, Flowood and Ridgeland and the landmass between the Mississippi River on the west and a line from Vicksburg to Yazoo City to Grenada to Memphis on the East. You know what is common in this two areas? The same US Congressman for nearly 30 years who has done nothing to “fix” the problems.

And there is no reason to expect Mississippi to ascend any higher than Top 40 no matter what is done or who is in charge. The size and economics of this state will forever keep us in the lower 1/3 in Education and the subsequent effects. But on the bright side, we are in the Top 1/3 in costs of living here. So we got that going for us. 

Hold up you think Congressmen are in charge of k-12 education?

 

[horshack.sixpack]

You aren't posting this from a correctional facility are you?***

 

[thekimmer]

I hear you. This is not a partisan issue....

I'm as conservative as it gets. I'm GOP to the core. The last Democrat I voted for above the county level (and where I live if you wanted a vote in county elections up until just recently you had to vote Democratic) was John C. Stennis. That being said I will NEVER EVER EVER vote for any candidate for any office that does not vote to get rid of that albatross around our neck of a flag. Even if your heritage is steeped in Confederates, and mine is, the economic and sports fallout is just to much. We won't even get into what should be Christian empathy for our fellow man.

This is not an issue that divides by dems vs republicans or even conservatives vs liberals. I had someone tell me that they agreed the flag needed to be changed but was hung-up on outsiders trying to strong arm Mississippians. I get that, I really do, but the verdict is in on this, there is no debate to win. The old flag is universally viewed as confirming the narrative that the state of MS in still a stubborn racist backwater. It is not just holding MS back it is tearing the state down in a rapidly escalating fashion.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Well, if Mississippi were to get smart and serious people running it, it would be unique among the states.

Good one!

 

[blacklistedbully]

This is not an issue that divides by dems vs republicans or even conservatives vs liberals. I had someone tell me that they agreed the flag needed to be changed but was hung-up on outsiders trying to strong arm Mississippians. I get that, I really do, but the verdict is in on this, there is no debate to win. The old flag is universally viewed as confirming the narrative that the state of MS in still a stubborn racist backwater. It is not just holding MS back it is tearing the state down in a rapidly escalating fashion.

I've been thinking the same thing. But when you know it's wrong to keep it, then keeping it just because you don't want to look like you were bullied into it isn't the better choice. Have enough integrity to realize the "right thing to do" supercedes your need to show you can't be bullied into doing the right thing.

In fact, we've earned the pressure being applied to us by being the last state to make a change. True character demands we admit we are wrong...take our lumps and make a decision based on what's right...not on what hurts our pride the least.

 

[mcdawg22]

Every State has their own idiots in charge. Look at Minnesota, California, Washington and New York. There is no level low enough on the IQ scale to describe their governors!

Florida checking in!

 

[mcdawg22]

Well on the education piece, Mississippi would likely be in the Top 40 IF you could take out the School systems in the landmass between Clinton, Byram, Richland, Pearl, Flowood and Ridgeland and the landmass between the Mississippi River on the west and a line from Vicksburg to Yazoo City to Grenada to Memphis on the East. You know what is common in this two areas? The same US Congressman for nearly 30 years who has done nothing to “fix” the problems.

And there is no reason to expect Mississippi to ascend any higher than Top 40 no matter what is done or who is in charge. The size and economics of this state will forever keep us in the lower 1/3 in Education and the subsequent effects. But on the bright side, we are in the Top 1/3 in costs of living here. So we got that going for us. 

What the hell are you talking about? Clinton is the beacon of hope for racially diverse public schools in Mississippi. It’s been an A school forever. District 3 is F’s from Amite to Hinds to Noxubee. Is that Guests fault? No

 

[dog12]

Hold up you think Congressmen are in charge of k-12 education?

The root cause of these types of issues: children born and raised without their fathers (and, sometimes their mothers) being present.

We need to fix that.

If we can fix that, then many of these types of issues will fix themselves over the course of time.

 

[Antonio Brown's Foot]

This from Trey Goff, an MSU grad





Trey Goff, studied at Mississippi State University
Answered July 13, 2018 · Upvoted by Alex Morais, M.S. Computer Science & Computer Graphics, Mississippi State University (2009) and Chris Robinson, M. P. A. Accounting, Mississippi State University

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As an economist born and raised in Mississippi who worked on getting Mississippi out of last place economically for a few years, I can share a few reasons why Mississippi is backwards (at least economically). The short version is that, put simply, Mississippi has the worst governance institutions in the United States.

Most all of this information comes from a book I wrote a few chapters in published by the Institute for Market Studies titled “Promoting Prosperity in Mississippi.” A PDF copy can be found here.<svg width="24px" height="24px" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><g id="external_link" class="icon_svg-stroke" stroke="#666" stroke-width="1.5" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round">
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• Mississippi ranked 42nd out of 50 in the Index of Economic Freedom, a key indicator of the business-friendliness of a state. The Economic Freedom rating of a state is closely correlated with a state’s economic growth or decline.
• Mississippi has the 5th largest state government as a percentage of GDP out of all 50 states. This means that over 50% of the state’s productive resources are transferred to the state bureaucracies to be squandered at the hands of politicians rather than put to good use in a productive capacity by entrepreneurs and individuals.

3. Mississippi is well below 40th in nearly every other measure of governance institutions of US states.
4. Mississippi levies some of the highest taxes in the nation on capital investment.
5. Mississippi has one of the highest incarceration rates of all 50 states.
I could go on, but I think the point is clear: Mississippi’s governance institutions—the legal, tax, and regulatory environment in which individuals operate—is the worst in the nation. As a number of Nobel Laureates in economics have shown, governance institutions are the biggest determining factor of the economic growth or demise of a jurisdiction.
But why am I talking about economic growth if you asked about why the state is culturally backwards?
Because economic growth is the mother of all cultural and social development. Economic growth is highly correlated with anything and everything that is good: The Human Development Index, standard of living, life expectancy, infant mortality rates, crime rates—every that is good, improves with economic growth, while everything that is bad, decreases with economic growth.
This monolithic history of horrendous governance has shaped Mississippi culture to be irreparably complacent. If poverty is the norm, the expectation, and the reality, then why bother to be anything but slow, complacent, and genteel?
This makes for a wonderful Hospitality culture.
However, a Hospitality culture does not make for human progress.