I decided to changes things up for today and what better place to start than my state of Mississippi.
An interesting question that made me think about stuff....while the article focused on governmental programs during the pandemic....but the question is still an interesting one.
In case you want to see what made this post possible....
The data is in: Poverty is a political choice
Although this post is not so much about governmental programs but rather about the voter, especially in my state of Mississippi.....
Mississippi is less than a week away from its primaries and most of the GOP candidates are running ahead....but why?
Before I go any further let me share a bit of info about my state....
- March 2022 unemployment rate: 4.2%
- Year-over-year change in unemployment Feb. 2021: 2.5%
- Q4 2021 GDP per capita: $57,769
- GDP growth Q3 2021-Q4 2021: 5.7%
- Average weekly wages Sept. 2020: $1,021
- Percent change in average weekly wages Sept. 2020-Sept. 2021: 5.4%
- Percent of population below the poverty line in 2020: 16.7%
Economic prosperity and hardship often coincide, even within state borders. For Mississippi, that couldn't be more true. For instance, the state has seen $1.3 billion of corporate investments in 2022, helping the state add 4,149 new jobs in 2021.....Also, consider that more than one-fifth of the state has no access to broadband internet. Mississippi also has a nearly 17% poverty rate, the highest in the nation.
Mississippi is the least economically healthy state in the Union....its ranking is 100....let me explain that for you non-economically inclined....Index of state economic conditions based on crowded housing, dependency, education, income, poverty and unemployment; normalized values are 1 to 100, with a higher value indicating worse economic conditions.
In 2022, the state of Mississippi has a population of 2,940,184, having declined an annualized -0.3% over the five years to 2022, which ranks it 49th out of all 50 US states by growth rate. Mississippi's gross state product (GSP) in 2022 reached $104.7b, with growth of 0.6% over the 5 years to 2022. Businesses in Mississippi employed a total of 1,098,569 people in 2022, with average annual employment growth over the past five years of 0.1%.
Then there is the education in the state...there are about 30+ institutions of higher learning but only about 8.5% of the population has a degree in higher learning. To say the education is of low priority is a gross understatement.
This brings us to my thought...Is poverty a political decision?
My thought is that it is.
2023 is a major voting year for the state of Mississippi and as listed above there are many issues that need to be corrected to move the state forward.
But as usual the major issues for candidates are such non-productive issues as bathrooms, book banning, educational confusion, etc.
The candidates promise that to make the state a better place to live if their visions are put into action....and for 50 years it has been the same and for 50 years the state of Mississippi remains backwards and uneducated.
In less than a week the voter will once again vote of issues that nothing to do with their ascent into poverty....they pretend that banning books will save the state or that a fixation on bathrooms will somehow equate to better pay and they will vote for the loudest mouth and in doing so will remain at the bottom of an economic success.
What will it take to wake up the voter? Apparently poverty will not do for they vote for it on every occasion.
Sad for the state has great potential but no one wants it to succeed.
I Read, I Write, You Know
"lego ergo scribo"
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