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Old 11-18-2013, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Austin
1,774 posts, read 3,775,442 times
Reputation: 800

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wardendresden View Post
My friend, you know that I'm not originally from Kentucky, but lived there 17 years, graduated from Campbellsville, and traveled eastern Ky from Ashland to Pikeville and from Paintsville to Berea as an insurance rep.

Yes you eastern Kentuckians are worth something because of who you are, what's inside of you.

But I believe all of you need to put on new thinking caps when it comes to making your area prosper again. The alternative is to continue to have tons of people living on the dole and cursing the hand that feeds them.

I'm not sure of what it will take, but I know it's not going to happen by us outsiders giving you "i-dears." As a group, you are pretty much self-directed. You are going to have to come together and get some "outside" experts to tell you what other resources are available to you besides coal, and then make a decision to unite politically to push that agenda.

I would like to add that education is still important and even more vital for a depressed area. No industry or service group is much interested in expanding into an area where at best folks only have a high school diploma.

You're all good folks. You're a valuable historical asset as a living tradition to another time in the history of our nation. None of the rest of us will ever have the particular and sometimes peculiar (to us outsiders) traits that come from native eastern Kentuckians. So, yes, there are "outsiders" out here who know who you are and would and will support necessary changes to bring a more prosperous way of life to those who live there.

Unite. Get rid of the politicians that have whispered sweet nothings in your ears for decades without ever bringing about any positive change. Demand better educational facilities (and, yes, pay for them as best you can) and start telling your young people if they want to help your area of the country they need to be smarter, more dedicated, more loyal to their heritage than anyone has ever been before. Let them know they are needed by eastern Kentucky and that the generation of old farts there is counting on them.

Accept the national changes that are removing coal as a primary resource and look around at your beautiful and mystical part of the country. You have a lot to be proud of.

From one old fart to another!
Peace.
Great post.
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Old 11-18-2013, 04:52 PM
 
3,433 posts, read 5,719,256 times
Reputation: 5470
An honest question.................throughout history, people have had to re-train and re-locate to where they could find a job to support their family.

I doubt the iron ore miners wanted to leave beautiful northern Minnesota when the iron ore mining slowed, but many did.

Many farm boys from the rural upper Midwest liked living where they grew up but many realized there was no opportunity to earn a living , so they left.

I am, puzzled why the residents of Eastern KY who are living in extreme poverty and aided by welfare do not consider relocating?

It seems the inner city ghettos and Eastern KY have people who are very poor but refuse to re-locate for a job.

Why is that ?
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Old 11-18-2013, 08:24 PM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,822 posts, read 30,876,901 times
Reputation: 47101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teddy52 View Post
An honest question.................throughout history, people have had to re-train and re-locate to where they could find a job to support their family.

I doubt the iron ore miners wanted to leave beautiful northern Minnesota when the iron ore mining slowed, but many did.

Many farm boys from the rural upper Midwest liked living where they grew up but many realized there was no opportunity to earn a living , so they left.

I am, puzzled why the residents of Eastern KY who are living in extreme poverty and aided by welfare do not consider relocating?

It seems the inner city ghettos and Eastern KY have people who are very poor but refuse to re-locate for a job.

Why is that ?
Many rural people are simply unable to accept that conditions change and the place is no longer viable. I'm trying to get my parents to understand that they need to move to a healthier area in order to retire or they can continue drowning here in east TN. People think that because they've scratched together a living or that their parents were okay, that "things will work out" or "The Lord will provide." It's not always true.

But in their defense, it's not entirely their fault. Many of these areas are cut off from the internet and lack information. It takes money to move and many don't have it. Many have houses to sell and won't have enough proceeds to buy in a better area. Many simply don't have the education to properly research these kinds of things.
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Old 11-18-2013, 09:41 PM
 
Location: Eastern Kentucky Proud
1,054 posts, read 1,857,388 times
Reputation: 1313
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emigrations View Post
Many rural people are simply unable to accept that conditions change and the place is no longer viable. I'm trying to get my parents to understand that they need to move to a healthier area in order to retire or they can continue drowning here in east TN. People think that because they've scratched together a living or that their parents were okay, that "things will work out" or "The Lord will provide." It's not always true.

But in their defense, it's not entirely their fault. Many of these areas are cut off from the internet and lack information. It takes money to move and many don't have it. Many have houses to sell and won't have enough proceeds to buy in a better area. Many simply don't have the education to properly research these kinds of things.
"Cut off from the internet and lack of information" Are you serious? I don't know about East Tennessee but, I'm sure it's somewhat like Eastern Kentucky and, I don't know of anyone that's cut off from the internet. Now, I can believe that some might not want to have anything to do with the internet. But, honestly, I can't think of many just off the top of my head.

My plan was to just reading the comments for a week of so but, I had to interrupt on this one.

Seriously?
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Old 11-19-2013, 03:00 PM
 
Location: Eastern Kentucky Proud
1,054 posts, read 1,857,388 times
Reputation: 1313
Over 800 registered for SOAR summit - hazard-herald.com


Just a little more info...thanks for reading....sounds better everyday huh.
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Old 11-22-2013, 02:27 AM
 
1 posts, read 5,296 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emigrations View Post
There is a kind of "mountain culture" that you see promoted in tourist areas like Pigeon Forge, TN. This is some old time, self-sufficient culture that may have been true a hundred ago. The real "mountain culture" today is one of no economic opportunity, high crime, welfare dependence, drug addiction, out of wedlock births, etc. These remote Appalachian areas are actually remarkably similar to the worst inner city areas in spite of the different voting patterns.

Sure, you might get some hipster in Austin that sees some TV documentary about how life is lived in Appalachia and thinks it's cool. But if they were to go to eastern KY and see the people who have no plumbing, no power, no shopping, no internet access, no cell phone reception, the addiction, the crime, etc, they'd probably run back to Austin quickly.
Eastern KY 2013 homicides

Perry County Ky is at 5. Population: 28,241. Rate of 17.70.

Letcher County KY is at 4. Population 23,952. Rate of 16.70.

Bell County KY is at 3. Population 28,183. Rate of 10.64.

Greenup County Ky is at 3. population: 36,707. Rate of 8.17.

Harlan County Ky is at 3. Population: 28,543 rate of 10.51.

Martin County KY is at 2. Population 12,743. Rate of 15.69.

Boyd County Ky is at 2. Population: 49,164. Rate of 4.07.

Johnson County Ky is at 2. Population: 23,383. Rate of 8.55.

Knott County KY is at 2. Population 16,124. Rate of 12.40.

Laurel county KY Is at 2. Population 59,462. Rate of 3.36.

Floyd County KY is at 2. Population 38,949. Rate of 5.13.

Magoffin County Ky is at 1. Population: 13,041. Rate of 7.67.

Leslie County Ky is at 1. Population: 11,170. Rate of 8.95.

Morgan County Ky Is at 1. Population: 13,668. Rate of 7.32.

Rowan County Ky is at 1. Population: 23,477. Rate of 4.26.

Owsley County Ky is at 1. Population: 4,722. Rate of 21.17.

Montgomery County Ky Is at 1. Population: 26,902. Rate of: 3.72.

Breathitt County KY is at 1. Population 13,635. Rate of 7.33.

Jackson County KY is at 1. Population 13,331. Rate of 7.50.

Clay County KY is at 1. Population 21,556. Rate of 4.64.

Whitley County KY is at 1. Population: 35,499. Rate of 2.82.

Lawrence County KY is at 1. Population 15,848. Rate of 6.31.

Lee county KY is at 1. Population 7,817. Rate of 12.79.

2 homicides in eastern ky prisons.

There's been 4 justified homicides in the region
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Old 12-02-2013, 09:35 AM
 
Location: Eastern Kentucky Proud
1,054 posts, read 1,857,388 times
Reputation: 1313
I like the last two paragraphs, I'm sure you all will too. Looking better for Eastern Kentucky. As you can see this is from the Courier Journal...could it be they are on board or....what?



http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...=2013312010015



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Old 12-02-2013, 10:27 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,822 posts, read 30,876,901 times
Reputation: 47101
Quote:
Originally Posted by hogsrus View Post
"Cut off from the internet and lack of information" Are you serious? I don't know about East Tennessee but, I'm sure it's somewhat like Eastern Kentucky and, I don't know of anyone that's cut off from the internet. Now, I can believe that some might not want to have anything to do with the internet. But, honestly, I can't think of many just off the top of my head.

My plan was to just reading the comments for a week of so but, I had to interrupt on this one.

Seriously?
Maybe "cut off" is too strong of a word, but internet access in many of the rural has to be poor. I'd wager that broadband is almost nonexistent. Cell phone reception is spotty and not good enough to connect a computer to the internet with. You have satellite providers, but those are expensive and nowhere near as good as traditional broadband.
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Old 12-02-2013, 12:11 PM
 
Location: Eastern Kentucky Proud
1,054 posts, read 1,857,388 times
Reputation: 1313
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emigrations View Post
Maybe "cut off" is too strong of a word, but internet access in many of the rural has to be poor. I'd wager that broadband is almost nonexistent. Cell phone reception is spotty and not good enough to connect a computer to the internet with. You have satellite providers, but those are expensive and nowhere near as good as traditional broadband.
Thanks for your input but, with statement's like you have just made without knowing the facts is partially the problem with Eastern Kentucky and the rest of the world and it's perception of Eastern Kentucky.

A little example...I have some relatives that live in Western Kentucky (sorry gman) and we were together awhile back. During one of our conversation's they made mention that ALL of the mountain tops in Eastern Kentucky had been removed and what such a shame it was. They honestly believed that ALL the mountain tops in Eastern Kentucky had been removed. They obviously had not been to Eastern Kentucky, if they had they would have know that just isn't true. Now, some one or some group had to make that statement and without knowing they repeated it, we all know how bad news travels at least when it comes to Eastern Kentucky. Yes, I can pick out some areas that, that is true but, certainly not all of the mountains. In my former life I had the luxury of working on TOP of a lot of the mountains and in most cases you couldn't see a removed mountain top as far as the eye could see. Someone told me awhile back that they had flown over some of these removed Mountains and it was just awful, and again with the right pilot that is true. This same person said they seen a video of the water in Eastern Kentucky actually burning...a video on youtube no doubt and we all know they can't put anything on the internet that ain't true.

I think one of the objectives of the SOAR summit should be to educate the world about Eastern Kentucky...you know the truth. And, again Eastern Kentucky has many problems but, bad news is just more appealing to some people.

Now, listen real carefully...I DO NOT ADVOCATE MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL. Sorry for the cap's but I wanted to make sure everyone heard me.

P.S. My first experience with a computer was back on 1980 in the middle of Eastern Kentucky and it was connected with an old out dated T-1 line.


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Old 12-02-2013, 05:33 PM
 
39 posts, read 123,829 times
Reputation: 105
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emigrations View Post
Maybe "cut off" is too strong of a word, but internet access in many of the rural has to be poor. I'd wager that broadband is almost nonexistent. Cell phone reception is spotty and not good enough to connect a computer to the internet with. You have satellite providers, but those are expensive and nowhere near as good as traditional broadband.
My whole county now has fiber optic cable : )

And my county is very rural and poor.
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