Which state is the most backassward in terms of culture and development?

Mississippi

West Virginny

I'm not really sure because I haven't visited any low rent backass states. Afraid of getting killed just driving through. My first thought went with R1, Mississippi. Right to the South, of course. Still one has to figure in influence from surrounding states and so importantly, an ocean coastline on the border. Like nations and territories throughout our world any landlocked region will always be backass compared to those containing oceanic or sea ports. Which states would fit that criteria?

R2 has it. Alabama is up there, I’m sure, also Mississippi, but nothing beats West Virginia.

R2 does fit the criteria for R3.

Missouri: an unsavory mix of right wing Catholics, Evangelicals/fundies and meth dealers. Once reliably blue, it's now reliably deplorable.

Besides region and geography the population is a major factor. Some Midwestern states match R3 criteria but their population itself rises them upward.

R6, good one. A contender for sure. Matches all criteria. Definitely hitting the top 5.

Alaska

No, R9. Just no.

West Virginia is actually beautiful. Both sides are culturally and economically connected to other states, so it's much less deplorable than it sometimes appears. The people of West Virginia are astonishingly nice. They have a habit of shocking outsiders who've never been there.

Wyoming, however. Marge, can we make this plane fly any faster over Wyoming?

West Virginia yes. Big Sky country, no.

Oklahoma.

It's a shithole, filled with shity people.

Tennessee

Alabama

R12 Factor in "Likelihood to be tied to a fence and left to die". Wyoming is still a contender.

Alabammer.

Indiana hands down. An ugly cross of Mid-West and South.

Wyoming has way too much money and and East and West coast influences to be on this list.

I'm trapped in Alabama, sweet home it ain't...

JERSEY

Alabama, Southern Ohio, Northern Louisiana

Idaho - the home of people with tinfoil hats and giant farmhouses with LOCK HER UP painted on the roofs. I had to spend about 2 weeks there this past summer for work, driving around the state. You wouldn't believe how creepily backwoods it is.

Another vote for Indiana

Pennsyltuckey, between pissburgh and Philthadelphia.

Visit northern Maine. You will seriously think it is the birthplace of Deliverance.

Anyplace that voted for Dump.

Mississippi.

It is actually unsafe to drive through that state.

[quote] Like nations and territories throughout our world any landlocked region will always be backass compared to those containing oceanic or sea ports

Interesting.

Mississippi. I lived in Northern Louisiana and it's said to be just like the worst of Mississippi. It's shockingly backward in every way.

Alabama can't be as bad as Mississippi and Northern Louisiana because Alabama has a decent state university with a decent law school. Mississippi does not, and Louisiana refuses to fund higher education, which prevents economic and other development. Definitely Mississippi and Northern Louisiana are worse than Alabama.

Basically any rural area that is insular and isolated from contact with anyone different, and whose entire knowlege of the world has been filtered and distorted by Fox News.

Kentucky

Trump - oh you said, state. wA DC

Kentucky

R34 Trump is decidedly not of DC. The local conversation is whether we shall tar and feather or use honey and feathers instead.

Use honey if there are fire ants at hand.

Mississippi

Georgia

Mississippi has produced outstanding writing and music, so it’s not the worst in terms of culture.

But I still wouldn’t live there.

The states I would least want to live in are West Virginia, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

Nowhere in them is a good place to live IMO, most states have some bright spots.

Mississippi is the birthplace of Oprah, Elvis and the blues. I’m going to go with West Virginia since they elected Trump with the highest margin of any other state in the US.

Nobody can hate like North Carolinians. They're against everyone, especially the gays and non-Christians.

Indiana for me too. At least there’s jazz or bluegrass in some of the other states mentioned.

Oklahoma

R31 If you base it on universities, I'll take Ole Miss over the University of Alabama or Auburn any day.

We're thinking about retiring in Pennsyltucky, specifically, Lancaster County--should we be afraid, or very afraid?

Another vote for Missouri.

Alabama.

The Florida Panhandle, if not the whole state.

Louisiana.

Kentucky - I have backwoods relatives from East Tennessee and even they look down on KY coal miners and such.

Oklahoma....Hands down. A filth hole of crime and gay bigotry.

Arizona

Indiana, Oklahoma, or Ohio.

Mouth breathing rednecks, ugly, Catholic, and completely devoid of abstract thought or sense of humor.

Scary shit.

Oklahoma or West Virginia - neither had a single county that went with Clinton. Even Missouri had a few

R42 - If you’re a gay couple, you will be very alone there.

Any southern state will have infinitely more culture than a midwestern wasteland state. This is because black people created southern culture, and thank god the did.

R54 I doubt there is one town in any state in the Union where you can't find other gay people.

R55 I am tired of that racist shit, black people had a major role in crafting Southern culture but they DID NOT create it, like all culture in the US it was a mixture of various cultures coming together to create something new.

New Jersey is backwards but I think that's because of the corruption and greed.

To call out Pennsyltucky is unfair. The question is states - which balances out cities and rural areas. Like saying Texas - except for Houston and Austin. And at least you can escape to a big city in PA unlike Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma.

And Lancaster has become a suburb of Philadelphia. Not sure why anyone would choose to live there - especially in gay retirement. Requires a car, nothing to do, not particularly gay friendly (though not horrible, it’s stull about families and the Amish - not exactly progressive), cold in winter. North Carolina or Fl seem like a better choice.

As a native I hate to admit it, but Oklahoma. (It wasn’t always so deplorable, I swear.)

I have some family left there and they’re full-on Fox News-loving racists.

Sometimes I lurk around deplorable sites to see if any of the members are turning against Trump. The members on some of these sites are about as ass-backwards as it gets. They hate NYers, people from NJ and all of CA. They hate the entire state of CA.

They've mentioned they are from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Idaho. A few are from Kentucky. Now, there's a backassward state, Kentucky. When they log on they say "It's me, from the hollers of Kentucky." They might as well be in another country.

Sometimes I think Indiana or West Virginia.

Ohio and Iowa are contenders but Missouri draws White Surpremicist. Good people should never go there.

Any red neck state is Deplorable. Ignorance is the culprit.

^ Yes, there is no way any state dominated by deplorables could possibly be progressive because deplorables are ignorant backwards people.

It's quite simple: Kansas. Horrid.

W,Va. is gorgeous. It has The Greenbrier, skiing, wonderful golf, beautiful state parks and parkways, and lovely people. Most of the state is not the Wild and Wonderful Whites or coal mining country. That may be what you see in the movies, but as a whole the state is quite similar to Va (if one discounts N. Va,)

It can't be Wyoming.

Driving through Mississippi isn't anymore dangerous than any other state. Mississippi's three largest universities are good schools and Millsaos is a respected liberal arts college Mississippi gave the world William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Larry Brown, Shelby Foote. Richard Ford, Barry Hannah. Singers and musicians like Leontyne Price, Muddy Waters, Helin Wolf BB King, Robert Johnson and Elvis. Actors like Mirgan Freeman and Diane Ladd. Cornell West said with the possible exception of Massachusetts no state has given more culturally than Mississippi . There are. Ignorant and backward people everywhere. Isolation, poverty, and religious fanaticism don't help anyone. Red states are ignorant in many ways. But I've met some really stupid people from blue states, California chief amongst them and New England has plenty of backward ass places. Mississippi like Texas could be looking more purple in the days ahead.

Tennessee. If your gay or a POC. Run. Quickly.

Oh, dear to r68's whole post.

Also:

[quote]But I've met some really stupid people from blue states, California chief amongst them and New England has plenty of backward ass places.

I smell a troll.

Not that I’m a fan of his anymore, but this reminds me of when Dennis Miller (back on Dennis Miller Live in 2000) was talking about Hillary’s run for Senate, and he says something like: people keep asking why Hillary wants to run in New York, “well I think it has something to do with the fact of Arkansas...BEING IN ARKANSAS.” It was funny.

So anyway I’ll vote Arkansas simply because I was immediately reminded of this, and regardless it’s certainly up there.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's the most backward, but I remember reading that of all the states, West Virginia has the lowest percentage of inhabitants who were born outside the US.

I've been to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama---and all over the U.S....I've never met more gay people than in Oklahoma City who were victims of crime---gay bashing (which is under reported because the Police aren't going to do anything about it)----and gays who were straight out robbed. And the people there are among the stupidest religious zealots you will ever meet..Sorry, but it's true. Their libraries are the size of a 7-11---mostly because they like to keep their "fancy book learning" to a minimum.

R68 made a lot of since and I appreciate his post.

After living in Colorado for three years , I would say Colorado. The state is completely derivative. It has no culture of its own. It doesn't even have food that is locally developed. Worst part about it is the residents are trying so hard to be cool. It was exhausting.

Oklahoma is full of good fearing horrible people. I live in Missouri and Oklahoma makes us look like left wing intellectual nut jobs.

Suffering often leads to creativity r68, doesn't mean a person would want to live there.

And Mississippi is not at all similar to the situation in Texas. Texas has a population of a lot of educated professionals in its cities plus a large latino population that makes it trend more purple. In Mississippi white people vote Republican, black people for Democrat. It is actually one of the least elastic states in terms of its vote because very few white Mississippians would ever vote for a Democrat. The lowest percentage of any state in the nation.

I would say Utah, because it's basically run by the Mormon church

I thought the OP asked for backwards "culture." What is the definition of " culture" here? Does it mean museums, orchestras. theater, or does it mean the habits and traditions?

New Jersey

New Jersey has Teresa Giudice, so it has culture.

R55, can we have ANYTHING without you inflicting your own black POV into it? Anything? You're like Bird Box and Mary Poppins Returns HW sell outs. Enough. Every fuckin thread we need to be reminded of your personal legacy. We don't care. Occupy your mind with anything else but your race, wouldja?

r82, you sound like a troll.

Delaware

West Texas

West Texas is not a state, r85.

Every state between the Atlantic and the Pacific, with a few cities excepted.

Maine

Missouri gave us Jon Hamm and Corbin Fisher's Lucas, so not all bad.

West Texas is certainly not any more backassward than East Texas

Parts of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan should not be ignored here.

LOUISIANA = ALABAMA = MISSISSIPPI

So many candidates, so many strong choices. Sad that there are so many total shithole states in this country. I’ll just take a moment to remind us all that it was in the cesspool state of Arkansas where sperm joined egg to create the Huckabee clan. Ugly, inbred fucks!

R73 but it sure makes a great setting for a musical.

R93 But, they also gave us the Clintons, sooo...

Mississippi is the clear answer

I would like to point out that there is not a single escalator in all of Wyoming.

(There used to be one in Cheyenne until they closed the downtown Sears store, but you can only rest on your laurels for so long.)

Whatever happened to cultural relativism and multi-culturalism?

I've never been so scared as when I left the highway running through WV to find gasoline and the gas station/convenience store I finally found standing alone in the middle of nowhere had maybe 10 items for sale and the rest of it was empty and dirty with dusty-dirty windows. It had antique gas pumps from the 50s or 60s that are super-cool in period movies but super-creepy in the middle of BFE WV. And, of course, the attendant looked looked like Cousin Bubba with his wife-beater and meshback and ample belly hanging out of jeans that didn't quite zip all the way up. He had teeth, though! /pinkyswear

Truly, it was like the beginning of any number of horror movies, and I kept checking to see if anybody from that little spot of humanity tailed me back to the highway.

So I choose WV. Although, as others point out, there are spots in most states that are contenders.

Indiana.

Hillary Clinton got her law license in Arkansas when Bill was governor. She flunked the bar in two previous jurisdictions

She failed the DC bar exam once r100.

She took the bar exam for Arkansas and DC in the same summer, passing the Arkansas one and failing the DC.

We are venturing off topic, but that's what happened.

Yep r98. As the person kept trying to defend WV, it is true there are beautiful parts of the state, but it is full with West Virginians. If you are the type of person who has ever read for fun, you will feel horribly out of place.

I'm surprised South Carolina wasn't mentioned in this thread. I found it pretty backwards.

Hallelujah! Wyoming got an escalator.

^^^ Schoolchildren take field trips to the escalator. The docent for said escalator explains how the good citizens of Wyoming are truly a part of the civilized world.

Im also nominating Oklahoma as the worst. Filled to the brim with ignorant trash of every creed and color. If you live there, by law you should not be allowed to look down on anyone, yet they do.

Georgia and the state that Dollywood is in...

West Virginia and Virginia are almost completely dissimilar. True, a few parts of rural western Virginia are like rural eastern West Virginia. But lots of northern and western West Virginia might as well be rustbelt Ohio or Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Northern Virginia has one of the most educated and affluent white populations in the country, plus a ton of immigrants, and is pretty similar to New Jersey and Connecticut. Then there's a coastal area that is like Maryland and Delaware. And Virginia is also 20 percent black, with most of those people in southern and eastern counties that are a lot more like South Carolina than anywhere Appalachian.

R103 SC is conservative and racist yes but it’s more “genteel,” and more money, especially on the coast. So it’s not all that backwards in that respect. You don’t find gas station workers with missing fingers (like I did in MS when my family was driving to New Orleans).

Florida

Tennessee

Mississippi. Easy question

Eastern Idaho/northern Utah: the most manipulative, narcissistic people. Huge egos, very low maturity levels. Hides behind the Mormon church but it’s all fake. If you have kids in public school, be prepared to have your child shunned if he or she isn’t Mormon. Sickening obsession with killing animals, playing mind games with people, and engaging in abusive sex.

^ R113 - whaaat? more on this please!

In places like Kentucky or Tennesse I'd say at least TN has Nashville and KY has Louisville. A lot of the state is godawful but they have some redeeming qualities.

Louisiana

Oklahoma has no redeeming qualities, neither do its Oakie doakies who live there.

This is why I absolutely love DL, I learn new things all the time. Here I went through 67 years of life completely unaware that escalators had anything to do with culture or development.

When Trump rode "down" on the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his run for President, I guess that was a sign he was metaphorically going to take the country down.

Holy shit... escalators have been around since the late 19th century, and Wyoming is just getting on board?? That newfangled invention... hey! Let's go on a ride on the escalator! Really shocking...

So many candidates -- Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky, Idaho, Arkansas, but the winner is

Oklahoma. The only state whose actually official nickname is for cheaters and liars.

New Jersey has redeeming qualities. It's basically a blue state... but, the shore area and further south have it's share of deplorables. The deep southern part of Jersey is very red-necky. It does have exposure to culture and many cultural differences between people. It has close proximity to NYC and Philadelphia.

I am now convinced Oklahoma is the winner.

This was after just watching the first ten minutes (which was more than I could tolerate) of Bravo's Oklahoma based "Sweet Home", a new interior decorating show I had never heard of before. Most of the cast are trash Trumpies. The federal judge, a lifelong OK resident, who owned the house they were renovating, came across to me as a racist Trump-lover. No ugly drama or personal attacks but I still shuddered to think of what they are like off-camera. If they are representative of most Okies, then Oklahoma is the winner.

Indiana.

R121 South jersey is really fucking awful, it’s true. It’s so red neck - it might as well be a different state.

Mississippi

The interior is terrifying.

R93, what are you talking about? The stork brought them.

If you calculate in income vs. cultural development, it's Cali hands down. There's maybe one decent bookstore in the whole state at this point, and everything else is gone over a cliff decades ago. Any New England state could put it to shame culturally, with a fraction of the population.