Cut the Failed Red States Loose: Why America Can't Keep Carrying the Dead Weight
Christopher Armitage
Sep 08, 2025
Mark Power / Magnum
Jackson, Mississippi residents spent weeks collecting rainwater in buckets during their third water system collapse since 2021. During those same weeks, the state legislature devoted substantial time to debating mandatory "In God We Trust" classroom posters. This isn't about red versus blue. It's about a simpler question: How does a modern nation function when some of its governmental partners refuse to engage in governance or management rather than imaginary problems.
The pattern repeats across a growing swath of America. The UN Special Rapporteur on poverty visited Alabama in 2017 and found raw sewage pooling in yards due to failed septic systems, conditions he said were "uncommon in the developed world." Alabama now has a hookworm problem affecting 34% of residents in Lowndes County, a disease of extreme poverty eradicated in most developing nations decades ago. The legislative response? Passing abortion bans while allocating nothing to sewage infrastructure.
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Louisiana tells the same story through different failures. The state has the highest incarceration rate on Earth at 1,094 per 100,000 people, higher than El Salvador or Rwanda. It ranks 50th in education, 48th in healthcare, and 45th in infrastructure. Ten major insurers fled after hurricane losses, triggering an insurance market collapse. The legislature's 2024 priority? Mandating Ten Commandments displays in classrooms, now tied up in costly legal challenges while basic services crumble.
These are symptoms of states that have essentially given up on good faith management. Between 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 children were legally married in the United States, overwhelmingly concentrated in Southern states, with documented cases of children as young as 10. Tennessee legislators in 2018 attempted to eliminate age requirements for marriage entirely before public backlash. These same states depend on massive federal transfers: Mississippi receives $2.73 in federal spending for every dollar it contributes, Kentucky $2.35, Alabama $2.03.
The human costs are staggering. West Virginia leads the nation in overdose deaths while rural hospitals close monthly. The legislature's response? Extensive debates over trans athlete bans affecting roughly a dozen students statewide while rejecting Medicaid expansion that would save hundreds of lives annually.
Mississippi's maternal mortality rate of 40 deaths per 100,000 live births is worse than...
Cut the Failed Red States Loose: Why America Can't Keep Carrying the Dead Weight
Christopher Armitage
Sep 08, 2025
Mark Power / Magnum
Jackson, Mississippi residents spent weeks collecting rainwater in buckets during their third water system collapse since 2021. During those same weeks, the state legislature devoted substantial time to debating mandatory "In God We Trust" classroom posters. This isn't about red versus blue. It's about a simpler question: How does a modern nation function when some of its governmental partners refuse to engage in governance or management rather than imaginary problems.
The pattern repeats across a growing swath of America. The UN Special Rapporteur on poverty visited Alabama in 2017 and found raw sewage pooling in yards due to failed septic systems, conditions he said were "uncommon in the developed world." Alabama now has a hookworm problem affecting 34% of residents in Lowndes County, a disease of extreme poverty eradicated in most developing nations decades ago. The legislative response? Passing abortion bans while allocating nothing to sewage infrastructure.
The Existential Republic is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Louisiana tells the same story through different failures. The state has the highest incarceration rate on Earth at 1,094 per 100,000 people, higher than El Salvador or Rwanda. It ranks 50th in education, 48th in healthcare, and 45th in infrastructure. Ten major insurers fled after hurricane losses, triggering an insurance market collapse. The legislature's 2024 priority? Mandating Ten Commandments displays in classrooms, now tied up in costly legal challenges while basic services crumble.
These are symptoms of states that have essentially given up on good faith management. Between 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 children were legally married in the United States, overwhelmingly concentrated in Southern states, with documented cases of children as young as 10. Tennessee legislators in 2018 attempted to eliminate age requirements for marriage entirely before public backlash. These same states depend on massive federal transfers: Mississippi receives $2.73 in federal spending for every dollar it contributes, Kentucky $2.35, Alabama $2.03.
The human costs are staggering. West Virginia leads the nation in overdose deaths while rural hospitals close monthly. The legislature's response? Extensive debates over trans athlete bans affecting roughly a dozen students statewide while rejecting Medicaid expansion that would save hundreds of lives annually.
Mississippi's maternal mortality rate of 40 deaths per 100,000 live births is worse than....
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