I came across this article that I found very interesting. The title is a bit click-bait-like, but if you can get past that it talks about a very interesting way to look at regional differences. It basically says that regional differences in violence are due to the cultural groups who settled those regions.
Really not interested in discussing the political parts of this, just how people have seen these cultural differences.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... e-00092413
Regional culture affects suicide/homocide rates
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Ken
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Re: Regional culture affects suicide/homocide rates
It is an interesting article. The author is Colin Woodard who wrote a popular book in 2012 titled the "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America" which actually built on a previous work by another author from 1989 titled the 9 nations of North America
In the Politico article, Woodard took his geographical breakdown of the US into 11 different cultural regions and then superimposed maps of suicide rates and homicide rates and then tried to trace cultural reasons for why the suicide map seems to match his 11 nations map. I think he probably has a decent point but correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation and there may be other factors that are responsible for both settlement patterns and gun violence rates. But it is striking how well the lines of his 11 nations map from 2012 match up with the gun violence maps generated 5 years later.
He is basically taking this map from his 2012 book:

And superimposing these three map of of total gun deaths and suicide and homicide rates by county that were generated by the Oregon back in 2017



In the Politico article, Woodard took his geographical breakdown of the US into 11 different cultural regions and then superimposed maps of suicide rates and homicide rates and then tried to trace cultural reasons for why the suicide map seems to match his 11 nations map. I think he probably has a decent point but correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation and there may be other factors that are responsible for both settlement patterns and gun violence rates. But it is striking how well the lines of his 11 nations map from 2012 match up with the gun violence maps generated 5 years later.
He is basically taking this map from his 2012 book:
And superimposing these three map of of total gun deaths and suicide and homicide rates by county that were generated by the Oregon back in 2017



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A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
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Josh
Re: Regional culture affects suicide/homocide rates
I live in a county on the border between Midlands and Appalachia, and it’s basically at random when I run into someone how they will resolve and settle things.
Generally speaking. Things just go easier when I run into an Appalachian person. If I need to get a document notarised, they don’t ask for as much ID. The Midlands person will go for full maximum legal compliance.
On the flip side… buying a car from a Midlands person means every thing will be lawfully filled out on the title.
An Appalachian person? “Hey do you have a friend who’s a notary?” and they’ll scratch their signature in one spot and expect me to find a notary who will not go for maxmimum compliance. And then they’ll always offer to lower the purchase price less than the actual cash exchanged so I can save on sales tax.
Can’t really say which I like dealing with better.
Generally speaking. Things just go easier when I run into an Appalachian person. If I need to get a document notarised, they don’t ask for as much ID. The Midlands person will go for full maximum legal compliance.
On the flip side… buying a car from a Midlands person means every thing will be lawfully filled out on the title.
An Appalachian person? “Hey do you have a friend who’s a notary?” and they’ll scratch their signature in one spot and expect me to find a notary who will not go for maxmimum compliance. And then they’ll always offer to lower the purchase price less than the actual cash exchanged so I can save on sales tax.
Can’t really say which I like dealing with better.
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Re: Regional culture affects suicide/homocide rates
These are great examples!Josh wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 9:07 pm I live in a county on the border between Midlands and Appalachia, and it’s basically at random when I run into someone how they will resolve and settle things.
Generally speaking. Things just go easier when I run into an Appalachian person. If I need to get a document notarised, they don’t ask for as much ID. The Midlands person will go for full maximum legal compliance.
On the flip side… buying a car from a Midlands person means every thing will be lawfully filled out on the title.
An Appalachian person? “Hey do you have a friend who’s a notary?” and they’ll scratch their signature in one spot and expect me to find a notary who will not go for maxmimum compliance. And then they’ll always offer to lower the purchase price less than the actual cash exchanged so I can save on sales tax.
Can’t really say which I like dealing with better.
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temporal1
Re: Regional culture affects suicide/homocide rates
Anthropology, sociology, geography are interesting topics. (i would probably shy away from Politico.)
This THOMAS SOWELL video has some surprising observations.
i appreciate TS’s approach of attempting to assess peoples of the world from a fair perspective, i.e., he refrains from seeking oppressor-victim scenarios, he’s fact-motivated, tries to keep emotions, political motivations out of it.
i believe i first viewed this about a year ago. it’s memorable.
(i’m not sure why they chose the picture, it’s not representative of content.) imho
The Origin of Black American Culture and Ebonics | Thomas Sowell / 2hrs
Found in Comments:
This THOMAS SOWELL video has some surprising observations.
i appreciate TS’s approach of attempting to assess peoples of the world from a fair perspective, i.e., he refrains from seeking oppressor-victim scenarios, he’s fact-motivated, tries to keep emotions, political motivations out of it.
i believe i first viewed this about a year ago. it’s memorable.
(i’m not sure why they chose the picture, it’s not representative of content.) imho
The Origin of Black American Culture and Ebonics | Thomas Sowell / 2hrs
Found in Comments:
Jim D WROTE:
1 year ago (edited)
A full semester of history in one episode. This should have been taught in schools
Vasia Smith WROTE:
10 months ago
I’m a black woman born and raised in Alabama. I’ve been trying to put the pieces together since I’ve moved to New England.
This makes so much sense!
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