Heh. I think that's the core undercurrent of the division- the split in the civil war- but nobody thinks about it consciously anymore. Truly, though, West Virginia and Appalachia remind me of East Germany- the infrastructure sucks, the people are backwards, and unfortunately, the jokes about having a family tree with no branches or marrying and not having your last name change are very true in the boonies.

Now, that's changing, and I think we should recognize that. The northeastern peninsula of WV has become a suburb of DC- but it's not enough. Nobody's been able to help these people in the last hundred years or so. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll change anytime soon.