On the Facebook meme about people who say "I seen" instead of "I saw"

I say this about every six months. Whoever told us that Appalachians are the last culture it's okay to mock and ridicule was wrong. I wish people who can't go a day without criticizing someone else's way of life would write science fiction about dumb stupid people on a fictional planet.  At least they'd know something about the people they feel contempt for.

In particular, if non-Standard English really bothers you that much, maybe you should stay inside your house and read "good" books. Most people don't speak Standard English. S.E. is good for journalism and academic papers.

I think the recent meme about the wrongness of saying "I seen" comes from fear that the world is getting dumber and dumber. But I don't think it is. I think the difference is that the "dumb" people don't feel like they have to aspire to be middle class any more.

I've seen "Idiocracy" two or three times, and I love it. I don't want the Tea Party to put anti-science curriculums into school. I graduated from a state university and it was good for me.

 But here's the thing. When I am in a group where people think it's okay to say what they really think about "uneducated" people, they check out the room and decide everyone seems smart so it's safe. They don't realize I grew up in a factory town where everyone brought mountain culture with them. And maybe if they do suspect that, they are sure I am going to throw my own people under the bus in order to approved by people whose parents went to college.

I see what's wrong with the culture on my mother's side of the family. But I also see two things that are right about it, and both of those things I don't see in general culture that much:

1. Appalachian people are highly tolerant. You can be just as crazy as can be, or act that way, and people assume God made you like that for some special purpose only God understands. So they are not quick to find fault.

2. Appalachian people, in my family anyway, don't opine on subjects, people, and places they know nothing about that. It is not shameful to say you aren't familiar with something, and in fact, it's considered good judgement to withhold your thoughts unless you are informed.

So people outside the culture who start in with all kinds of assumptions about people who say "I seen" instead of "I saw" have lost their point with me before they've started. Maybe instead of posting mean-spirited memes, they could Google the "Foxfire" series and learn something.