Why are Red States consistently shitholes? Is Conservatism the reason for the utter failure in these states? Or is this all Obama and Bidens fault?

[OneViewpoint]

Whether you look at...

• Gambling addiction
• Number of meth labs and drug deaths
• Murder rate per capita
• Poverty rates
• Education ranking

Red States are consistently swirling around the bottom of the barrel. Yet they cling to Conservative principles that are literally killing them and vote Republican time after time. Just how stupid are these people?

[Tamera952]

Well, the answer is that it’s complicated. In addition to these main underlying points listed below in the article I’ve included—I personally believe that the religiosity of the Red states also contributes negatively. (It certainly factors in when examining aspects of abuse of power and population control— specifically the control of many, by a handful of power holders, as it always has).
As It is widely known that the more religious a group is, the less educated they tend to be overall. Statistically, the more higher education one receives and is exposed to, is directly proportional to a decrease in one’s religiosity.

Anyway, that aside, Here’s a good VOX article that helps explain some of it:——————————————————————————

* Why Red States Stay Poor While Blue States Grow Richer
Historic inequality, party realignment, and underinvestment help explain why Republican states remain poorer while Democratic ones prosper.

A Nation Divided by Opportunity
When we think about inequality in the United States, we often imagine it along racial, class, or urban-rural lines. But there’s another divide, one etched into the political geography of the country. The richest states in America nearly all vote Democrat. The poorest ones, with rare exception, consistently vote Republican. This is a slow-burning outcome of over a century of historical injustice, economic neglect, and deliberate political strategy.

Many Canadians and Americans themselves look at this divide and ask the same question: why do some of the most economically distressed states vote for a party that promises smaller government and less investment in public goods? The answer lies in understanding the deeply-rooted forces that shape these voting patterns, and the very real human costs they continue to impose.

The Legacy of the Civil War and Reconstruction
To understand today’s political and economic map of the United States, one must begin in the 19th century. Before the Civil War, the American South was built on an agrarian economy dependent on slave labour. The war’s end marked a seismic shift. Slavery was abolished, but the economic collapse that followed devastated the Southern economy. The brief Reconstruction era that followed was a time of bold federal intervention and the promise of racial equality. That promise was met with violent resistance.

Segregationist policies, underinvestment in education, and systemic racism soon replaced Reconstruction. These states were left isolated from the rapid industrial growth taking place in the North and West. Infrastructure lagged, and public education systems were chronically underfunded. Wealth remained concentrated in the hands of a few, and entire generations of Americans were denied the opportunity to thrive.

Industrialization, Immigration, and Northern Growth
In contrast, states in the Northeast and along the West Coast began industrializing early. They welcomed waves of immigrants who helped fuel innovation and expansion. Public infrastructure projects, from roads to schools to sanitation, laid the foundation for long-term economic growth. Cities like New York, Boston, and San Francisco became magnets for capital and talent. Public education became a ladder to the middle class, and civic institutions flourished.

These states began to understand something fundamental: investment in people leads to prosperity. Governments in these regions increasingly embraced social programs, labour protections, and public health initiatives. These policies were not only morally sound, but they also made economic sense. A healthy, educated, and supported workforce was far more productive.

(cont.)….

[Tamera952]

(Cont.)…
*The Southern Strategy and the Political Realignment
:
The political map we see today did not always look this way. Until the mid-20th century, the American South was solidly Democratic, a legacy of the party’s role in defending Southern interests after the Civil War. But the Civil Rights Movement began to change that. When Democratic presidents like Lyndon B. Johnson pushed through the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s, many white voters in the South felt alienated.
This discontent was strategically harnessed by the Republican Party under Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy,” which sought to appeal to white Southern voters through coded language around states’ rights and “law and order.” Over time, this alignment deepened, and the Republican Party became dominant in many of the very states that had once resisted federal intervention most fiercely.

*Austerity Politics and the Cost of Disinvestment
:
Today, Republican-dominated states often prioritize policies that reflect a deep distrust of government. Lower taxes, fewer regulations, and minimal public services are held up as ideals. Yet the economic data tells a starkly different story.
Many of these so-called “red states” rank near the bottom in public education funding, healthcare access, labour protections, and infrastructure investment. They are also disproportionately dependent on federal subsidies to maintain basic services. States like Mississippi, Alabama, and West Virginia receive far more from the federal government than they contribute in taxes. Meanwhile, wealthier “blue states” like California, New York, and Massachusetts send billions more in federal taxes than they get back.
This transfer of wealth is often derided by conservative politicians as “welfare,” even though their states are among the largest recipients of it.

(Cont.)…

[Tamera952]

*The Role of Education and Labour Rights
:
Education plays a crucial role in this divide. States that invest heavily in public education, including universal pre-kindergarten, college tuition assistance, and special education, tend to produce a more skilled and engaged population. These states often vote Democratic. Their residents are more likely to value scientific evidence, public policy discussions, and social equity.
Conversely, states with weak education systems often struggle to break cycles of poverty. Chronic underfunding, school closures, and poor teacher retention make it harder for children to access upward mobility. And it’s not just about schools. In many red states, policies actively undermine labour rights through “right-to-work” laws, attacks on unions, and cuts to worker protections. This leaves many residents unable to build stable, middle-class lives.
Parental leave, disability benefits, and sick days are luxuries in many Republican-controlled states. The result is predictable: a worker undergoing cancer treatment may lose their job, their home, and their ability to care for their family, all because they missed a week of work they could not afford to lose.

[Tamera952]

(Cont.)….
*The Health Crisis Nobody Talks About
:
Public health has also played a key role in this divide. In the early 20th century, a hookworm epidemic plagued the American South. The parasite caused chronic fatigue, stunted growth, and reduced cognitive development, especially among children. Poor sanitation and malnutrition allowed it to spread. The disease was so widespread that it had long-lasting effects on economic productivity and public health outcomes.
To this day, Southern states rank near the bottom in life expectancy, maternal health, and chronic disease prevention. The region has fewer hospitals, lower insurance coverage rates, and higher rates of obesity and diabetes. These are not just outcomes of personal choices; they are structural failures, rooted in history and sustained by political inaction.

[Tamera952]

(Cont.)….
*The Myth of Personal Responsibility
:
Much of the rhetoric coming from Republican leaders centres on the idea of “personal responsibility.” But the data tells a different story. The states most committed to shrinking government often fail to deliver even the most basic services. And the people living in these states are frequently the ones who suffer the most.
This isn’t about shaming anyone. It’s about recognizing the real costs of austerity and underinvestment. It's about acknowledging that when we invest in people, when we ensure they have access to healthcare, education, stable jobs, and clean air and water, they contribute more to society, not less.
Sadly, this cycle of neglect continues. The very communities that could most benefit from strong public institutions are being told to fear and reject them. As a result, these states fall further behind.

We must begin by telling the truth. Poverty is not a personal failing. It is often the result of systemic neglect. Education is not elitist; it is a gateway to understanding, to citizenship, to problem-solving. Government is not the enemy when it works to lift people, protect their rights, and ensure a shared future.
The solutions are not easy, but they are within reach. Investing in public schools, expanding healthcare access, strengthening labour rights, and ensuring fair taxation are not radical ideas. They are the foundations of any functioning democracy.

[DryGermanGuy]

I've read in a documentary about the Civil War that it took the war-devastated southern regions almost a hundred years to close the infrastructure gaps to the northern states.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Conservatism, despite its best intentions, leads to a culture of repression, which inevitably leads to finding less than legal outlets for said repression, and the refusal to have heavy taxes leads to poor infrastructure which leads to poor roads, poor schools, etc. and turns a lot of the state into uneducated unfortunates who have nowhere else to go.

[lightbulb27]

requires a lot of study of those stats to even believe them.

I can say confidently my democrat state and nearby dem states dont' notice crime, they ignore it. They do care for their poor people... by controlling them rather than helping them become independent. That would show up in stats as red states don't take the same tact.

Meth labs... I know some of those areas and there's major crime along the main highway distribution points. The whole opium issue kicked off in ohio and was awful, there is poverty there which they don't know how to handle. they don't spoon feed their people as well as blue states.

I do notice homeless here and those whom are broken are kicked to the curb, they are squashed. democrats are kinda like western medicine drugs... they mask the problems but keep the underlying wounds.

[boundless]

Because you're a homosexual. When you try to envision the best thing imaginable, you fixate on shitholes because they get you all hot and bothered. While normal people think about things like sizzling rib eye steaks, you can't help but fixate on the old brown eye.

Red States...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/RHx0mOPMCoQhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/Nx8FIf0QLFQhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/Wer5vv73ZWIhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/oCdtRJ_jhBQhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/K2j7bH2HZu0

[loveslongnails]

Red states are constantly at the bottom of the barrel for all the important metrics, just pick one; education, health care, job opportunities, safety, quality of life, and so on. The only metric they have going in SOME places is "cost of living". Rents and housing are cheaper, because there's no jobs there paying well enough to attract people, and that's not enough to make a difference.

For these reasons, I'm 100% ALL IN on red states forming their own nation and getting the burden of them off of the rest of the USA. We wouldn't have to listen to their Christian nationalist bullshit, they could turn themselves into Gilead for all I care. Just get them the fuck off of progressive thinking people like the blue states.

As an added bonus, you can elect Trump to be dictator, or to have unlimited terms, or anything else you want. Just go away.

[msc545]

These are people that have a long tradition of not believing in education or reading or intellectual activities in general. Because of this, they never really learn anything about probability or the mathematics associated with gambling. I imagine that then winning or losing must seem like just fate to them, and most of them believe in their own invincibility if you just ask them, so it stands to reason that they "cannot lose" and yet they do - and heavily.

[purplepoppy]

When a country or state is doing badly have a look where the money is being siphoned off to. I know little of those places but I'm predicting the wealth flows to a handful of people.

[OneViewpoint]

@purplepoppy

And that handful of people have made sure to keep it that way for 250 years. Yet the locals consistently blame everyone but the people who have been screwing them for generations. Deny them education, wealth, and keep them hungry and you can basically own economic slaves who will believe anything their masters tell them. The poor never question the hell they are born into or make any effort to change it.

[DryGermanGuy]

Check out this Brian Tyler Cohen interview with DEM candidate Aftyn Behn from Tennessee. She describes that the GOP administration plans to privatize the state's Tennessee Valley Authority, which would triple the utilities prices for the citizens. But yay capitalism, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwmAVcmhoBE

[Agape93]

Low taxes means less state revenue, which means less goes to infrastructure or to cheaper infrastructure. What little funds they do get, don't go to anything to help people except fixing roads and basic shit.

[blackeagle007]

It’s our culture. Nothing to do with political things. (MAGA loves to blame everything on dems endlessly) People make choices on how they operate. It’s not always good but it’s all individual.

[Sal_Monella]

Here is my suggestion. For those people who feel that red states are hellholes, please do not move there. And please do not vote there.