Here are the 10 states with the poorest quality of life

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Here are the 10 states with the poorest quality of life
States with the poorest quality of life are mainly clustered in the South.

By Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech | Jul. 15, 2024

Story at a glance
• CNBC released its ‘America’s Top States for Business’ report, which considers quality of life in its ranking.
• The states with the poorest quality of life in 2024 are Texas, Indiana and Alabama, according to the report.
• Texas’ anti-LGBTQ legislation, restrictive abortion policy and poor healthcare are all reasons it has the worst quality of life, according to the ranking.

{snip}

[Irish_Dem]

1. Maybe we should have done a Marshall Plan for the south after the Civil War.

Held the confederate leaders accountable but put some money into the states.
Especially education for children.

[EYESORE 9001]

4. Sounds preferable to the half-assed approach taken after the war

[raging moderate]

6. Most people in the south BEFORE the Civil War needed a Marshall Plan.

Last edited Wed Jul 17, 2024, 08:02 AM - Edit history (3)

The rich white slaveowners functioned as an Aristocracy, with a social structure very much like the Feudal society of medieval Europe. Ulysses S. Grant, in his Personal Memoirs, mentioned how he secretly observed the confederate army building ramparts, etc., and he could tell that the tools furnished to the lower-ranking laborers were not very good and that the laborers actually understood more about building than the aristocratic officers who were riding around shouting useless orders and mostly just getting in the way.

Eugene D. Genovese recently wrote The Political Economy of Slavery, after doing extensive research which included computerized calculations of the economic figures recorded in the records of rich plantation owners. His research backed up descriptions by northern travelers to the antebellum south, who had noticed that the poor white people of the south were also oppressed by the rich slaveowners. Genovese found that southern bankers routinely used questionable banking practices that unfairly favored the rich slave-owners, and that the rich slave-owners dominated the economy so much that it was difficult to obtain decent tools because the stores mostly stocked the cheapest tools available.

The poor Black slaves were mostly treated horribly. Genovese found that they also were furnished mostly with the cheapest tools, which made their work insanely difficult, and were punished when these tools did not work very well. In addition, he found that the caloric output of the food slave-owners admitted giving their slaves did not come close to matching the caloric output of the work they admitted obtaining from their slaves. That was how he discovered the underground economy that was secretly run in the midnight hours by a few slaves (and a few other poor people) who fortunately were able to function on 3-4 hours of sleep. The book Twelve Years a Slave, written by a free Black man (Solomon Northup) who had been kidnapped into slavery, mentioned how some slaves fed themselves by setting fish traps after they woke up in the morning so they could eat some kind of supper at night.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Yes exactly, then the civil war destruction and aftermath finished off the south.

In a very bad way.

Today they have a low standard of living, horrible academic record, lower wages, etc.

[brewens]

2. This line about the minimum wage is bullshit. For a family of four? Not even close.

"The minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 an hour—about 20 percent lower than an hourly rate that would cover the cost of living for a family of four, according to an Oxfam America report."

20% more is just a little over $9 an hour. I live in Idaho. Forget about even surviving single on that. Our cost of living can't be much if any lower than Texas.

[Scrivener7]

3. Shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

[AltairIV]

5. Surprised

I'm surprised Mississippi and West Virginia didn't make the list.

[Botany]

7. All red states

What a shock

[Passages]

8. It doesn't have to be this way, entirely too sad.

The minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 an hour—about 20 percent lower than an hourly rate that would cover the cost of living for a family of four, according to an Oxfam America report.

And if a Texan loses their job, the state’s unemployment benefits cover 10.5 percent of the income needed to cover the cost of living.

Here are all the states with a poor quality of life, according to the report:

Texas
Indiana
Alabama
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Tennessee
Missouri
Louisiana
Kansas
Arizona