15 March 2006

How can you afford your rock n roll lifestyle?

So CNN.com has a little story about the priciest and least expensive places to live. It's something that some news organization runs every month or so, comparing the cost of living in one area to another. This one focused on "what a couple without kids who hold middle-management jobs would need to earn to replicate a moderately affluent lifestyle in various cities." Not surprisingly, New York (Manhattan that is) was the most expensive, with the couple needing $166K to lead their lifestyle (details of which weren't given).

DC was 12th on the list, with the couple needing $115K to lead the same lifestyle as their higher-earning New York compadres. Above DC, only one place really surprised me: Oakland, where it would take $123K to lead this unspecified moderately affluent lifestyle. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, since San Francisco is right across the bay and it's a beautiful area (unlike say Newark/Elizabeth, NJ, which is just outside New York and comes in at a lowly $108K).

The interesting part, though, is the inverse. The cheapest places to live the same lifestyle. Guess what...with the exception of three areas in Kentucky and two in Kansas, every single cheap area lies within the confines of the old Confederate States of America (and Kentucky was sort of divided then, so maybe those Kentucky cities aren't exceptions). That's 45 out of 50.

For starters, I'm not sure how you "replicate" a "moderately affluent" lifestyle across areas as diverse as say New York City ($166K) and Conway, Arkansas ($68K). I imagine Conway has its own "Curry Alley" and Little Italy, but does it have The Met? What's the pizza like?

Now, on to the Confederacy issue. I've already stated my opinion on this matter publicly, so I won't go into details, but let's just say that I think the world would be a better place, old wounds might finally heal, and love would spread like butter on bread if the US Congress simply took action and allowed the old Confederacy to secede (not that the Southern senators and representatives would really like that idea, since they now take home far more federal money than they give in and no one likes a gravy train to end).

Now you might ask, how many of these Confederate areas appear on the "priciest" places to live list? Seven, if you count the DC metro area (they classify DC/Arlington/Alexandria together). That's 7 out of 50. And four of those are in Florida.

It isn't too late. Let them go.

13 comments:

m.a. said...

I figured that 115K is about right. That way, you can afford the rent and food.

Anonymous said...

So is your argument that, because they are poor, they shouldn't be part of our country? I've never understood your disdain for the south. In lieu of further comment, I refer you to Federalist #13.

cs said...

No my argument has nothing to do with their poverty and everything to do with politics (although I might argue that the two are intertwined at least to the extent that the deep southern states seem relatively unwilling to expend resources on such extras as education). And it's too damn hot down there.

As for Federalist #13, I'm fairly certain that's why Aaron Burr shot him.

Wicketywack said...

Mass, are you sure you're not the one who wrote fuckthesouth.com?

cs said...

I didn't write that, but I am very impressed.

desert boy said...

i think you are forgetting the virtual rape job that the north did during the civil war; the ramifications persist.

cs said...

That's my point, desert boy. Let them go...

And maybe Texas will decide to be its own Republic again. Who knows.

desert boy said...

but letting them go as you put it ignores the wrongs the north exacted on them. and i'm not sure where you are getting your info, but texas hardly wishes to become a republic.

cs said...

If not a republic, then a dictatorship. What do I care so long as they don't cast votes in the US electoral college? Of course, Austin would then become something of a West Berlin and we may need to start an airlift...

And I'm not about to get into an argument about the "wrongs" done by the Union v. the Confeds, but I should think that giving the south their freedom from the oppressive elitist north would be a great way to redress wrongs.

desert boy said...

look, pal. i really think you should cool it. you're being offensive, not to mention elitist.

Wicketywack said...

Hey Desert Boy,

Lighten up. Mass's post was tongue 'n' cheek anyhow.

Oh, and perhaps get laid.

Cheers,
LB

desert boy said...

brilliant.

cs said...

If only I could offend more often...at least I picked Texas A&M to stomp on those elitist New Yorkers from Syracuse.