The Old South Still With Us
Posted 12-06-2013 at 12:32 PM by Fortoggie
Much of the old south has passed away with the advent of our interstate system and major airports all around. The internet and the new smart phones, make us feel modern.
But scratch the surface and you will find many of the old attitudes lingering there. For instance our emphasis on the past. Not your past nor even the worlds past history but of our past, our romantic past. Our ability to see our past through rose colored glasses; to reconstruct a past to our liken. Another distinctive characteristic we southerners have is the strong ties to place. I have known and still know people who drive 50 miles one way to work and have done so for 20 plus years rather than uproot and move closer to their work.
As Louis Rubin has observed, we have a story telling bent rather than a problem solving bent. I met a couple recently who had some serious personal problems that they wanted to discuss with me and yet they took up half the time telling me what happened the night before on Duck Dynasty.
Next you will find a strong sense of caste, especially of finding at least one group that is lower in caste than we are. We do not want to be found in the bottom ranks of the human family. Sometimes we have to make up some stories just so we will come out a little higher on the totem pole. You can even find these attitudes expressed by college graduates.
But scratch the surface and you will find many of the old attitudes lingering there. For instance our emphasis on the past. Not your past nor even the worlds past history but of our past, our romantic past. Our ability to see our past through rose colored glasses; to reconstruct a past to our liken. Another distinctive characteristic we southerners have is the strong ties to place. I have known and still know people who drive 50 miles one way to work and have done so for 20 plus years rather than uproot and move closer to their work.
As Louis Rubin has observed, we have a story telling bent rather than a problem solving bent. I met a couple recently who had some serious personal problems that they wanted to discuss with me and yet they took up half the time telling me what happened the night before on Duck Dynasty.
Next you will find a strong sense of caste, especially of finding at least one group that is lower in caste than we are. We do not want to be found in the bottom ranks of the human family. Sometimes we have to make up some stories just so we will come out a little higher on the totem pole. You can even find these attitudes expressed by college graduates.
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