the whole joking about and perpetuating the idea of alabama consisting of nothing but rednecks who're so stupid they don't know whether to shit or wind their watch being a deeply classist thing notwithstanding, i would like to remind and/or inform the general public, particularly those who wanna throw the entire state and its people away, that the whole "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" thing wouldn't have happened without those rednecks.
because they're the ones who built saturn v. you know, the rocket that got astronauts to the moon for the first time. alabamains also built explorer I. you know, nasa's very first satellite launched into earth orbit. they also built the lunar rover. and significant portions of the hubble space telescope. and the international space station. and the chandra x-ray observatory. and they're the leader in development for deep space exploration.
nasa is one of the largest employers in the state. and alabama has fourth highest number of aerospace engineers, and the second highest concentration of said engineers in the country.
if you're a fan of nasa and space stuff in general, but write off the state of alabama in its entirety, i am delighted to tell you that the rednecks you believe can't tell their ass from a hole in the ground are the same rednecks giving you the peak into the cosmos that you love so much.