Northeast Florida League of the South

Why should we accept the urging of the Florida League of the South to change our buying habits?

For about the last 140 years the South has had a reputation for being a "poor" section of the United States. In a way, it is true but it has not always been so.

Before the War for Southern Independence, 1861- 1865, the South was the richest part of the country and considered the land of plenty. In fact, according to a statement made by Senator Thomas H. Benton in 1828, 33 years before The War, he said, "Under Federal legislation, the exports of the South have been the basis of the Federal revenue. Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia, may be said to defray three fourths, of the annual expense of supporting the federal government, and of this great sum, annually furnished by them, nothing or next to nothing is returned to them, in the shape of Government expenditures.  
You read that correctly. Four Southern states provided the federal government with 75% of its revenue. You can be sure the other seven agrarian states of the former Confederacy contributed most of the balance totaling 100%. Where did all the money go? To Northern cities, of course, to improve their public works, education and raise their standard of living.

What Happened To The Land Of Plenty?

During the War for Southern Independence the federal government of the United States instituted policies of war unheard of in that time. Southern civilians and their means of livelihood and survival were targeted for destruction. Vast areas of croplands were purposefully flooded, fields were burned, livestock butchered and left to rot. Homes, barns and other personal property were burned. What was not destroyed was stolen and carried North or used to supply the army of the U.S. government. The crimes against the Southern people and their property are numerous and fortunately, well documented.

The War Continues 

After the War, the South was reduced from a land of plenty to a land of dependency. What the War had left behind, 13 years of reconstruction finished off.
As an example, it took over half a century before the taxable assets of the state of Georgia surpassed their value of 1860. Some tariffs established against the South during the War were not even lifted until the 1940's during World War II.

The 1960 United States census showed that even 100 years later after The War not a single Southern state appeared in the top fifty percent of per capita income. The 1980 census showed us that the South was still the poorest part of the country with a poverty rate 20% higher than the rest of the nation as a whole. 41% of all Americans living below poverty    level live in the South. All the states with the lowest poverty rates were in the North. The 1990 census showed that the average worker in the South would make 20% - 30% less than a Northern worker for doing the exact same job! According to the Congressional Quarterly, the South is more populous and out-produces every other region of the U.S. but we are forced to do this for less pay than the rest of the nation. Those unfortunate Southerners who find themselves receiving welfare will find their payments to be 47% lower than in other states. 140 years after The War, the South still has not recovered its economic status.

Despite cries from the ignorant that The War was fought over slavery the truth is it was fought for economic, political and cultural independence. That independence has not been won yet.

The Solution 

The solution is simple. We buy Southern! It will take a little thinking though. As we said, The War continues.
Even though the South alone could probably feed most of the world, non-Southern products dominate our supermarkets. A recent walk down the aisle of a supermarket revealed that out of 45 items inspected for state of origin, only 15 of them were produced in the South. If this sample accurately reflects the store's entire contents, that means an average of 66% of your money goes outside the South.

When you buy non-Southern products it cripples and destroys our local businesses paving the way for absentee merchants to fatten their wallets even more and lead our South into greater poverty. It destroys our funding for education, lowers our standard of living and turns our cities into slums. The negative effects are countless. All the while, our hard-earned money goes North and West to improve everywhere but the South.
Because of the current "global economy" and "global transportation" systems, goods from the North, west and all over the world can be shipped to the South and undersell our own products. This intentionally or unintentionally destroys Southern food producers and makes us pawns of those who control the food. Southern patriots should make every effort to buy local, neighborhood products whether it's from the vegetable stand down the road, the dairy outside town or the private gas station on the corner. Support the "little man" wherever he is. By shortening the distance our food and other goods are transported we will benefit local merchants and farmers, and in turn bolster our local economy. In the long run we will return economic power to Dixie and greater health and wealth to her people!

Where Do I Start?

The easiest and most important place to start is a grocery store. The average Southerner makes at least one trip to the grocery store a week. Some go as often as once a day! Food for our families probably accounts for the greatest single expenditure of our funds.

Start reading labels! Where do the products you buy come from; Fitzgerald, Georgia or Beelzebub, New York? Plano, Texas or Canaan Land, New Jersey? Look at your vegetables. Were they picked by illegal third world immigrants in California and trucked 3000 miles to the grocery store or were they grown and harvested by your God-fearing Southern neighbors of your own county, state or region?

Go through your cabinets and start looking at labels. Make a list of Southern products you already use. Make another list of non-Southern products and find a substitute for them. Take this list with you the next time you go shopping and follow it like Dixie depends on it!

You'll be surprised where you've been sending money! You'll learn that Luzianne tea is made in New Orleans, LA while Lipton is made in New Jersey. Panner peanut butter is made by Southerners in St. Louis, Missouri while Jiff  is made in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Don't limit your research to food products, though. Look for household items made in the South such as Diamond aluminum foil out of Richmond, Virginia or Envi personal grooming products from Houston, Texas.

In household appliances Electrolux vacuum cleaners is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia with products manufactured in Bristol, Virginia while Frigidaire and Tappan microwaves are manufactured in Dalton, Georgia.

In sporting goods, Wilson Golf Equipment manufactures clubs, balls and bags in Tennessee while Russel Athletic Wear manufactures clothing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.