Which State Has the Most Self-Reliant People?

Back in 2010, I put together a “Moocher Index” as a rough measure of which states had the highest levels of welfare dependency after adjusting for poverty rates.

It turned out that there were huge differences among states. Nearly 18 percent of non-poor Vermont residents were utilizing one or more welfare programs, putting them at the top of the Moocher Index.

In Nevada, by contrast, less the 4 percent of non-poor residents had their snouts in the public trough.

Does this mean Nevada residents are more self-reliant and Vermont residents are culturally statist?

To be perfectly frank, I don’t know, in part because the Moocher Index was an indirect measure of attitudes about dependency.

So I was very interested when I came across some state-by-state numbersfrom the Department of Agriculture showing food stamp participation compared to food stamp eligibility.

There are some clear similarities between these food stamp numbers and the Moocher Index. Maine and Vermont are in the top 3 of both lists, which doesn’t reflect well on people from that part of the country.

But there’s no consistent pattern. Mississippi and Hawaii are in the top 10 of the Moocher Index but bottom 10 for food stamp utilization.

What really stands out, though, is that the people of California win the prize for self reliance, at least with regard to food stamps. Only 55 percent of eligible people from the Golden State have signed up for the program. Doesn’t make sense when you look at some of the crazy things that are approved by California voters, but I assume the numbers are accurate.

I’m also surprised that folks from New Jersey are relatively unlikely to utilize food stamps.

On the other hand, why are Tennessee residents so willing to use my wallet to buy food?

Oregon, not surprisingly, always does poorly, whether we’re looking at a map or a list.

Let’s close with a few real-world examples of what we’re getting in exchange for the tens of billions of dollars that are being spent each year for food stamps.

What about the terrorists who sneak in with the illegals through the tunnels from Mexico? Does that not concern you?

Everybody is concerned, but Bush, Obama, Congress, and the governors of the border states aren't all that concerned. They must know something we don't. Or their donors want them to look the other way, or even try and push an amnesty program.

Now when that amnesty that Bush and McCain and Kennedy wanted back in 2006 or 2007, when we get Obama's version of that shortly, thanks to McCain and the other spineless Republicans, you're going to see these charts on moochers change quite a bit. Not only are they going to come in and depress our wages, or at least the wages of unskilled Americans, but their families are going to be legally living high on the government dole.

Not racist. How these African-Americans and poor white share croppers were oppressed until the 1960's is a major part of that problem.

Southern Democrats are to blame, in my opinion

I would consider it more the plantation aspect of these states.

Most these people have been neglected since the Civil War.

The Segregation imposed on the South by the Southern Democratic Party made things even worse.

White sharecroppers were another part of this formula.

There have been some good movies about the plight of sharecroppers (1950's or 1960's movies, that is).

There were some poor whites. But part of this was the oppression of Southern African-Americans at the hands of the Southern Democrats.

Eisenhower and JFK Sr made strides to stop this oppression.

True, but you’ve basically stopped your analysis in the late ‘60s.

The South has moved on considerably since then, making great strides as well.

There are no longer racist cops and rednecks cruising about ready to harass or lynch blacks. I’m not saying you said that, but that is an impression many people believe about the South in those previous times and even today. It did occur, yes, and once is too many times, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence and many whites where VERY offended by any of it.

But still, let’s get back to the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. Great, God-is-Awesome things happened in the 60s and we really made more progress in the 1970s. Then something happened in the 1980s. Crack cocaine and the culture of drugs and the drug dealers. Rap and then hip-hop came out on top of that. This became a culture, and that culture destroyed and is destroying the Black race. Companies are always on the lookout for qualified Blacks to work for them yet few get the education to become that qualified employee. It is a choice THEY made. No whites are holding them down at all. My God! All they have to do is make it happen, and they’re in like Flint. But few do. Why?

Is it the past? If so, NOTHING can change the PAST. Only moving on is possible, or wallow in self-pity over past events. Past events, which are becoming so ancient that anyone even remotely responsible for them, even white Southern Racist democrats of yore, are dead.

And saying Whites have it made and continue to do so on the past triumphs of racism and don’t even realize it just DOESN’T cut it. Come on, ALL whites? I know plenty of poor ones—I used to be one—still am in some ways—and NO ONE has given me a leg up on anything! I’ve been screwed many a time, but each time I’ve picked myself up and moved on. In fact, I’m doing that right now after suffering huge loses both professionally and personally this year. It’s all a man (read HUMAN) can do.

Isn’t generalizations of your race bad? Why generalize mine? Every time I hear, You whites this and you whites that... And I hear this a lot, I tune out. I’m not that white guy. I’m me. find out what I really think and believe BEFORE you think you’ve figured me out due to my skin color. Isn’t that exactly what Dr. King was after, after all?

So how does an individual of this race, trapped in a violent, no good culture, one that looks down on honest work and education, succeed? Firstly, they must reject the culture!

Blaming YT is not going to change a thing except maybe get you MORE dependent on YT through his government and handouts.

Get off your ass and move on is my advice. Anything else simply won’t work

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