A Country Boy can surmise (2014, house, buying)

[Crazee Cat Lady]

Highly recommended blog by Silas House about living in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains.

A Country Boy Can Surmise: The Matter Is You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About

[capcat]

Great article. Thanks for sharing it.

[hogsrus]

Good read Cat.

I got a good friend that lives down in RockHouse.

Mr. House has some good thoughts about the subject. An eye witness account, I might add, unlike most people that are so eager spew their second, third and even fourth hand information/statistics as truth. I wonder if they make all their decisions based on someone else's "statistics".

I am that smudge also.

That's enough from me, you all know what I think.

I wonder who else will read it? I'll be waiting patiently for their comments.


Thanks again Cat!

[censusdata]

I both agree and disagree.

The main problem in Eastern KY is NOT income or poverty. You can be poor in a low cost rural area and do fine. I know because I and many of my family did. Some people have a lot of money but choose to live a simple life because after a while you understand that happiness comes through contentment, not buying more useless things. The new car smell wears off and then you're no longer happy but in debt.

It's funny how when a Northerner like Thoreau or the guy who runs Burt's Bees products live a simple life the media exalts the virtues or their lifestyle but when a poor Southern hillbilly does the same thing it's proof that they're uncivilized.

I also don't think education is a pressing issue. Many schools in Eastern KY are among the state's best. The problem is people go to college elsewhere and never return. I know a lot of super intelligent people from EKY who don't live there anymore because of the lack of high income jobs.

Where I do believe the problems are not exaggerated are health and gov't dependency. No one makes up the life expectancy statistics, they're recorded each time someone dies. For Eastern KY and parts of West Virginia to have a lower life expectancy than IRAQ should cause us to pause. I have lots of people in my family who died way too young and it still greatly effects me today. My dad died at age 42 and my mom died at age 54, the later due to being fatally misdiagnosed at a podunk rural hospital. Older people are who the young lean on and get life advice from. When most people in a region die a decade early you start to loose critical life lessons. It's sad because I know from my family tree that Appalachian people once lived into their 80s despite no hospitals.

The other problem not exaggerated is gov't dependency. In many counties nearly HALF of income is welfare (SS disability, food stamps, etc). I totally believe in gov't helping people who are truly disabled or people in a tough spot. But I've also seen how people capable of working are drained of any life purpose and instead sink into a welfare induced depression when they know they don't have to work. Work gives people, especially men, a sense of well being.

[EricOldTime]

Great blog and I enjoyed the read..

well spoken census by the way