What I know of country boys is from my ex-fiance, who grew up on a dairy farm, and the people I met through him.
They know the value of a hard day's labour.
They're always willing to help a friend. (Like helping take in a neighbour's crop.)
They're more about cooperation than competition. (see above)
They know how to fix just about anything. (You might simply buy a new iPod, not so a tractor)
They're courteous. (Their mom knew everybody else's mom, they knew they weren't getting away with shit)
They are physically strong. (lifting hay bales will do that)
They have personal fortitude. (farming is not an easy life)
They're good problem solvers. (we can dance around with concepts 'til the cows come home, but if there is something that needs to be done they can see what it is and how to do it)
They possess hidden wisdom. (do you know what to do when a cow's tail comes up?)
Possible drawbacks, again, just from my own experience.
Beer and an obsession with cars.
I've spent my entire life in Alabama (born and raised) so I guess you can say that I am a "country boy", and honestly, this list is full of lies and misconceptions.
1.) No, "they" ("they" being associated with the stereotypical "country boy") know the value of a hard physical-day's labor. They don't really see value of mental work, and it is undeniably reflected in the local school systems.
2.) They are willing to help other like-minded "country boys". They are extremely intolerant of "different" people.
3.) Hah, thats a laugh. I've never seen a more rowdy group than a gathering of "country boys", and competition is all they know half of the time.
4.) They know how to fix anything involving cars and motors, and thats not exactly an exclusive trait to southern men. A lot of guys know how to do that - myself included.
5.) They're courteous to those they accept as their own. Again, they are extremely intolerant of people who aren't like them.
6.) A lot of guys are. There are a lot of physically straining jobs out their, farm work isn't the only one.
7.) Not really. Rampant insecurity plagues the masses with impunity 'round here.
8.) No they aren't. I can't tell you how many people dropped out of high school when I was growing up, and how many more didn't go to college. Now, I know you probably are referencing general problems, but even then its not like that is a trait exclusive to southerners.
9.) What hidden wisdom? The only wisdom I ever see on a day to day basis, even reading between the lines of their poorly written "scripts", involves their "hidden" refrains and empty ideologies of isolation.
I may make this sound a bit generalized or even stereotypical, but no more than the rest of this thread already has. Southerners are very closed minded, and extremely intolerant. I remember back in high school I used to hang out with this kid named Jamie. He was really cool, but he was bisexual. He was not very open about it, but word got out. Well, we both got the shit kicked out of us, him for being bi and me for associating with him. Thats not all though, I had many more occurrences like this. Religious fanaticism is pretty abundant down here as well, not to mention a mind-boggling amount of hypocrisy relating to said religion affiliations. Being an atheist in the country is just as hard as being gay, if not worse at times. Then, of course, seeing all the Bush supporters almost made me want to kill myself...
You over glorify the south and over generalize it too. Sure, I may have countered with the same stereotyping method, but for a damn good reason.