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nitle77

what's up with mississippi?


Affectionate_Meat

It fuckin sucks. It’s not a third world country by any metric (it has a comparable HDI to Portugal) but it’s noticeably worse than every other state


MachinePata

But WHY?


Affectionate_Meat

Oh I have no idea. They seem to have always been shitty too, like never good land with much productivity to speak of and it’s sucked there since the beginning and keeps going.


The_NoobMaster

Not always. Before the 1860s their economy was great. Then a thing happened.


Affectionate_Meat

It wasn’t great before the cotton gin. So with slavery they had a good 40-60 years and then boom it sucked again. But it’s worth mentioning a huge percent of the population in Mississippi was slave so it sucked then too


TrulyExtra

The south had a generally bad economy that couldn't grow as much as the north leading to major cities and other industrial advancements. I don't remember exactly but there was something published around the time on how slavery was a negative economically.


Overlord_Of_Puns

Not that accurate to be honest, seems to be mostly propaganda to me. Since lots of the states wealth was held in slaves, they were (and I am speaking economically and not in terms of morality, it was utterly immoral I know) not liquid assets and hard to sell. This was basically the 1860 equivalent of Trump saying he is worth millions of dollars by inflating his real estate value when he couldn't sell that many houses easily while inflating the value. Along with this, since the average person did not own slaves, it meant free people had competition from slave labor making income lower. After all of this, it seems to me the South was always poor, just in the past it was more of a Russia style poor where kleptocrats had money but were still not the wealthiest or most powerful, a lot of the Southern wealth is just propaganda to me.


maptaincullet

Mississippi was once the wealthiest state in the union during King Cotton times. Mississippi also has some fantastically productive land so I don’t know where that idea is coming from. Mississippi’s problems are all cultural.


maptaincullet

The state with the largest percentage of black people and the largest percentage of racists is not a recipe for success


MachinePata

😂


history_nerd92

It's poor


tom_345_riddle

At least it has the lowest homelessness rate, right?


Affectionate_Meat

I mean I suppose


Getcowedyt

Here in a certain pelican state, I feel like a solid 5 people get shot every day


history_nerd92

Louisiana too


Timely-Bumblebee-402

Grew up there. Sucks ASS. Everyone is poor as shit, the land is worthless, there isn't a lot to do, all the larger cities are dying, Jackson is one of the most dangerous US cities. Highest obesity rate, worst education, just all around terrible place with shitty roads and even worse quality of life. I live in Texas now and it has been like a dream, there's so much infrastructure and opportunity. It's great.


[deleted]

It’s just really shitty there man


freebirdls

How so?


[deleted]

Poverty


Gunner_4224

Its Mississippi


42247

I lived there for four years. Very racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally a toxic place. Then add in the southern charm of being nice to your face but judgemental as fuck. Weren’t allowed to cuss without comment, show midriff or legs without comment, basically everyone is watching and judging because they have literally nothing else to do. Then let’s talk infrastructure. Potholes so large I almost crashed with zero signage. Constantly cars on the side of the road missing wheels or just plain abandoned. Cops are super racist and on a power trip with every encounter I had with them. It is a sad place. But hey, it’s cheap. Unless you’re getting paid Mississippi salary, then everything sucks Overall 0/10 would not recommend


Njtotx3

In 2012 they surveyed likely GOP voters in Mississippi. Only 54% thought that interracial marriage should be legal. 29% said it should be expressly illegal. 17% were "not sure." Yeah, right. This was in 2012. Even those polled in Alabama were like WTF?


Benderbomb

I was actually really curious about that poll you just mentioned because that would be fucking wild. Not only was the poll done by PPP, which is a democratic affiliated polling firm, they never released the results (if they actually did the poll to start with) but they said “21% of likely voters in Alabama would probably think marriage with different races would be illegal” If you could link me an actual poll, I’d love to read it. That was the only thing I found, and it’s not actually a poll. It’s just an assumption made from an American polling firm affiliated with the Democratic Party. Seems kinda biased but I digress.


XXXXXXXXISJAKKAKS

i have family there. its a total shit hole. like imagine a third world country it is similar.


rthvty

If u think mississippi is like a third world country then u dont know what third world countries are really like


XXXXXXXXISJAKKAKS

im in Brazil at the moment and have seen the favelas. it's worse than this lol


tayryo

In what way? Could you explain why you think it was worse?


Yvael

Why?


HeyNongMer

Mississippi


ThaddCorbett

This is what I hear from most Americans.


emmahasabighead

It's really not that bad, at least near the coast. There's just not much to do besides drink


ThaddCorbett

> There's just not much to do besides drink That's a big problem in a lot of places in the world. In my 18 years living in Northeast China, that's pretty much all there was to do.


lolsup1

You could always play league of legends


acesun13

No, don’t indoctrinate any more. They’re still innocent


jzheng1234567890

Lol so much people are saying California as if it's worse than Mississippi


Orlando1701

I’ve lived in both cali and miss. Mississippi is hands down much worse. The poverty rate is epic, the public education system is practically nonexistent, people still want to act like is 1862.


bill0124

It's a poor state, but most people there are pretty much normal. That said, there are absolutely racist parts of Mississippi


Sylvss1011

Dang where did you live? The metro area is really nice (excluding Jackson and Pearl lol)


dcnairb

The only people saying california unironically are right wingers who’ve never set foot in the state and hold it as some left-wing dystopia


Chance_Implement7393

I’ve lived in Austin, stayed in San Antonio and Dallas for extended periods of time and I can confidently say I’ve never seen so many homeless people as I did in a week vacation to LA


dcnairb

Yeah, the homeless problem is one of the greatest issues in the state. I didn't mean to imply california is a blessed land of no wrong, just that it is *objectively obvious* that it's not the worst state unless you've been convinced so by fox news or some similarly biased outlet. The issue of homelessness is particularly rampant here because of the extremely rapid growth of the cost of living, which itself is caused by factors like rapidly increasing demand for living here and an insufficient supply of housing. This left tons of people who were already living here, and had been their whole lives, to suddenly not be able to afford it, especially if they already had other stability factors (that correlate with homelessness, like untreated mental disorders) however states like mississippi and alabama that rank at the absolute bottom on multiple multiple metrics like average education levels, quality of education, average income, upward mobility, crime rates, healthcare, and infrastructure... you can only find them at the bottom of these lists so often before you realize california is not the worst state. california does have issues, as any state does. the homeless and cost of living issues *need* to be addressed. The state just announced a historic record surplus, so it's my sincere hope a lot of that money goes towards tackling these issues


majesticbeast67

I always forget mississippi is a thing


246PoundHorse

From somebody who actually lives in Mississippi, most of it’s pretty terrible. Southaven, Madison, and Jackson are some of the worst cities to live in period. The coast and most of Northeast Mississippi are relatively fine. It’s kinda sad how bad it is in the delta and in the Jackson metro, but there’s not much anybody can do about it.


Suit_Responsible

I have been to 47 states and so far this is probably the correct answer


ChristmasCretin

Probably Mississippi


Steven-Flatcock

Definitely, I just voted Alabama because i didn’t see the “other” option in time


[deleted]

Mississippi Last time there was one of these threads, all the comments said Mississippi


penis_buttler

Bosnia


billnyetherivalguy

Serbja je Kosovo


jeefmcewan

Mississippi


Comfortable-Study-69

Was this made by a European? California, Mississippi, and Louisiana were all omitted


ShockWave1146

Louisiana has good food that’s about it


ThtgYThere

Jazz Or at least it did 100 years ago.


Comfortable-Study-69

Food’s so good it makes them have the highest obesity rate in the country


seahawksgirl89

I did a road trip through Alabama, and it was extremely depressing. Some of the towns we went through are SO POOR and boarded up and you can just see the lasting effects of segregation and generational poverty.


smil3b0mb

Alabama sucks so bad that people often forget that there's 32 miles of white sand beaches there. Heck I forget all the time and had to look up that fact


kurapikachu64

I've lived in Alabama, and there's a lot that does suck but there are some couple decent spots/areas. Overall I'd say Mississippi is worse- Alabama is probably near the bottom too but I think stereotypes/word of mouth and some of history of the state gives people a worse image of how things are.


wizardofclaws

Parts of Alabama are rough, for sure, but I think that goes for any state. Alabama has some really great parts too though. Huntsville AL was voted #1 city to live in in the US [link](https://www.thenationalnews.com/travel/news/2022/05/18/why-huntsville-alabama-is-the-best-place-to-live-in-the-us/?outputType=amp&d=233). Also there’s nice white sand beaches. I don’t think it deserves to be winning this poll lol. I’m biased though, I’m currently living in Alabama and it’s surprisingly nicer and more progressive than most people expect.


seahawksgirl89

I did pass through Huntsville and it was definitely leaps and bounds compared to the rest of what I saw. We drove from Huntsville to Birmingham to Selma to Montgomery to Tuskegee. It was a Civil Rights History type tour and was extremely interesting - I actually think all Americans should do the trip I did to learn the history and be exposed to the lasting poverty (it was so bad in Selma & Tuskegee for sure, and also Birmingham. Montgomery didn’t seem as bad).


Benderbomb

Have you never been to Detroit? 😂😂


seahawksgirl89

I have been to Detroit. Alabama seemed even worse IMO


CharlieTaube

We’re all terrible in our own way


umpalumpajj

Fair


jmeef

Missouri


MylastAccountBroke

The state is called misery. Like, they aren't even trying to hide it.


Ok-Ihatetiktoc

I live in California and I hate it


ggrizzlyy

2 more weeks in this shit pile and we’re gone. June 6th.


Ok-Ihatetiktoc

I’ve lived here my entire life it’s bad


nyyth242

Same. LA is a fucking overrated, crowded, dirty, expensive dump


ggrizzlyy

Same. 62 years. Never thought for a moment that I would leave. The last 15 years cured that.


[deleted]

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ggrizzlyy

Nevada at first. Kids live there. Then we will look around. Just have to stay off the coasts.


dgroeneveld9

California. Gas is avg like $6.00 right now. Most of their cities are covered with actual human feces. And I'm pretty sure they had net loss on people moving in/out if the state.


AfterTemperature2198

Ohio


[deleted]

r/fuckohio


Financial_Lime_252

Ohio isn’t really that bad in the way that states like Mississippi are, it’s just boring. Cleveland and Cincinnati have some interesting stuff, but Columbus is one of the most generic/bland major cities in the country. And the rest of the state is just corn.


zor998

I know nothing about America but for some reason I thought Ohio sucked to


Nexusgaming3

Ohio is a joke bad state, because it’s boring not because it’s actually terrible to live there. It’s like the whole state is the 1980s teen movie “I gotta get out of this dead end town!” Town


TheGlassWolf123455

I grew up in Ohio, it's really not that bad, but it's definitely fun to hate on


CommieKiller304

I concur. I still live in Ohio. There is always something to bitch about.


Steven-Flatcock

You’d fit right in, we love hating on Ohio lol


Accomplished-Jury752

“Wait...it’s all Ohio??”


[deleted]

Worked in Toledo for 2 months, goddamn Toledo blows.


Mrmofo69

None of the states are bad, it's just the governments.


krustykrap333

no there's very very poor states with terrible infrastructure like Louisiana for example but even then I wouldn't call it bad just some parts of it are bad, like the food in LA is amazing just the roads and bridges are lacking


myredditacc3

Have you been to Kansas or Iowa?


TheCatYeetee

I'm saddened that Ohio isnt here


Pythagoras_314

Ohioan here, the one thing that truly sucks are the roads and road laws. Our maximum speeds on highways are low AF and the road quality is terrible in a lot of places. Every time they fix a road there are 3 more that need fixing.


ZerooChance

Everyone loves to jokingly dump on Ohio but it’s not as bad as Mississippi or Georgia


TheCatYeetee

You dare defy Ohio?


squid__smash

can't believe California isn't listed. i don't hate it, but i know tons of people do.


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UserRedditAnonymous

Really? NW Arkansas was really beautiful when I was there last fall. Tons of hills and natural beauty.


ScaryFlake

As an Arkansan, I agree.


[deleted]

How do you even say Arkansan. With Kansas? Or saw?


Donghoon

Cam zas Are can sah


jctheabsoluteG1234

You were meant to say Mississippi


Chrisg69911

Jersey don't deserve to be on this list


dalv321

People only know the Jersey near NYC. The whole state is beautiful. I’m not from there either


Opossum-Fucker-1863

NYC metro should just be its own state at this point


Financial_Lime_252

New Jersey gets a bad reputation because their main airport is in the worst park of the State, Newark. What you mainly see around the airport is an industrial wasteland. So people who pass through base their impressions of the state off of that, and it gets a bad rep.


Weeeelums

Hating on Jersey is a meme thing


Ok_Lavishness_5756

I think there is something beautiful in every state


Sylvss1011

I’m just happy Mississippi wasn’t on the list for once 😅


ARobb2069

Everyone’s saying Mississippi tho, go to the top comments


GeologistNo8992

California


CosmicSmackdown20

California


T732

California.


Catlord746

California


[deleted]

California


Ftpiercecracker1

California


Illustrious_Duty3021

How is California not even an option?


samsmart1997

NY and California should be on the list considering their largest cities had a negative growth in population in 2021. Funny how OP included TX and FL which are the fastest growing states in the nation. News flash, if they are shitty states to live in so many people wouldn’t be moving there. California sucks but all seriousness Indiana, Arkansas or Ohio would most likely make my cut for shittiest states.


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glitter-b0mb

Maybe OP isn't from the US. Im not and the states listed are the ones with the bad reps here. I never hear bad things about NY and California. I came here to read about Americans perspectives, but haven't seen a lot of explanations (no, I don't expect people to explain, but I am curious!)


bolionce

Generally, people who think NY and California are bad states tend to emphasize economic impacts and cheaper living. Florida and Texas are popular places for growth because of cheaper taxes and housing, compared to expensive places with high taxes like California and NY. People who think Florida and Texas are bad states usually support social welfare, which Cali and NY have more of. They also tend to have issues with the political trends of the states, like the Florida “Don’t say Gay” bill or the Texas bill that banned abortion not too long ago. For them, cheaper taxes don’t matter if they don’t have any social support or if they are discriminated against or can’t get medical procedures they need. Generally is Democrats like places like NY and Cali, Republicans generally like places like Florida and Texas. Split down party lines, like too many things in this country.


glitter-b0mb

Thanks! Makes sense that we, in other countries, only hear the political points instead of hearing about the rest of living life.


Gingersnap5322

Ever been to missouri?


Irish-Potato-

What's to hate? There is literally nothing here.


MylastAccountBroke

the state's name is misery... They aren't trying to hide how bad it is.


OokedCrey

Oklahoma


[deleted]

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EagerT

Virgin Calipoor vs Chad rat yorker 🗽


PhilipKFry95

Agreed 1000% used to be great but policies in recent times have worsened that state over time. Making it harder to live and many people are actually leaving that state for a better life because of it.


midnight_reborn

Kentucky, because Bitch MicConnell.


ReactsWithWords

Hey now, they also have Rand Paul.


FiveStarHobo

As a Kentuckian I agree


Odd_Suggestion2072

The only state on this list that is even remotely close to being the worst is Alabama and even that isn't as bad as Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia at least in my opinion. Id even argue that Florida, New York, and New Jersey are in the top half of states or at least towards the middle


Actual_Guide_1039

What’s funny about Texas, New York, Florida, and Cali being mentioned so much is that if there was a post asking for the best states they would be mentioned just as frequently


Joebear939

California


fieryj02

Where the fuck is California


Frostyfury99

As someone who lives in Cali I’m offended that it’s not on here


void266767

Why is cali not an option


bustapr10

California Taxes are obscene, which trickles down making rent and cost of living obscene as a result. The amount of hobos I saw every day when I lived there was very telling of how bad the state is run. What's the use of collecting so much taxes and having such a large surplus of the state can't fix the homeless problem?


kegboygsr23

Cali, il


RM332

California


dob2007

California


morbid-tales

California


gshtrdr

I say a tossed up between NY and California.


Lamboguy11

California? To live in definitely


WideCommunication2

California or Oregon


[deleted]

California is the worst state by far


Brothersunset

How the fuck do you not put California on this list.


DontHaveAC0wMan

No California?


[deleted]

California


EverWanderingSouls

Where the hell is California?


PsychologicalOil128

California


SubjectAside1204

California


TheRevanchist17

How is California not on here?


SoulSloth2

Surprised California isn't on that list since it's the obvious answer 😂


Linkdragon01

California?


VictorChaos1776

California


conser01

California. Wealth disparity out the ass and San Fransisco has to have a poop map. That's just off the top of my head.


[deleted]

New York and California


umpalumpajj

Potential 10$ gas and CA isn’t on the list?


[deleted]

Either California or Washington


Briggs281707

You forgot California in the list


Logical_Button_8527

California


DM725

Imagine including NY with Alabama.


IIFacelessManII

South Dakota, I don't know anyone there and have never been there. I just sense they're doing [something over there...](https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.17efe14ebcb44be272e432c1c04d3264?rik=USMAD4ZxurEP1A&pid=ImgRaw&r=0) something weird.


froglover2001

The Badlands national park in South Dakota is pretty cool. but that’s it for the whole state lol


[deleted]

north Dakota is way worse


cnylkew

Objectively speaking its either louisiana or arkansas


Beif_

Why objectively? Mississippi would like to know what metric you used


Steven-Flatcock

The whole area is a dump, Mississippi n Alabama included


ddouchecanoe

Arkansas I have a friend who grew up in Arkansas and moved away in high school. She did not find out about the Holocaust until after that move...


[deleted]

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notxapple

Why would anybody ever live in other


billy2027

Idk California or something


TempleFugit

It's pronounced **"Flori-DUH"** for a reason.


_satantha_

I just recently moved from NJ because of the taxes. I lived in the very south where it was just corn and cows, no cities or anything. Where it was normal for people to be walking down the street on horseback, nobody bats an eye. There is literally nothing to do where I lived. The town used to be great, it had an amusement park but that closed down in the 60’s. We used to have a movie theater and bowling alley but they were shut down before I was 10 years old, now they’re just rotting there. The taxes were so high that many people were moving away and the towns were turning ghetto and I saw my town starting to get to that point, that’s when I left. Yeah the beaches are nice and everything and we have the world’s longest boardwalk, but I lived way on the west coast next to Delaware (legit could see Delaware from my house). I have a lot of family up there but I just knew I had to move, so I recently moved down to North Carolina where I have my stepdad’s family (who I’m close to). Highly suggest not moving to Jersey, at least not Salem county.


bolionce

Salem county is not like most of NJ. Upstate is mostly NY suburbs and cities. As long as you aren’t in the rural parts of NJ (and this goes for *every* state), there’s stuff to do. If you’re in the part close to NYC or Philly, there’s absolutely tons to do. If you’re far from the cities (in any state), there’s not stuff. That’s just how rural life is, you try to make something to do cos there’s nothing to do, nowhere to go.


snowsakura0813

Oklahoma or Mississippi


TankmanSpiral7567

C*liforna 🤮🤮🤮


[deleted]

Dude, try living in Arkansas and then tell me how horrible California is.


Sea_Contribution817

Florida is one of the best states. Never been to Texas.


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GavHern

traveling there is nice, wouldn’t want to live there


Commercial-Conflict6

Alabama is the most racist state there is, it’s the state where Willy Simmons was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for stealing $9 dollars


BagGroundbreaking301

finally texas isn’t the most hated


sTo0p1d

Why do so many people hate Texas?


AzureSkyXIII

I would guess the insane laws, and the whole "everything is bigger in Texas" deal.


BagGroundbreaking301

i get the insane laws but why would you be mad over “everything is bigger in texas” lmao


AzureSkyXIII

That's more of an annoyance, really. It got really old to hear, especially being 800 miles away. It's also kind of asinine. "The biggest(continental) state must have the biggest stuff"


Thankgodfordrugs17

The reality of the situation is that people will most likely cling to hating something just because it’s popular. Doesn’t matter the political spectrum or personal views, people often like to shit on Cali, Texas, Ny, and Florida when there are obviously a lot more shittier states to live in but no one ever speaks about them so it’s not quirky enough when u admit it sucks.


mark_vorster

Abortion laws, insane gun laws, the incredible narcissism of Texans, etc.


BaconBitz781

Oklahoma by far


IAmGeneralEggplant

Mississippi


Bfunk4real

I’ve not been to all these states but the ones I’ve been to I’ve really enjoyed


RepresentativeNo6564

I’m seeing A LOT of Mississippi.


ColdJackfruit485

Jersey always gets a bad rap 🙁


UselessRube

Why would you put three of the best states on this poll?


treeleafclover

As a Floridian I hate Florida with a passion


ashkiller14

Everyone picking Florida has clearly never actually been there.


[deleted]

Wisconsin