This guy has the right idea
We have to start treating the American South, with their open carry and voter suppression like a pariah nation, similar to South Africa in the 1980’s and 1990’s. If they want “open carry” and voter suppression, fine. They just don’t get that stuff and also get to be treated like grownups.
Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, plans to withdraw from the university because of his concerns about the campus carry law that will go into effect in Texas in August 2016.
According to a Tuesday report from the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Texan, Hamermesh will teach at University of Sydney next fall.
Second best professor in the world named Hamermesh, behind only his brother Larry.
This sort of opting out is happening. Both of my kids refused to look at, let alone apply to universities in the south. Both cited the south’s mentality towards guns and reproductive rights as reasons. My son graduates this year and, you guessed it, despite the interest and recruiting he’s already received he’s not considering working in the south.
You could not pay me to live in the south.
So I will hate myself for getting involved in this one, but to be honest that’s pretty much as bad as the people who characterize all of Wilmington as a horrible place because of the killings in certain parts of the city. Nor would we expect to find young engineering graduates wanting to work in, say, Camden NJ, Jersey City, Washington DC, Detroit, Flint, Oakland, Chicago, or Cleveland, given their track records. As a matter of fact, I guess it would be safer all around just to advise our kids to move into gated communities with security companies no matter where they are going …
I feel no more qualms about traveling through the South than I think pandora feels about moving along the city streets–situational awareness is always called for, but give me a break …
Once we allow ourselves to start writing off entire parts of the country (or our own cities) as “a pariah nation,” instead of actually fighting for the soul of the America we want to see, then we’ve all lost.
Except I didn’t characterize people. I mentioned actual laws about guns (or lack of laws) and restrictions on reproductive rights.
Okay, I probably shouldn’t have used the word mentality when I meant policy/laws.
So you’d argue that you’d rather see your graduate child go to work in Chicago, Detroit, Camden, Jersey City, Detroit, Flint, Cleveland or Oakland than Charlotte, Chattanooga, Little Rock, or Savannah? I do understand what you’re saying, and it is subtly different than what DD’s original post said–I get that.
There are places turning to shit all over this country, and pretending that one region is “the problem” is, in itself, a problem.
Chicago would be awesome – one of my favorite cities! 🙂
And there are places/cities everywhere that are undesirable due to many factors – I was focusing more on states. Austin is a really cool city, but… hello? Texas state laws. Guns in bars, on college campuses, etc. while restricting reproductive rights is a problem for us.
To deny that the south (and other regions) have a certain mentality, is to deny reality.
The South might not be THE problem but is sure is a BIG problem.
I spent the last month in both Japan and South Korea.
Crime is essentially zero there. There you have 6 year old girls taking the subway to school by themselves. There you have people strolling streets late at night with no apparent fear or qualms. There I never have any fear in going anywhere at any time.
It’s a nice feeling, that you never get in the US.
Gee LE I miss your point. Japan is the only nation in the world to feel the effects of nuclear war (x2) and South Korea is still at a state of war with the North and their one million man army massed on the border. Yes, it is a feeling that we in the U.S. will never get but that is a good thing.
@D “Gee LE I miss your point.”
That is because you dwell in the past and on the irrelevant.
If you want to learn, go there and see for yourself.
The retirees in my neighborhood make me nervous
“My son graduates this year and, you guessed it, despite the interest and recruiting he’s already received he’s not considering working in the south.”
That’s awesome. When top recruits start saying “No, I don’t want to live in a place like that.” Companies may start getting the message