because those west coast elites

There really needs to be a middle ground.. Under Republicans you can build things.. Under Democrats you literally have to hope you can afford a house while navigating a maze of regulation.

Not sure this meme is so pronounced anymore. Link

Asking the real questions.

I'm sure I will get downvoted into oblivion for this, but I've gotten a pretty reasonable answer to this question from someone who grew up in the south, and was a descendent of slave owners.

A huge amount of the economy of the southern states was dependent on slave laborers, and suddenly, they were stripped of their investments into those slaves, so they were disproportionately affected economically, and have been behind ever since.

Its likely not the entire reason, but its also hard to see it not being a contributing factor, especially historically.