@Shaun – totally agree with everything you say.

@Norm – nothing to do with “trickle down” anything. “Trickle down” is quite simple: if your employer gets to pay less in taxes, it has more money to hire people, the earnings are better, you may actually get a slightly larger raise and, more importantly, get to keep your job. Conversely, if your employer has to pay more in taxes, the earnings will suffer; then your employer may lay you off or if you are lucky not give you a raise. The earnings suffer, stocks go down, including your 401K. The CEO is likely to get a large raise either way – life is not fair. So maybe instead of being envious of those who are better off, you think about what will help you keep your job or get a raise.

That was not even remotely similar to trickle down anything. You do know that when you spend a dollar, the dollar ends up moving hands another 7 times? Like. That’s just how the economy works. Must suck to see that screw your economic philosophy.

And no one made fun of illiteracy. That is just silly.

@ Dotty:
Interpretation is the proble- very subjective. And indicative of the speaker. And didn’t see a reference to Wikipedia, but if I did I would discard it without issue. Finally, despite the MW definition that tags a specific region, the term has evolved into a general stereotyping of a class of people. If that weren’t true, Jeff Foxworthy would have never made his millions because only “white member[s] of the Southern rural laboring class” would relate to his humor.

@ Jenny:
Stereotyping based on any factor (be it region, race, or religion) is a “big issue” in my book.

I forwarded this to my brother who’s working on his doctorate right now, travels all over, etc…hope he won’t take it as badly as Ibir. More than likely, though, he’ll have bigger issues to complain about and will offset her readership loss.

And that was awesome. Reminds me of when I was younger; I used to watch Ma and Pa Kettle with my grandparents.

I would think that a well-educated person such as yourself would be more offended at his reference of a Wikipedia article as a voice of authority…

Regardless, and not to belabor the point, but, Miriam-Webster defines redneck as a sometimes disparaging remark relating to a white member of the Southern rural laboring class.

Where’s Kentucky again?

I have been a fan of this blog for over 8 months, but I will remove your blog from my daily reads. I was ok with the title of Kentucky Math, granted that you took the video from youtube and didn’t title it yourself, but your comment that “Kentucky is code for redneck” is infuriating.

I am a female from Kentucky, hold 3 advanced degrees, have lived all over the US (both coasts, the North and the South) and traveled all over the world. This said, I am probably one of your most well educated readers. And I am from Kentucky. I don’t know where you live in this country or where you have traveled, but in all of MY travels, and in all the places I have lived, you will find that the derogatory term “redneck” exists everywhere (as cevec points out, the Kettles are from Washington), and is often (mis)labeled to describe a class, not a region. Many do not understand that distinction.

I hope this comment causes you to revoke your article for today, because in your (very well read) blog, you are most likely going to offend many readers. Please refrain from making such derogatory and stereotypical statements in the future, for the sake of your blog’s success.