It goes even deeper. The southern culture simply leads many people to make bad decisions which hold those people back and tend to marginalize them. Included in those bad decisions is not valuing education much, or leading people to believe that they make shortcuts to prosperity without education.It is truly a curse of limiting culture.

@wordywalt I have a problem with simply pointing fingers and try to understand the circumstances of why such and such an issue is there. People are normally people and it is their circumstances that make them think and feel as they do.

The article mentioned that higher education was out of the price range of most people in many areas. Our educational system is based more on money and less on ability. Wealthy people from other countries are able to send their kids here which increases the tuition and make it unaffordable for many citizens. A lot of other countries have free tuition but one has to pass tests to get in. When they can't pass the tests they often come here. Education is a resource and as such is limited.

@JackPedigo It has not been until the 1990s that higher education has been out of the price range of most people. In mid 19650s My family could contribute a dime to my going to college. I did it on my own with scholarships and work -- without incurring any debt. I also went to graduate school in 1967 -- with a wife and two daughters -- on the F.I. Bill, work, and assistantships, then earned fellowships.

From the 1960s through even today, there is always the option of community college , which has much lower overall costs. Costs are much higher today, but most Trump supporters are 40 years old or more. Your portrayal is not entirely accurate.

@wordywalt In the late 60's I was accepted to a private school in Seattle. Even local colleges were out of my price range so I ended up in finding a job which helped me get into a junior college. Later the GI bill not only helped but I was working for a university so I actually got paid to go to school. In those days there were few financial aids.

I agree, higher education is not a priority for a lot of those in poor areas as they need to work asap. That is how life has worked for these people. But being in a city with a major university and often working with the university I do see many wealthy kids from other countries attending school. I am aware of other non-US school systems after having lived in Europe and my late partner was from Iran and the same system applied there (Many of her Nieces got into the local universities). I am also aware many graduates (US and non-US) have heavy debts which often get passed on to others (a recent article about Dentistry in the Atlantic highlighted this). Many graduates are working in jobs that are not in their area just to pay off the student loans.

I agree that there are more options but some of those options are not enough. Some time ago I read where colleges were seeing a big influx of community college students and having to turn many away as they still didn't qualify. One thing missing in this country is an option of trade schools. I just had a discussion with someone about how poor we are in this area compared to other countries. In the end, as I see it, it is the same old problem of more of us seeking finite resources. We cannot provide livable wages for an increasing number of people and the poorer are often the first to feel the pinch.

I also know some educated people who voted for Trump. Many of them have a lit of larceny in their character.

@wordywalt Larceny? Why?

@zesty Simple greed. Many of them would not hesitate to do something shady if they would profit from it -- just like Trump.

The rich like tax cuts and deregulation. Too many of the poor are just not smart and look everywhere they can other than their own shortcomings to explain their lot in life. The Republican party feeds into that, becuase they know the stupid people buy into it. Why educated white women voted for Trump l have no idea. So much for education. Being a woman maybe you can explain that one. Of all of the voting blocks that is the one l don't understand on any level.

@Sticks48 many voted the same as their husbands...evangelicals...following their man ... I can't understand that either, especially if they have daughters...

@Sticks48 I have a tendency to agree with you, I can't understand why any woman would vote for Trump. I am from North Carolina in the Bible Belt. From what I'm seeing, southern women can be just as much of a closet racist as the men. Oftentimes married white women feel voting to uphold the patriarchy is a way of keeping them in their socioeconomic status. The poor rural women more than likely voted for Trump because of his anti-abortion status. as poor and uneducated as most rural southerners are ,they are die-hard Republicans. From what I see ,white supremacy factors into it as well.

they're not as dumb as many would like to think. they know they are just as screwed by the phony hypocrticial limousine lib demos.
so for many rump was a protest vote, & will be again.
they're Fcked so why not take the rest of the country down with them?

@callmedubious I doubt that many have the foresight to think in that complex way...many are simple folk that truly just follow what they know...they are closer knit and are subject to peer influence...entire communities vote the same way depending how the talk goes at the local diner

I have been saying that for years and have known some of those folks. They are never going to change.

That's the Dunning Kruger effect. [sciencedirect.com]

I would bet that there is not a single supporter of even a moderate Democratic candidate today, much less a left winger, in the town in which I grew up.

Having grown up in that kind of a culture, it does not amaze me at all. Still, it saddens me.

@wordywalt five years ago I moved to a small town in SC. I’ve taken I giant step backwards into the 1950s

@Namaste I believe it. The small town of 250 people in north Florida in which I grew up (1940s and 1960s) was a place people moved to on their way down or when they were licking their wounds before trying to get out of their dilemma. It is still that today.

@NoPlanetB I know what you mean about Kansas. I lived there (in Salina and Great Bend) for 17 years.My two daughters are still there. Thanks to people like Brownback and the Phelps, Kansas has changed for the wsorse.