guess ill go first :P

[Hraesvelg]

I've been to California. You can HAVE it. Never getting a return on a friendly "Hello!" and getting looked at suspiciously for letting an elderly woman (with fewer items) go in front of me in a grocery store then getting nearly mocked for bringing a hostess gift in the form of a bottle of wine...fie on it.

[Spirit]

Is it not wierd how different our cultures are simply based on where we live IN the US? Things in the South are so much different. Not backwards different, just different.

[Manzcar]

Theoretically each state is or groupings of states in the US is the equivalent size of a country in Europe. Taking that into consideration you will have different cultural beliefs, languages, social interactions.

Also considering the OP on this, one would also have to look at the home structure of the individual. I am a firm believer that a child from a two parent home has a better chance than a child from a single parent home. Not a rule but a factor. It is easier to raise a child when there are two active parents guiding the child. It is harder when there is only one parent.

Just a thought.

[Spirit]

Easier, yes.... maybe. It really depends on the situation, the parents involved and the child. There are too many factors that could play a part in determining what is best and what is not.

[Manzcar]

Granted I have seen some amazing single parent moms and dads out there.

Like I said it is not a every single parent child. It is harder on a single parent to work, pay bills, do the shopping, cleaning, teaching, and directing of the child. This is a lot to ask of a single parent.

And when I say single parent I do mean the ones that have little to no support from the other parent. I have seen this in my own family and have taken my beliefs from my own experiences.

[Yosei]

I think it is a bit of both. But then again, I think people should learn how to work it. Make change, adjust. I'll use where the life style begins. High School.

I used to live in a poverish town, I actually went to the nicest High School in town(out of 4). My freshmen class was about 850, my Senior graduating class was 420, and that was the best rate it had been in 5 years, and also, this was the best in the city. That basically means less High Schoolers were graduating in the other schools.

With stereotypes, if you want to have a nice life style and more potential to have a nice future, do not grow up in the city(unless in some cases.. depending on how you were raised).

Urban areas tend to have...
1. Lower class housing
-Increases your chances of living in a not-so-good area
2. More minimum wage jobs available... less higher wage jobs.
-With that... more high school drop outs which means they're less likely to get a nicer job, so adults who should have careers, now have jobs reserved for students.
3. More crime
-getting involved with gangs and getting in trouble with the law=not so good
4. More desperation
-(with lower-class jobs means less money, less money for rent, bills, things you need/want etc) which leads to more theft, drug dealing, etc.
5. Drug problems
-Can lead to a life dealing with drugs... it can lead to felonies which isn't good for record and getting jobs.
-Can lead to life with gangs
-Can lead to a violent life style.(My sister was a crack addict and was almost killed 3 times.. she wasn't raised to be this way)

Ultimately, the cities spend so much money on the people in the city, they do not get the time, nor support(people want help first) to fix it up.

Of course, this is completely avoidable. These are individual choices. But most are convinced they have no chance of rising in society, so they conform with what is around them, and they raise their children to believe so too.

My parents chose to leave. The city isn't always the cheapest place to live. I live in a fairly safe town in a very cheap house.

[Eru]

@Hess
Technically a zip code (mailing code) is a small local area. A full 9—digit zip code is an actual house or building, but the more common 5-digit is, I believe, the most granular ‘area’ in the US.

However, by zip code I guess I just meant the neighborhood and surrounding area in which you grow up. Where your friends live, where you go/went to school, where you shop…basically your local community.
--


To me it seems that everything that has been brought up would at least loosely fall into “environment” especially when contrasted to the alternative in the OP which was race. So it sounds like, while race may be the cause discrimination in some cases most ppl here feel that it is not the norm or causes *significant* societal disadvantage and that it boils down to an individuals choice on what to accept and how to react?