Here's another list -

Highest poverty rate?

Lowest literacy rate?

Last in opportunity?

8th worst in public safety?

If you guessed California, you'd be right.

Sweeping generalities and handpicked metrics do not tell an entire story.

I think in terms of natural beauty, it's definitely in the upper half. Specifically Ouachita National Forest in my opinion.

Our unofficial state motto is "Thank God for Mississippi!"

If not for them, we'd be at the bottom of most of those lists. No one pays attention to the second-worst :)

People vote in good faith, I presume. Sometimes a comment’s factual basis matters less than its overall contribution to a productive and open discussion. Downvotes in this case are an example of HN’s surprisingly effective system for self-moderation working as it should. It isn’t vile enough to censor, but it also isn’t what a lot of readers come here for. It didn’t personally offend me (I didn’t vote either way), but I take occasional downvoting that I don’t fully agree with in stride, as the overall system seems to work better than most.

> But it is rude to point that out.

No, that is not rude at all. Making a flippant derogatory remark gets downvotes, people like to see numbers. Like the ones you just gave...