Photo from Bearden, Arkansas

Look at this NY Times article not for the words, but for the really cool photo taken in a diner in Bearden, Arkansas. If you take a look at the Google map, you will see that Bearden truly is in the middle of nowhere.

In the photo, we see a group of old white men wearing prole clothing, sitting around a table in an old run-down diner. That’s a scene that you’d never see in Manhattan. It perfectly captures the image of what we imagine small-town life to be like.

But is it the real Bearden? Demographic data from Bearden shows that the town is actually 32.5% black. That’s a much higher percentage of blacks than live in Manhattan. The median age in Bearden is 35.7, but the median age in the photo looks to be around 70.

The median price for a house in Bearden is only $39,300. Wow! For the price of a one bedroom condo in Manhattan, I could own twenty houses in Bearden!

Comments

[Zeek]

Interesting that HS has not commented on the article "The Falling-Down Professions", it was #1 e-mailed article yesterday and is #2 today. Maybe it hits a little too close to home?

[Peter]

It looks as if the men in the picture are friends. There's nothing odd about a group of buddies being similar in terms of age and ethnicity. If the Times photographed a random group of people in Bearden, then yes, depending on location it might be noteworthy if all of them were older white men.

[superdestroyer]

HS,

You obviously have not spent much time in the rural south. Those men are sitting the restaurant that everyone knows is the place wheres whites do to. I assume that somewhere in the small town, there is the black equivalent. It is some of the problems that visitors can make in a rural town is to end up is a business that is aimed at some other race.

Even though the town is 1/3 black, the local public high school is 45% black http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/ar/other/77#students. If you visited the school, you would
probably find that the certain classes or extracurriculars are all white and others are virtually all black.

[RottonPickle]

I don't think the NYTimes authors get out much. They write articles that "generally" sum up a career field or group of people or job trends or social trends, but they wouldn't be good generalizations to make in the South.

Even in Atlanta, where it's easy to argue that Atlanta's had such an influx of people in the last 30 years that many consider it to be no longer "Southern" and much more Big City, their "research" still can't be reliably applied to the people...but maybe they can't be applied in New York either, and they are trying to present an image that doesn't exist? HS's surprise at this photo suggests otherwise, however.

The scene in this newspaper is very commonplace down here, and it's quite nice, to be honest. But it is interesting to note how different places can be.

[Peter]

The scene in this newspaper is very commonplace down here, and it's quite nice, to be honest. But it is interesting to note how different places can be.

Maybe I'm just getting old and senile (to the extent I'm not that way already), but the idea of spending some time at a friendly and inexpensive local diner, shooting the breeze with some good buddies, well it actually sounds pretty decent to me. Certainly more appealing than the upscale Manhattan equivalent, which would be waiting in an endless line with some douche bag quasi-"friends," hoping you'll pass muster with some straight-outta-Attica bouncers, just so you can get into a fancy sausage-party nightclub and pay $300 for a bottle of Goose in what turns out to be a futile attempt to score.

[superdestroyer]

Peter

The problem is that given the location is southwestern Arkansas, football, NASCAR, and fishing are probably going to be very big topics. But at least you know that will not be talking about golf.

In other such situtions I have been in before like that one, you would be amazed some of the other topics. Since some of them appear to be farmers, they will also be discussing commodity markets. They also probably have a lot more money that they appear since in rural Arkansas,you do not have to buy expensive clothes or watches.

[Peter]

The problem is that given the location is southwestern Arkansas, football, NASCAR, and fishing are probably going to be very big topics. But at least you know that will not be talking about golf.

Hmmmm. I probably wouldn't much mind the NASCAR and fishing talk even though I don't have any particular interest in either activity. And the lack of cartball talk would be a relief. Now, having to deal with talk about The Most Important Sport in the World, that admittedly would be tough. I'm really not sure if I'd be up to the task.

In other such situtions I have been in before like that one, you would be amazed some of the other topics. Since some of them appear to be farmers, they will also be discussing commodity markets.

Yeah, from what I've heard, farms can be pretty sophisticated business operations these days.

[superdestroyer]

Peter,

If you can talk about college football, you can probably avoid talking about that Most Important sport. Of if nothing else, just say "Isn't It about time that we fired his stupid ass?" when discussing any coach that has now won a national championship is the last two years.

[superdestroyer]

HS,

It finally occurred to me that a Redneck version of a Bar Mitzvah is when a male gets to actually sit at the big table(like the one in the picture) with the other adult men in the community. You will never find women or children (other than grandchildren under the age of 5) sitting at that main table. Sitting at that table in the coffee shops, cafes, and dinners in small towns signifies being an adult.

I worked at one such place where the men gambled every morning to see who paid for everyone's coffee.

Peter,
Just get into guns and you will be fine.

[RottonPickle]

Do you live in the South, Destroyer? Have you spent significant time down here?

[Bill]

On the linked New York Times page, note story #6 on the right: A Safety-Net Hospital Falls Into Financial Crisis.

Real estate values are mentioned in the discussion. I have a real estate investment theory that has worked wonderfully over the last decade; buy land where the population’s average IQ is going up. The place to buy in the late 1990s-early 2000s were small towns in low-tax states bordering high-tax states. Stable Central American countries are the place now; prices have been doubling every two years. It all boils down to democracies taxing excellence, in my opinion. Democracy, by its definition, is the enemy of excellence (by no means suggesting that I'm excellent).

And that is why I respectfully advise Half Sigma to rent in New York City. That place has a fascinating future.

[braise_allah]

It's nice that the paper shows photos of white people. Where I live, in Northern California, the human interest stories in most newspapers feature pix of persons of color, even in small towns with a white majority.

[superdestroyer]

RottonPickle,

I have several relatives who live in that part of the U.S. and I have several relatives who actually look like the guys sitting around that table. I worked in a small town tv/appliance store where such men were many of the customers. That's when I learned that many of them are more financial secure than there dress would lead on.

I suspect that many more of them would be considered community leaders (church elders, former county commissioners, president of the high school booster club, than would find in larger cities. A larger number of military officers come from such towns because they are used to seeing people being in charge.

[DAJ]

Do not be fooled by the meager appearance of the old men in the NYT photo. I am from a very small Southern town (population 1,000) and distinctly remember the sights of such old white male retirees. They don worn-out jean overalls, gather at diners or fast food chains for breakfast, and drive pickups. Nevertheless, these selfsame men often are comfortably retired, possess many acres of land (gained through years of work and savings or inheritance), and own businesses (seed stores, grain farms, general stores, etc). Plus, in such a small town, such men are regularly senior members of the town's most respected family trees, a sort of generational landed gentry. They are probably living more comfortably and have higher relative status than many young, hip, college-educated Manhattanites.