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Comment by hydrogen7800 | Hacker News Reader

Interesting read. This may be unfair to Louisiana based on this case, but I've heard the USA described as a federation of a bunch of states and some 3rd world countries.

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New Orleans native here. It's not unfair. We're consistently one of the worst states in the nation in so many measures. Corruption is rampant.

“One of the best descriptions of this political culture came from A.J. Liebling, who called Louisiana "the westernmost of the Arab states" and observed that its politics "is of an intensity and complexity that are matched, in my experience, only in the Republic of Lebanon. Louisiana is part of the Hellenistic—Mediterranean littoral—sensual, seductive, speculative, devious."

- The Book of America, Hagstrom and Peirce

Allow me to elaborate on the political culture. I lived in LA in the early 90s when the governors race was between a former KKK Leander and Edwin Edward’s who once said "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy”. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Louisiana_gubernatorial_e....

Well, when tourism is in decline, all those clowns and fake psychics in Jackson Square still need to eat.

I've heard the USA described as "a third world country wearing a Gucci belt"

I've read about similar fraud rings in Los Angeles and Brooklyn.

I think you can find something bad in every state, even "rich" ones.

Edit: Who the hell would downvote this?

You’re not allowed to suggest anything could be wrong with rich states.

It’s a Republic of states that are Democratic. Some states have cities with terrible poverty but never the case where the whole state can be categorized as such.

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