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Vance comes from the perspective of the over 1 million people who left rural Kentucky after WW2 and resettled in more affluent areas, though they brought much of their baggage and positive elements of their Appalachian culture with them. I related to his book more than any I've ever read because we are about the same age, came from incredibly dysfunctional families, and both have parents from the poorest parts of rural Kentucky but spent our childhoods mostly elsewhere. Usually people from the rich parts of Kentucky are shocked when I tell them of how my parents grew up - one without electricity or indoor plumbing - or how far out of state they moved for work. Much of my family moved to Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, and even Sacramento CA. About half stayed. It's not things the board of tourism likes to advertise but the reality is that once you get a bit south of I-64 or east of Lexington you are leaving the 1st World and entering 3rd World America. Life expectancy declines by 10 to 15 years, rates of obesity, abuse rates of children and animals, and divorce go up exponentially. It's a cycle that's hard to overcome when the smartest and hardest working of your people move elsewhere once they graduate high school. I know many highly educated people from Eastern KY... and not a single one still lives there.
Hey mr data...I see you still have that chip on your shoulder. But what I can't figure out is, what do you hope to accomplish by enticing someone to knock it off?
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