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Makes me want to cry. Everyone knows that Appalachia has been among the poorest parts of this country, but how many know it's this bad?
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Thinking about the future here and its bleak prospects is not much fun at all, so instead of too much black-minded introspection you have the pills and the dope, the morning beers, the endless scratch-off lotto cards, healing meetings up on the hill, the federally funded ritual of trading cases of food-stamp Pepsi for packs of Kentucky’s Best cigarettes and good old hard currency, tall piles of gas-station nachos, the occasional blast of meth, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, petty crime, the draw, the recreational making and surgical unmaking of teenaged mothers, and death: Life expectancies are short — the typical man here dies well over a decade earlier than does a man in Fairfax County, Va. — and they are getting shorter, women’s life expectancy having declined by nearly 1.1 percent from 1987 to 2007.
The result of bad poverty. The government just eviscerated the coal industry, which means things will likely get worse for people in that region. Billions and billions have been poured into the area, some of which has done some good while most has not. Because of the terrain, large portions are unsuitable for agriculture. And the mountains make it hard to establish any kind of large manufacturing concern, chiefly because there isn't enough flat area and transportation. This is not some new development. It has been this way since, well, forever. That's the dumbest part of this article. The guy used the headline Coming Attractions when, in truth, it has always been this way in this part of the country.
Here's is the thing about this country. If times are difficult in one part, people move. It is the story of this country from its beginnings. People used to move west for opportunity. Now they're moving to places such as Texas and North Carolina and North Dakota. I don't want to sound harsh. But things will never get better in Appalachia, no matter how much money you pour into the region in terms of aid and programs. You might as well spend trillions trying to make the Mojave desert into a lush agricultural breadbasket.
The solution isn't governmental. It's a matter of throwing everything into the back of the family car and driving somewhere else or joining the military or something similar.
I agree about your assessment of Appalachia. It's one of those parts of this nation where resources are such that they do not foster an improved economy.
I'm a great fan of the tv show Justified. It shows a part of this nation unseen in all other tv shows. It gives a honest glimpse of what life is like in this area of the country.
At the same time, it simply leads to another thread dealing with 50 years of the War on Poverty and what has NOT been accomplished.
I agree about your assessment of Appalachia. It's one of those parts of this nation where resources are such that they do not foster an improved economy.
I'm a great fan of the tv show Justified. It shows a part of this nation unseen in all other tv shows. It gives a honest glimpse of what life is like in this area of the country.
At the same time, it simply leads to another thread dealing with 50 years of the War on Poverty and what has NOT been accomplished.
The War On Poverty was just a gigantic failure. As the WSJ pointed out rather well last week, the poverty rate when LBJ began the program was around 15%. Today the rate is around 15%. Twenty trillion spent without making an appreciable dent in the problem. In fact, there are economists who point out that the rate of decline in the poverty rate was quite rapid before the War On Poverty was begun, having dropped 15 full percentage points between 1950 and 1964, from 30% to 15%. Yet that decline suddenly came to a screeching halt, bottoming out to about 13% in 1966 before edging up again. Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidences like that.
That and the Mississippi valley contain 80% of poverty. They get 20% of aid to poverty. 80% goes to urban poverty thru politics of poverty as Bush and Clinton foundation for private giving points out.
That and the Mississippi valley contain 80% of poverty. They get 20% of aid to poverty. 80% goes to urban poverty thru politics of poverty as Bush and Clinton foundation for private giving points out.
True. But all the aid in the world won't erase policy unless there's a societal shift in how inhabitants of that region see work and education.
That house doesn't look too bad compared to some of the others you'll come across on backroads in WV coal country.
As the noted philosopher Sam Kinison once noted, "Move to the food!"
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