# If you could get rid of any state... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724 "2017-11-15T21:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ea924/32.png) [@CastletonSnob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/1 "2017-11-15T21:44:05Z")
Which one would it be, and why? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/2 "2017-11-15T21:52:43Z")
Right now, Alabama is really an inviting target… We could do away with Wyoming and turn the whole state into a National Park. That would be kind of fun. The same is true of Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/3 "2017-11-15T21:57:48Z")
[California](https://media.nbcbayarea.com/images/706*367/2012-still.jpg), without a doubt (sorry **Bone** ). ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/4 "2017-11-15T22:12:25Z")
What happens to the people in it? Can we coincide the zapping of Florida with one of those trips to Mar-a-lago? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/5 "2017-11-15T22:16:55Z")
[Mississippi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi). > [@](#): > > Mississippi is ranked low or last among the states in such measures as health, educational attainment, and median household income They are also ranked as the most religious state, which is extremely incongruous given the other stats. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/6 "2017-11-15T22:23:33Z")
I think the South should secede again, and the North should let them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/7 "2017-11-15T22:27:18Z")
The state of grace. Got no use for it! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/8 "2017-11-15T22:40:43Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > They are also ranked as the most religious state, which is extremely incongruous given the other stats. Is it? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/9 "2017-11-15T22:42:57Z")
I’ll vote for Florida, but I’ll keep my reasons to myself. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/10 "2017-11-15T22:49:38Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > [California](https://media.nbcbayarea.com/images/706*367/2012-still.jpg), without a doubt (sorry **Bone** ). What about the other 39,999,999 of us? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/11 "2017-11-15T22:55:14Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > > > [Mississippi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi). > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > Mississippi is ranked low or last among the states in such measures as health, educational attainment, and median household income > > > > They are also ranked as the most religious state, which is extremely incongruous given the other stats. > > Is it? Take Christians (I am most familiar with that religion), who were admonished to care for the sick and ill and poor, and yet believe that people who are relying on government help in those areas are lazy good-for-nothings. IOW, they behave in an un-Christian manner, as evidenced by their governmental policies. I find it hypocritical at best, hence my comment. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/12 "2017-11-15T23:02:10Z")
Since the OP doesn’t state that the state has to be obliterated, I vote that Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations be absorbed into Connecticut, to become Connecticut and Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/13 "2017-11-15T23:03:04Z")
… and The Providence Plantations. I’m kinda with **Chefguy** on this one. If the Southern states want to secede again, I think we should let them. Same thing for SoCal. You may leave, but don’t take anything north of the Monterey County line. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/14 "2017-11-15T23:03:44Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Take Christians (I am most familiar with that religion), who were admonished to care for the sick and ill and poor, and yet believe that people who are relying on government help in those areas are lazy good-for-nothings. IOW, they behave in an un-Christian manner, as evidenced by their governmental policies. I find it hypocritical at best, hence my comment. I believe that **iamthewalrus(:3=** was implying that hypocrisy on these subjects is a common-if-not-dominating attribute of american christians. If so, I agree with him. Holding to the values you describe as ‘christian’ would be difficult for anyone, and the fact that in America christianity is closely associated with social conservatism, which itself is closely associated with republicanism, which is closely associated with sodomizing the poor and the lower middle class with a rusty rake makes expecting christian politics from a christian an extremely optimistic position. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/15 "2017-11-15T23:18:33Z")
Yes, I was thinking that religiosity is correlated with poverty, so the most religious state being the poorest (and worse on other metrics that also correlate with poverty) wasn’t at all surprising to me. The opposite of incongruous. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/16 "2017-11-15T23:24:07Z")
I’d say Maryland. I just don’t like the shape of it. Too confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/17 "2017-11-15T23:35:55Z")
Canada. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/18 "2017-11-15T23:50:03Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I’d say Maryland. I just don’t like the shape of it. Too confusing. Hey!! It’s not our fault the Potomac has such a meandering path! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/19 "2017-11-16T00:10:42Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Hey!! It’s not our fault the Potomac has such a meandering path! 😛 No problem! Just take your western border-line with W. Va. and continue that line due south to the Virginia / North Carolina line and make that your new border. You’ll chop off some of West Virginia, take the eastern two-thirds of Virginia (leaving it as a wee, mountainous rump with Roanoke the new capitol), and presto! Nice simple shape. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/20 "2017-11-16T00:23:15Z")
California. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724.md?page=2)