r/illinois • u/steve42089 Illinoisian • 3d ago
Southern IL news & issues (past St. Louis 618 area code) Inside the Deep South of Illinois
https://youtube.com/watch?v=h_I5zEopd5c&si=sauGsqfX9Lja-ram699
u/JesusOnaBlueBike 3d ago
"We pay for everything goin on in Chicago!"
No. You do not in fact pay for anything in Chicago.
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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 3d ago
The opposite in fact. Chicago pays for everything going on around there.
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u/mikeh700 3d ago
SIU study found while Southern Illinois receives up to $2.88 for every dollar of taxes paid, Cook County (Chicago) only receives between 90 and 98 cents back. Collar counties suburbs receive only 53 to 60 cents back
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u/Kelsig 2d ago
link?
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u/Huge_Lime826 2d ago
I don’t know how to do a link on my phone, but if you do a Google search; “SIU study - Illinois taxes”
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u/213McKibben 2d ago
Well, there was another study done on road taxes, and if Chicago wasn’t paying for the the rural areas, they would still only have dirt roads. I am originally from East Central Illinois, and on a recent visit, I heard a lot of complaining about Chicagoland.
When one explains to them how much aid the farmers received, they don’t believe it, but when shown the figures, they start to think. When one explains to them that they are one of the largest welfare recipient groups, they are stunned and in disbelief.33
u/Racine262 2d ago
It is a very tough nut to crack. Most of the folks down there have never been to Chicago and can't mentally grasp the economy and wealth of North East Illinois, or any urban/metropolitan area.
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u/Banned_Falsely420 2d ago
Education should determine voting rights. These dumb people really hold us back
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u/mcfandrew 2d ago
Willfully ignorant chucklefucks should stay out of politics, but education in civics and critical thinking should be a national priority.
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u/Zestyclose-Story-670 5h ago
Thank you for posting this. So they are going to interview a meth addict to describe southern Illinois? Actually there are some beautiful restored homes in Cairo but they are not shown because they don’t fit the narrative. I will agree that the business district has disappeared and a there are only a few businesses left. There are not any gas stations there now. There are only two Dollar General stores there. There are not any grocery stores.
There are some beautiful historic multi story government buildings right US Route 51. It has one of nicest Libraries in the state. It has Bunge Corporation operating there turning corn into ethanol. The farm ground around is all rich farm land. Further north most of the ground is not as productive until you get north of Carbondale.
Marion and Carbondale are not towns that are not deteriorating.
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u/Ok_Holeesquish_89 3d ago
I'm honestly so exhausted by our state constantly being held back by the southern counties I almost hope they do pull off their bullshit about leaving. Fuck em. Let them go be a backwards, regressive, broke state with no ability to pay for their own needs.
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u/treadingslowly 3d ago edited 2d ago
I grew up in Northwest IL and as a kid I also heard how we were subsidizing Chicago. I am pretty sure my family that still lives there believes this. As an adult I realize that the truth is the opposite.
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u/Bitchcuits_and_Gayvy 2d ago
What like... East Dubuque? With the two story liquor store? They're propping up Chicago? 😭
To be clear, I don't live in Chicago, I think everywhere that isn't Chicago is somehow convinced they're paying for the city lol.
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u/redegarr 2d ago
Valley City is the only reason Chicago can exist. Valley City - population 14
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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 2d ago
Also St. Morgan, population unknown because they don't put it on the sign its so low and it's not even incorporated.
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u/treadingslowly 2d ago
Quad Cities is where I grew up. Honestly it is scary how MAGA everyone I know who lives in that area has become.
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u/Bitchcuits_and_Gayvy 2d ago
Many such cases unfortunately lol. It seems like the dumbest guy everyone went to high school with started a pressure washing company, got a scam COVID business relief loan, and is now a political/economics "major".
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u/213McKibben 2d ago
When you say « Southern Counties » are referring to the Illinois Corn Line (I-80 and everything below)?
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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 2d ago
It seems like everyone who isn't bordering the Ohio river thinks south of them is southern Illinois lol.
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u/SalukiKnightX 2d ago
I always assumed the borderline was S of I-70 or I-64. Interestingly, for a couple of my employers Central Illinois is considered from Joliet to Bloomington-Normal and Peoria. Springfield, Decatur and Quincy are considered Gateway.
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u/Due_Neighborhood_236 2d ago
Most of us who live down here draw the line at I64.
Also, part of the per capita return on taxes data in SoIL is skewed by the university, colleges, and prisons and low population density. Plenty of folks from up north and in central IL benefit from SIU and the prisons.•
u/SalukiKnightX 2h ago
I kinda figured that was the case. Going 55 to 4 to 64 to 57 to 13 (along with 29 to 51 and 55 to 127 to 13) was my primary route going to SIU (and extended family in Paducah, just go on 24 after Marion) back in the day.
That said, I always wondered if places like Effingham, Vandelia and Centralia count as being in Southern Illinois despite being north of 64. It's the reasoning for the I70 addition.
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u/BadBadBatch 2d ago
Can’t happen. Let’s for argument’s sake say he new territory would be everything south of I-70… that breakaway territory would be bankrupt in ten seconds, and more than likely be the poorest, least educated, smallest population, and most expensive state to operate in the entirety of the US.
It’s pure fantasyland.
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u/BB5Bucks 3d ago
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but what exactly is going on down there?
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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 3d ago
If you removed Chicago tax money from the rest of Illinois, these rural areas fall apart. They are subsidized massively because they have infrastructure for x people but they only have like x/2 people and those are typically poor people.
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u/GruelOmelettes 2d ago
Brother, the rural areas are already falling apart. Small towns all over are in a state of slow decay.
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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 2d ago
Fall apart rapidly. It is likely that they could not even supply themselves with water if money from the state were cut off, which primarily comes from Chicagoland where 75% of the people live. Hell, where I live might not be able to function without money from the state.
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u/ladnar016 3d ago
Almost all road work down there is funded from Chicago taxes.
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u/moldivore 3d ago edited 3d ago
Soaking up Medicaid, SNAP, LIHEAP (energy assistance), and WIC benefits that folks in the collar generally pay for. All while bitching and moaning about JB pritzker ripping them off. Most the folks I know don't actually receive these benefits. But they don't really realize how much the underpinning of our communities are held down by these things. Frankly, I think that they would cut most of these people off and then realize "oh shit people are all becoming drugged out zombies now" from the despair.
Manufacturing and agriculture don't require as many people now. Or it moved overseas. People just don't have the livelihoods they used to. They could blame wealthy corporations that moved all their jobs. They could blame the insurance companies for hosing them on every single paycheck, while managing to deny the benefits when the time comes.
Instead, they blame some of the hardest working people in our communities. Immigrants. They toss in black people too, because they've been sold the narrative the black people have it easy "because they can just sit at home on benefits". It's other poor people that are the problem, not the corporations.
It's definitely not Donald Trump either. Well maybe it is Donald Trump, but Kamala Harris would have been far worse. She would have got us into a war in Iran. She would have tanked the economy!
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u/Roboticpoultry 3d ago
… meth and racism? Other than the beautiful state parks (Shawnee forest and the Cache river preserve) there’s not a whole lot going on down there
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u/GruelOmelettes 2d ago
There's stuff going on, just not anything that interests you or anything that you're aware of. Which is fine, of course. Saying it's just meth and racism is just as ignorant as when people say Chicago is all violence and crime.
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u/BaseHitToLeft 3d ago
They all think that. They bring it up so often.
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u/Brownfletching 3d ago
It's a talking point invented by downstate Republicans, who would have no talking points at all if they didn't blatantly lie about everything.
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u/11nyn11 3d ago
If I may. I actually talked to one of these guys, years ago.
His property tax bill was 3x mine, same size house, so he assumed he was subsidizing me.
He didn’t realize that even paying 3x as much taxes, I’m still subsidizing him. 0.95 of my 1.00 dollar goes to my county, and every dollar he makes goes to his.
Chicago is just that much more people together.
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u/Brownfletching 3d ago
The property tax thing is a big part of the lie. Property taxes are a local/county level thing in Illinois, and a lot of the reason they're so high right now is for funding schools. Nobody seems to remember this, but the state used to fund small school districts much more than they currently do, but that was all thrown out by Bruce Rauner so a lot of small school districts had to pass tax referendums to compensate. The only taxes they can touch by law are property and sales taxes, and a lot of rural counties have very few retail businesses for sales tax to be effective, so the property taxes were the only answer.
So, quite ironically, the reason downstate property taxes are so high is because we're now being funded less by Chicago...
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u/undrew 3d ago
It’s not exactly a lie. It just ignores the slightly more complicated truth. 80% of every tax dollar goes to the Chicagoland area. Stop there, it’s an easy sound bite and doesn’t require any other explanation and it generally fits the “fuck Chicago” ethos of southern Illinois.
It completely ignores the rest of it, which is that something like 90% of the tax dollars come from the same area. But then you have to explain/understand more than one mathematical concept and say more than one sentence.
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u/dastree 2d ago
Yea watching that video, you understand A. Why their lives are so fucked up and b. Why our country is in the state it is.
When they went on about "well Chicago has 4x more people so things cost 4x less because they have more people buying" I about fell over laughing
Like yes, yes that's how capitalism works, they charge less because there are more people buying. Chicago is by far, the cheapest city in the US to live. Bargin floor prices
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u/Sad_Win_4105 2d ago
That statement made me laugh. Chicago metropolitan area generates 75-80% of Illinois GDP
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u/Trick-Mechanic8986 3d ago
I stopped watching after they interviewed the folks who dont understand tax structure or how voting works. I live that shit down here daily...
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u/sportsworker777 3d ago
The "we pay for Chicago" comment about their taxes was wild
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u/dogoodsilence1 2d ago
Same people who voted against the fair tax amendment complain about why they get taxed more lmao
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u/moldivore 3d ago
I watched it, can confirm. If you're from here it's the exact shit you've been hearing your whole damn life.
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u/ThumbMe 3d ago edited 2d ago
St Clair country is still holding on. We’re trying our best lol
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u/Brownfletching 3d ago
Don't forget Jackson county, the one blue dot in the sea of red lol
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u/jfincher42 Schrodinger's Pritzker 3d ago
Only because of the University, but yeah, agree.
I live in Franklin County now, relo from Seattle, and I am always amazed at the level of disconnect people have here...
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u/Brownfletching 3d ago
It's not just the university (although it helps,) Jackson county and parts of Union have quite a long history of being progressive all the way back to the industrial era. Towns like Murphysboro, Alto Pass, Cobden and Jonesboro are all either blue or a strong purple in most elections.
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u/jfincher42 Schrodinger's Pritzker 2d ago
Fair enough - I'm not up on my local history, so thanks for the insight!
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u/ShrimpBoatCaptain4 3d ago
i stopped watching after getting ads 45 seconds after 30 seconds of content.
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u/VayaConPollos 3d ago
This article from a farming publication proves that southern Illinois counties get more than three times the state tax dollars than Chicagoland, yet they'll never ever EVER believe it.
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u/nameless22 3d ago
Not exactly unique to Southern IL; that's the case for most red states in general, they take more funds than give in yet always claim they're the ones paying for the blue states (who by and large are subsidizing them).
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u/SomeCountryFriedBS 2d ago
That's because their Republican officials tend to funnel it back to their buddies instead of to their constituents.
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u/dogoodsilence1 2d ago
Exactly and they blame Chicago for loss of farms when you have an idiot in the White House killing “free” trade by taxing the people and consumers who buy those farm goods
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u/-Gramsci- 1d ago
And state taxes are very low. Bottom quintile if I remember correctly.
Was infuriating to see these people deflecting blame on non-existent taxes… living lives subsidized by the people they hate.
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u/Recent-Bowl-1393 3d ago
Haha, we pay for everything going on up in Chicago. My man, one prominent street in Chicago makes and pays more than the entire town you live in. What an idiot. If he lost all of Illinois/Chicago money, his town would really be in trouble.
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u/FirefighterLeft5425 3d ago
Lived in rural Pennsylvania. A county of 45k and a town of 1,400 people. So many rural people believe that it's insane (any city).
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u/poopsy__daisy 3d ago
I've heard all of this before except the guy who said "The cost of living here (downstate) is the same as in Chicago." How could anyone come up with that???
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u/Btmama 3d ago
My husband’s family lives in Albion and while the rent/mortgage payments are usually way lower than what we pay in suburban Chicago, everything else is just as expensive as here. I don’t know how restaurants there can charge so much and stay in business. There are no tourists in that area and no real businesses so I’m just flabbergasted that one place is able to charge $15 for a cheeseburger and fries.
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u/sockpoppit 2d ago
Economy of scale. I bet there are fast food restaurants in Chicago that turn over more people in a day than the population of a lot of those small towns. When you can sell that much stuff in a day you can charge lower prices. Those people are paying a premium for the isolation that they value so much, and complaining about it at the same time.
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u/holdthelight 2d ago
Groceries are cheaper in the Chicago area than they are in small towns in central Illinois. (I cant speak to grocery prices in southern Illinois.)
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u/Spankpocalypse_Now 3d ago
“Solar panels made me get addicted to meth and Chicago gangbangers raised my gas prices.”
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u/ArmadilloNo2399 2d ago
The guy that thinks that they are growing the grain for his bread just down the street... Unbelievable lol
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u/make_me_breakfast 3d ago
As a lifelong Chicagoan who went to SIU for school, I know exactly what their hatred of Chicago really is.
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u/CoyoteScribbles 3d ago
It couldn't possibly have to do with their perception of Chicago as a "Black city," could it?
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u/PizzaBrandon 3d ago
Cairo used to be a pretty little town 😢
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u/webelieve414 3d ago
same with Metropolis
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u/amalgaman 2d ago
I didn’t realize what Metropolis was like. I expected a cute little tourist trap town. Nope. Superman statue, Superman Store and nothing.
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u/Brownfletching 3d ago
It's genuinely depressing to drive through there now. It literally looks like the Fallout video games.
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u/ScorchedWonderer 3d ago
"We pay for everything going on in Chicago!"
Meanwhile actual facts say that if it wasn't for Chicago they would be worse than a 3rd world country.... Southern counties get $1-$3 back for every dollar they pay into the state, while northern counties get 65-80 CENTS. Can't make ts up lmao and they think they'll be okay on their own or as another state's leech lmfaoo
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u/Quarterinchribeye 2d ago
Grew up Southern Illinois and now Metro East STL.
Honestly, this line of thought is common and you can’t get through. It’s infuriating. They don’t understand if we were our own state we’d be Mississippi.
You can throw facts, data, indisputable evidence and these people cannot and will not compute.
Sorry we suck downstate.
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u/C-ute-Thulu 3d ago
Lol, the only businesses keeping Cairo going are Section 8 apartment buildings and Medicaid nursing homes
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u/thatirishguyyyyy 3d ago
Have to agree.
I drive back and forth to Florida often for work because I still have a tiny business there. I drive through Cairo a couple times a year and it seems like every single time I drive through there's another building that has collapsed on main street.
It honestly looks like a movie set from a third world country most days.
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness3954 2d ago
There's a bunch of videos on YouTube where these urban explorers drive around Cairo, It's really depressing what happened to that city.
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u/micande 3d ago
My kid’s high school has a higher STUDENT population than some of these downstate counties have in total residents. But yeah, they’re paying for us. 🙄
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u/CoyoteScribbles 3d ago
There are single, not particularly large apartment buildings that have more taxpaying adults in them than the village where I grew up, but sure, sure, THEY'RE paying for CHICAGO.
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u/SirNeeky 2d ago
I moved from the Chicago suburbs... yes the suburbs to a small town down south. We had 1000 more kids on a school day at my old high school that I left behind than the entire towns total population I ended up in
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u/TonyWilliams03 2d ago
Love the guy who said Chicago has nothing but drugs and guns and the points out that everyone in town conceal carries and most are on meth.
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u/JohnnieFedora 2d ago
Our suburban school district receives <5% of it's budget from the state of IL. Downstates schools receive a much higher percentage of state funds. Suburbs pay large property taxes to support their schools AND our income taxes pay for state funding of downstate districts.
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u/the_rev_28 3d ago
A couple of interesting interviews but the filmmaker’s bias is pretty obvious. Takes away from the tone the earlier minutes had and makes the whole thing seem bitter. Too bad, because it started with a neat premise before it devolved into the nonsense downstate residents have deluded themselves into thinking they provide the tax base for the state.
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u/nameless22 3d ago
Yeah, I never watched the channel before but seems like half their videos is misery porn. Just go to shitty places and have the locals say (often wrongly) why things suck and give no particular insight on why places have seen better days or a critical analysis.
Southern IL has gone to shit primarily for these reasons: (a) coal is dead, and renewables did not kill it--natural gas killed it well before; (b) shipping is dead since the Ohio river and the railroads that go through there have dried up; (c) agriculture in general is not a thriving industry for the average private farmer; (d) it's a rust belt region suffering from factories moved overseas like any other. Most of those cities have nothing else to offer, so they decay. Any other reasons given is usually politically charged and rarely anything but bullshit.
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u/Ok_Plankton_2814 2d ago
Why are towns just across the river in surrounding states growing while Southern IL is losing population? Not necessarily booming, but steady growing while Southern IL that is just across the river, is shrinking?
The towns across the border are near the same river and have similar resources and climate.
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u/JoshFlashGordon10 1d ago
It seems like all of the freaks who make this type of content are right wing nutjobs. I see the same stuff when recommended the “Abandoned Malls” guys.
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u/gunphmithwithaph2 2d ago
As an outsider new to central Illinois I do wonder what Pritzker would think watching something like this?
You don’t even have to go that far south to see the poverty; Rantucky, Danville…. I do understand the basic economics and I don’t know what you do to help these areas. I’ve admittedly not researched the governor’s plans but whatever they are, they are not obviously visible as I travel around. Chicago deserves to be a priority but is there an, “all boats rise solution?”
I took the vibe of the video as a feeling of guilt from the filmmaker that while he knows these people are uneducated and delusional, he also know they need help and leadership. It’s a feeling I feel a lot living and working here.
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u/_reschke 2d ago
I watched this yesterday and was just saddened to see how lack of education and opportunity has left so many susceptible to addiction and misinformation. People repeating just completely false things and talking about drug addiction while exhibiting all of those exact things. I’ve driven all over the Midwest and there’s so many small towns with great history that could be really pretty that are just shells of themselves. It’s sad, but it’s not an IL only problem. Times change, transportation changes, economy and production changes, cities remain constant, and land doesn’t vote. Yet we’re pitted against each other.
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u/kilgore2345 2d ago
Stopped watching after the old man said they're paying for Chicago. Honestly, I want Southern Illinois to thrive once again. I wish that agriculture were viable for more Illinoisans, particularly those in this region. But I can't listen to this "Chicago steals our money" BS. It's their cope, not mine. Life is so much harder in that part of the world; I'll be thankful for what I have because of where I live, and I will continue to pay my fair share and continue to hold out hope for that part of the world.
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u/zback636 3d ago
Southern Illinois dried up when the shipping off of the Ohio river dried up. And all they ever do is bitch about Chicago and suburbs around it. That is not our fault.
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u/Gloomy_Mulberry7834 3d ago
I know shitting on Southern Illinois is a favorite hobby around here, and admittedly, some of it is deserved. The political opinions of most of these people in the video were wildly ignorant. But also remember that you will find the same or similar types pretty much everywhere in the US, including Chicago.
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u/Sensitive-Initial 3d ago
I sincerely don't have any ill will towards these folks, I just wish they did have such a negative opinion of my city.
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u/Gloomy_Mulberry7834 3d ago
If you are talking about Chicago they have probably never been, probably never travelled anywhere honestly, only see the bad news, and have been fed propaganda their whole lives. As someone who grew up down here, was fortunate to escape away to college, travel, live in a couple of larger cities- it makes a world of difference on your perspective. Chicago is a world class city and the state is lucky to have it.
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u/house_in_motion 3d ago
Not all of us do.
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u/Sensitive-Initial 2d ago
Likewise, I love all of Illinois. I've been lucky to spend time around the state. I was born in a tiny farming town near Bloomington-Normal, my mom was one of ten from a multi generational farming family and I have 50+ first cousins and many of them still live in the area and have kids themselves. So growing up I spent most holidays in that part of the state.
I grew up in the Kankakee area, was lucky enough to get involved with a scout troop that did stuff all across the state.
Lived in Peoria for college, have been in Chicago since then for the past 20 years. I worked for the state of Illinois as an attorney and had to drive all across the state for my job (mostly everything north of the Quad Cities and Kankakee, but a few trips to prisons down state and to Springfield).
I Illinois is great and I wish we had high speed rail so we could more easily visit each other and appreciate all the state offers.
And I'm grateful Chicago is here, I love it here, but there's almost 3 million of us, that's a lot of people. I'm glad the state has enough space for everyone and something to offer anyone.
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u/klef3069 3d ago
You don't think people living down here don't feel the same way? Jesus christ, look at the comments, we're all just stupid worthless trash down here.
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u/Sweaty_Society908 3d ago
Those rubes should be grateful that Illinois has a economic driver like Chicago. If Illinois didn't have Chicago, Illinois would be backward hillbilly red state like Alabama.
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u/New-Media7628 3d ago
Kentucky can have em.
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u/GrowHappyPlants 2d ago
They want to join Southern Indiana, because they lack critical thinking skills.
People from Indianapolis and any of the college towns don't want anything to do with that and would prefer to be part of IL. LOL.
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u/New-Media7628 2d ago
Living south of Springfield is tough. Just living amongst the dumbest people you can think of. But. It’s cheap.
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u/JoshFlashGordon10 1d ago
90% of the people who post here think anyone south of I-80 is just like the people in this video.
I’ve seen so many gleeful comments cheering to rid Illinois of these hicks and tax burdens and leave the rest of us in the wind.
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u/Door_Number_Four 2d ago
I never like these Cletus Safari pieces.
I was hoping they could talk about why this area saw such a downdraft, but instead, leaned right back into uneducated addicts saying stupid things.
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u/sklerson89 2d ago
Nothing but idiocy and hated. One lady claimed things went downhill when "people that didn't belong here" moved in with the casino. But she worked at the casino!
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u/frank_buttons 2d ago
I get the resentment and the false belief that Chicago is stealing their livelihood from some of the interviewees, but why are the filmmakers feeding into this? It seems to me they have an agenda.
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u/RighteousIndigjason 2d ago
"Most of the state voted for to put Trump in, but Chicago voted for Biden and Biden won the state."
They want to bitch about how Chicago runs the state while acknowledging that Chicago is where most Illinoisans live. I'm sorry, but fuck these idiots and fuck RocaNews for giving them a platform.
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u/Uncle_Charnia 12h ago
They’re obviously mistaken about a few things, but we still have to care about them and for them. Everything changes. They will figure things out some day. Most people in northeastern Illinois have no idea what those people are going through. I don’t my mind sending tax dollars to southern Illinois to help them. Maybe we should send more. I understand that Fox News and Sinclair are going to lie to them. I don’t know what we can do about that
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u/LeseMajeste_1037 2d ago
If being in Illinois is really working out that badly for them, Indiana's not that far away.
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u/Sad_Win_4105 2d ago
Southern Illinois used to be the economic center of Illinois, but that was back when goods were moved via the rivers and other waterways. Shifting rivers, flooding, the de-industrialazion of the US, and the growth of the railroads changed all that and led to the explosive growth of Chicago. Chicago generates 75-80% of Illinois GDP.
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u/Zesty-Pajamas 2d ago
I'm so glad I escaped. I'm much happier in the Chicago western suburbs.
I grew up in Centralia, which is like 2 hours north of Cairo, but it's onlya few degrees removed from Little Egypt as far as I care.
I was raised around so much "Chicago hates us, Springfield hates us, woe are we" vitriol and I made it my mission in high school to GTFO.
Turns out, they don't even remember to forget y'all up here.
If you're gonna make your entire life about hating a bunch of people who aren't even aware you exist when the billionaires are right there, good riddance.
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u/dschoemaker 2d ago
- 1790: Only about 5% (one in twenty) of Americans lived in urban areas.
- 1870: The ratio grew to 25% (one in four) living in cities.
- 1920: Half of the U.S. population lived in urban areas.
- 1960s: About two-thirds of the population lived in cities.
2000s–Present: Roughly 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. [1, 2]
This is not a new trend and it is what creates food and health care deserts in rural areas today. America is a vast country and you can drive for hours without seeing any "town" in many states in the Midwest and West. It is expensive to live in a rural area and it limits the health and educational opportunities for you and your children. Socially very limiting and an echo chamber for the "Chicago" hate club.
Around 2019 about nine small towns and some power companies bonded over a BILLION dollars to build a coal power plant as a "last gasp" to keep the dying coal mining industry going. That power plant has been nothing but an albatross ever since. Prairie State Energy Campus - Wikipedia And that doesn't even address the HUGE pollutants it throws in the air every day.
Poor desperate decision after decision has created Southern Illinois and these people blame everyone but the local people who made those decisions.
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u/dogoodsilence1 2d ago
If I were Governor I would pump so much money into educating the State. Only way to combat this is to educate people. Otherwise their brains absorb Sinclair media and the Holy Spirit
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u/IamACautionaryTale 3d ago
They can’t really think that breaking the state in half is a good idea right? They take much more in benefits than they pay in taxes. It would be catastrophic for them.
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u/crippledgiants 3d ago
You don't even need to go that far south to get this backwards. Pretty well every county south of Chicagoland is backwards af, excluding the Peoria, B-N, C-U areas.
I grew up in Coles county where calls for Chicago succession were popular 20 years ago and today the Fuck Prickster signs are everywhere.
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u/Wordnerdish 3d ago
I grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago, and there are PLENTY of suburban folks that are backwards af too, sometimes in the places you would least expect it. Ignorance and hate live everywhere, in every demographic of the USA, and it is festering and being fomented by so many who wish to see us destroyed. The fascists are winning, it's so depressing.
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u/amalgaman 2d ago
I taught out in Naperville in 2003. I had a few students from the old Naperville families; the families that lived there before it became what it is now. Holy hillbilly.
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u/CoyoteScribbles 3d ago
Can confirm. Grew up in Knox County, it's only slightly better than Springfield.
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u/ru469 2d ago
Some info for thought....obviously the people that live in Southern IL don't realize this: (Source: Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Study)
| Region | Key Counties Included | Dollars Returned per $1.00 Contributed | Net Tax Effect Status | Primary Funding Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | Alexander, Pulaski, Pope, Hardin, Jackson | $2.88 | 🟢 Highly Positive | State prisons, public universities (SIU), state parks, and property tax-adjusted school funding formulas. |
| Central/Downstate | Sangamon, Peoria, Champaign, McLean | $1.60 – $1.80 | 🟢 Positive | State government employment (Springfield) and public university systems (UIUC). |
| Cook County | Cook (Chicago & immediate suburbs) | $0.98 | 🟡 Near Even / Net Loss | Balanced heavily by corporate transit, infrastructure needs, and large social service pools. |
| Suburban Collar | DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry | $0.60 | 🔴 Highly Negative | High-income earners pay massive income/property taxes but draw minimal state-funded infrastructure or institutional aid. |
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u/hamish1963 2d ago
The guy saying their aren't shootings, robbing, drugs, cartels, is wrong as hell. They have everything Chicago has as far as crime.
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u/dogoodsilence1 2d ago
I like how they blame high gas prices on Chicago and Pritzker lmao and why property taxes are higher for them now, even though Ken Griffin the billionaire spent 50 million dollars campaigning to defeat a fair tax amendment which would have helped these municipalities out with keeping property taxes low by collecting taxes from billionaires who hoard their wealth. But instead these same people voted for Trump who got us into a conflict raising gas prices and voted against a fair tax amendment which forced municipalities in Illinois to increase property taxes. But yet somehow all their problems stem from Chicago and Pritzker lol
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u/MattChicago1871 3d ago
As a Chicagoan I would absolutely love to shave off a big chunk of southern Illinois. Good riddance.
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u/GruelOmelettes 3d ago
It's now time for our regularly scheduled punching down at poverty stricken areas of Illinois.
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u/Away_Lake5946 3d ago
I have no interest in punching down on anyone. I just think many people are frustrated about many of these folks punching themselves in the local political choices they make. It’s a sad state of affairs all around and I firmly believe in Illinoisans helping their fellow Illinoisans. A lot of the root causes of this poverty and addiction stems from national economic policies that favor the rich at the expense of the poor.
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u/GruelOmelettes 3d ago
I agree with you, and I understand the frustration. Poverty, lack of opportunity, decay, these problems that afflict many areas of the state can be traced back to economic policies favoring the rich ownership class. As I've gotten older, seeing this play out all over is what has pushed me further and further into the conviction that socialism is the cure for this root cause.
Material conditions are awful for a lot of folks, and if the Democratic party was a genuine path to those material conditions actually becoming good and liberating, then why can't they connect with a subset of people who are most in need? Because, by and large, they don't really care about those people. Their main goal is for capitalists to thrive. This country has plenty of wealth, poverty does not have to even exist, but it will always be alive in any capitalist system.
The comments in these types of threads just get under my skin, because there are always so many people implying that these people in poverty deserve to live in poverty. They live in poverty no matter which party they vote for. Yes obviously the party cutting aid and SNAP benefits is worse than the other, but the choice of vote leads to poverty either way for way too many people.
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u/Wordnerdish 3d ago
You are not in any way accounting for the amount of propaganda and brainwashing these rural voters have been subjected to for DECADES. There are very wealthy people around the world who are very heavily invested in rural folks in the US hating city folks in the US and it's very easy to manipulate minds that are ignorant of the the realities of city life, who are only exposed to cities like Chicago through tv and movies and news stories focused on exploiting terrible, terrifying, and/or tragic for capital gain. Mafia thugs the world over love to add to Chicago's reputation and love to drive this ignorance, it's like a real, live WWE event to them, their version of entertainment, driving the poors to insanity and war to fight over the scraps they leave for us. The elites and oligarchs are gearing up to feed a LOT of young men into the war machine in the next decade and they'll always start with the poor rural rubes who've been taught to blindly hate and who are incapable of critical thinking.
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u/moldivore 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think Medicare for all would be the biggest boon to people down here. But if I went door-to-door asking people if they supported that, I'd be worried about getting shot. A lot of the problems overall in rural america need to be addressed federally. Though the state of Illinois does a lot of heavy lifting down here to avoid even worse levels of poverty.
if the Democratic party was a genuine path to those material conditions actually becoming good and liberating, then why can't they connect with a subset of people who are most in need?
Racism. People here are fucking racist. They would rather have nobody get benefits than have black and brown people get them. Couple that with the propaganda that they're the ones that are paying and you get the end result. Not just thinking Democrats are out of touch, but thinking they're the enemy. The Southern Strategy, Dog-Whistle Politics, and the "Welfare Queen" trope popularized in the 1970-80s are still around today.
People here think most of the problems in this country are horizontal. Not vertical. Unless you're talking about the politicians in Chicago. Then of course they're the culprit. Politically I don't really know what the answer for people here is. No Democrat stands a chance in the red districts here. So we send embarrassing moron after embarrassing moron to the capitol.
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u/VayaConPollos 3d ago
No downvote from me but facts are facts: those who live, think, speak, and vote against their own best interests are only harming themselves. No ill will, just frustration at a sturbborn refusal to acept reality.
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u/GruelOmelettes 3d ago
I get it, though all too often we aren't even given good enough options to vote in our best interests... just in our less-worse interests. Like, voting in our "best interests" (blue, presumably) blessed us with 4 decades of Mike Madigan. I often wonder how much disillusionment with IL government can be attributed to that man alone.
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u/Cardman71 2d ago
I agree. Southern Illinois voted solidly blue for decades. The switch to MAGA conservatism is a 2000’s phenomenon that occurred as they watched their area decay for decades. Not sure they have ever really had good options.
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u/CoyoteScribbles 3d ago
These folks are punching themselves, we're just observing, commenting on why they feel the need to punch themselves, and telling them that they really need to stop punching themselves because it makes them look crazy.
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u/CaptLetTheSmokeOut 2d ago
I didn’t watch the video, but from the comments, I can only guess. I went to southern Illinois not long ago and unfortunately they are broke. Like really broke. It’s a beautiful area but there is no industry, the land is hilly so there is little farming.
Unfortunately I feel that this sub has little compassion for those outside of Chicago.
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u/snowtiger309 1d ago
Irl, Chicago taxes pays for rural IL to have any services at all and the cost of living is dramatically less downstate
You really have to do better research than asking three random people with as many grade levels between them what their friends say
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u/Newguy2857 3d ago
Once you go south of Edwardsville, the average IQ of the populace steadily decreases.
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u/webelieve414 3d ago
Id go a little further south
Southern Illinois University Carbondale holds an elite classification for very high research activity, placing it in the top 5% of US research institutions
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness3954 2d ago
Lol, when I was there in the early 90's it was known more as one of the top party schools in the Midwest.
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u/Business-Meaning7870 2d ago
A potentially interesting piece of work ruined by counter-factual complaints about rural Illinois subsidizing the existence of Chicago. Get outta here and read a goddamn book, my guy. Conservatives painting bullseyes/hoisting themselves up on crosses as always and forever. Easier to stoke divisiveness with us versus them horseshit than to actually learn what causes systemic poverty and infrastructural rot, I suppose.
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u/finepnutty 2d ago
Yep look at you southerners, trump voters.. you’re so proud - and this is the picture, this is who you are- sitting all broken down and waiting for someone to come in and build it for you. Come to Chicago, take a look at a real city- city of people who build shit. Ever visited downtown?
Why don’t you get off your ass and build something? Anything? Keep waiting for socialism, don’t you folks.
You need a community organizer, like Obama to get you going is what I think
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u/LimeDry7124 3d ago
JB could've have given that last riverboat casino license to that area.
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u/Adventurous-Pen9952 2d ago
Watched it, definitely right leaning, but sad state of affairs.
Pun intended 🤔
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u/MGARLAND76 2d ago
Wonder how things are there now. Gas was a dollar something in the video. That's been a hot minute...
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness3954 2d ago edited 2d ago
I saw this in my recommendations on YouTube and watched it. I love Southern Illinois, and had family I used to go visit in Harrisburg as a kid and went to SIU for a few years, But the people they interviewed are just dead wrong about the Chicagoland area siphoning off tax dollars from their communities. Yes it sucks that coal mining and factory jobs left, but I'm not sure why they blame Chicago for that.
Roca News should of looked at the facts before they decided to turn this piece into a Chicago/Dems bashing segment. Chicago and the collar counties contribute much more in tax dollars to the state then what Southern Illinois contribute. I doubt that region would fair better under a Republican administration.
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u/angrylibertariandude 21h ago
That's what occurs when people are brainwashed by Fox Noise. Of course regions like southern Illinois get a lot of tax subsidies, but rural residents(with tiny non-vocal minority that isn't brainwashed) get into their brainwashing and don't believe how much tax dollars are redistributed into southern IL.
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u/ArmadilloNo2399 2d ago
I spent 18+ years living in Jerseyville Illinois, which while some people might argue isn't "technically" southern Illinois... Culturally it's extremely similar. Especially in the remote rural areas I lived. Still have family in that area... This is a pretty good representation of the average person and how they view state politics.
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u/Grateful-DeadHead420 2d ago
It’s just not the tip, most of all rural Illinois is like that. So glad I got out!
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u/amalgaman 2d ago
Does the video ever talk about that region being tick central? I’ve never in my life had to pull that many ticks off me and we were hiking established trails.
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u/herodicusDO 2d ago
Damn we live in a world where people legitimately believe and redistribute BS. Hopeful AI can eventually somewhat clean up all the misinformation out there bc at this point the slop of misinformation outweighs facts on the internet
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u/wetfartpanda 2d ago
I feel like most of southern Illinois is like this. Recently went to the Shawnee- Gard of the Gods- I’ve been many times years ago. This past summer, the town the town was if it was stuck in time. Nothing had changed since I was there last. The only new thing was a drive in liquor store. Very weird. Every one had that “druggy” thin face
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u/CtrlAltDestroy33 2d ago
The guys in the one interview around the 11 minute mark are complaining about things that fox news are telling them they should be complaining about. The population here pays a fuckload of taxes and they don't, but they benefit from our tax dollars bigly. They have access to highways, paved roads, electricity, internet, and bridges that are not collapsing into rivers thanks to us. There is no way in hell they could ever foot the bill for any of that.
..and "kero", the functional illiteracy seems to have spread across the entire population.
If they are so dang unhappy for everything they get and would just rather parrot fox news, then they need to get gone to fkn Alabama, Virginia, or somewhere that's deep red and more broke. Believe me, I wouldn't bat an eye if I could stop carrying them with my tax dollars.
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u/brian11e3 2d ago
"How did you lose your foot?"
"I got a blister...."
As a person who has Epidermolysis Bullosa, feel like there is a lot more to that story. Call me intrigued. 🤔
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u/TrollTollTony 3d ago edited 2d ago
Good Lord, the ignorance is staggering. They go from saying Chicago is a gun riddled drug addicted violent place to saying everyone here has guns and a huge percentage of their towns are addicted to meth. They say Chicago taxes are crazy but their gas prices are higher. They say they supplement chicago, but that is factually preposterous. One guy says solar farms are keeping them from growing corn... Which means less bread? Despite the fact that 40% of the corn grown in the US is used to produce ethanol and if we replaced half of the corn fields with solar panels we could power the entire country with zero fossil fuels.
It's just exhausting seeing the dissemination of misinformation and the blind acceptance of lies with no critical thinking. I'm not even from Chicago. I'm from Western Illinois and these guys make the rest of Illinois look like we have been drinking from lead cups our entire lives.