https://aeon.co/essays/capitalism-and-underdevelopment-in-the-american-south
deaths of despair (those from alcohol, drugs or suicide) have skyrocketed, as has substance abuse. Southerners in general are isolated and lonely, and wealth and power are heavily concentrated: there are a few thousand incredibly wealthy families - almost all of them the direct descendants of the Confederacy's wealthiest slaveholders - a smaller-than-average middle class, and masses of poor people, working class or not. The South, with few worker protections, prevents its working-classes from earning a living wage. It's virtually impossible to exist on the meagre income of a single, low-wage, 40-hour-a-week job, especially since the US has not social healthcare benefits.
