Old Men and High Horses

I have lived in a few different places.  But, they have all been redneck places.  West Virginia, Virginia, South Carolina.  Yes, you are named don't even dare to say you are cultured.  Now I fully admit that each has a unique form of THE redneck aspect of life but still...

Having lived MOST of my life on this earth in the oddest of them, West (by God as the holler folk like to say) Virginia, I get a daily dose of red simply by walking out the door and choosing to go to work instead of staying securely in my home and losing myself in the wonders of streaming Netflix or my trusty LOTR DVD collection.  Most days, I'd much rather do the latter but alas, those pesky bills and stuff...

So, in thinking about this blog page I thought - hey I'll do some fun West Virginia facts because it really is a cool state and the founding effort and original inhabitants were interesting.  So, I pull up "50 state fast facts" on 50 states dot com to see if there are any that I maybe DON'T know. 

And....wait for it...I get to the right this flashing advertisement stating:  OBAMA SAYS BAN GUNS!  SAY NO!  CLICK HERE TO FIGHT BACK!

WTF.  Shut up. Do you really think the Pres is coming to take your guns?  Any more than I believed GW was coming to take my brain?  I mean, really?  Well, he did at times resemble a zombie but...  Anyway, I realize this ad was not just on the WV page but, LOL, seriously it just is indicative of the stupidity I deal with here.  And dudes, I AM from here.  So, I feel like I can speak freely is what I'm sayin'.

So, back to facts.  Fun Facts about my lovely mountain region of the little patch of land we call America....

Speaking of the President, did you know that West Virginia is the only state in the Union to have acquired its
sovereignty by proclamation of the President of the United States?  Ahhhh interesting story we all learned in WV History in Junior High.  West Virginia became a state in 1863 and was the only state to form by seceding from the Confederate State.  West Virginia was also one of only two states formed during the American Civil War.  The other state was Nevada.  

But, why do this?  Well, there are records and facts of course but I like to believe it was because we actually were better than we are now.  See, West Virginia has this little niche in the environment of the country that affords us "outsidership".  And by that I mean there are these unique things from a geographical, economic, and settlement standpoint that caused us to be a little different than the status quo.  Call it - the Australian Syndrome.  LOL.  AKA we are probably all descendants of convicts so take care...

Basically, if you lived here it was because you were either running from something or someone or you just plain did not want to be bothered.  The mountains are a bitch.  Not the same kind of bitch as out West but still, harsh.  And they are so full of vegetation even now, so imagining that time in history I can see where it would have been a challenge to even find a spot to call home.  The possibility  to earn a living?  From what?  If you trapped where were you going to sell anything?  Who were you going to sell it to?  Western Virginia, as it was called at the time, was the Wild.  No one wanted it.  Except the people that did. 

And to these people, stuff like politics as usual and slavery did not make sense.  The people that settled here originally felt abandoned by Virginia.  Virginia was full of old standards that didn't concern them and meant more to the affluent.  So, basically some of the counties of Virginia, specifically in the WEST of Virginia, decided that if their own state could decide to secede from the Union over their crazy, outdated beliefs, then they themselves would secede from Virginia and form their own new state.

Now, I must say that this whole chain of events makes me say, in my heart, FUCK YEAH.  LOL.  THIS is what I concentrate on when I think of West Virginia.  The motto of "Mountaineers Are Always Free" speaks volumes to me.  And this is the basis of it.  If what they are selling you is bullshit you have the right to do something else.  And don't be afraid to say - this is BULLSHIT.  LOL.  

So, that's how we got here and I am proud of that.  

But, I do admit to being constantly perplexed and pissed off by what we have become.  I feel like it is OK to be not "cultured" - I don't consider myself cultured in any way really despite having a good deal of education.  I understand that education is a specialized thing and I feel I have everything to learn about just about everything actually.  I never want to STOP learning so I admit I don't know...  But, it is not OK to be ignorant and not want to know.  It is not OK to be mean due to that ignorance.  And it is definitely not OK to be a bunch of racist, sexist, homophobic assholes and HIDE behind ignorance.  

I mean to say, are we not that state of  just leave us alone and let us live?   I mean, really?  Didn't we come here to get away from all these crazy ideas that don't make sense.  And why do so many of the people I encounter sound crazy?  WHEN did we become THEM?  

Uggghhhh...   It was long before I was born because lemme tell ya I have been dealing with this shit since kindergarten.  LOL.

Other actually fun facts maybe later.  This was just a really good RED starter conversation...