Louisiana

Why would the author go to Louisiana when there are numerous "red states" to choose from? It is, she writes, an "extreme example of this paradox" (9). it ranks near the bottom of the country in most of the Social Science Research Council's human development indices, including "life expectancy, school enrollment, educational degree attainment, and median personal earnings" (9). It ranks lower than all states other than Mississippi in child well-being, and consistently near the bottom in life expectancy. But the primary reason is probably the obvious pride people take in the state's natural environment, such as its natural wetlands and the swamps many of them have grown up around and made use of, while at the same time not reflecting that pride in the voting booth. Ironically, because of America's version of conservative politics, Louisiana's way of life is gradually coming undone.

Bayou d'Inde

Located in Calcasieu Parish...