just got back from Prague. Absinthe is available by mail order :)

As it is, one can wonder how California and Oregon have reached 50% levels, rare outside the south. Try coloring in every state at 41% or better and that may provide a clue.

It’s not just about private education in some states. Look at the horrendous numbers for Louisiana and Mississippi for example. At roughly 35%, Mississippi is the Blackest state in the country. That doesn’t indicate some flaw in the Blacks, but in the way they’re exploited for cheap labor. Much of the South endures similar economic pain.

Adding 42% and higher to the green states on that map, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arizona, Idaho, Alaska, New York, DC and Missouri join the poverty group. What do they share in common? Many immigrants head to most of those. Not necessarily illegal nor Latino, but immigrants in general. The only exception I see in that formulation is that Washington state is not quite as bad. A lot of that is attributable to the higher income influx of Asian immigrants to the region which keeps it 3 points from that threshold.

All I’m suggesting is that there’s a combination of explanations at work. The capital control of the South has passed right-to-work laws (basically, anti-union laws) to continue the exploitation and lack of economic mobility that has afflicted the region since our country’s founding. Where subsequent masses of new residents exist, further exploitation occurs.

It’s part of the reason politicians exploit xenophobia as ‘the problem’ when the real culprits are business critters applying standard business practices under the claim that that’s morally neutral. As long as that demand exists, cheap labor will come. Cut off the Latino immigration and businesses will suffer. Some more existing citizens will pick up some of those jobs, but they’ll still be underpaid and exploited.

So I don’t think private schools are a major part of the problem in such states, though they may be in some communities. Standard business practices, and bigotry remain the biggest factor contributing to poverty, but poverty is not a guarantee of bad schools nor bad students. It can cause problems, but the answer remains reducing poverty, not letting the conservatives frame it as being about vouchers.

PS: the stuff is going to be alright, but for now, I’m heading towards Prague, so maybe I’ll send you some Absinth too, so you can become the next Mucha :)