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So.. according to your first post... what you want is for some entity to come in.. clear trees (at whose expense?) and purchase satellite internet for those people?
Dang.. and I could have maybe done the same? And not be paying for my internet access?
No. And I never indicated anything remotely like that either. Our county is investigating means of providing lower-cost broadband access via cellphone tower attachments (I am not a technological person, so that may not be an accurate description) to the parts of the county that currently don't have Internet access.
Satellite internet is simply too expensive for a lot of residents, like those who come to the library to use the computers Our county still has some residents who don't even have indoor plumbing.
And no, I don't expect anyone to clear those residents' trees. However, they can't afford it either.
Oh for crying out loud. Stop arguing about what kinds of internet are available where. I am sorry I ever even mentioned the flipping internet. You all understand my point perfectly well, which is that with the massive carpet bombing of the whole US with TV, internet, etc., people who live in the country are just as aware of what's going on culturally in this nation as people who live in the city.
As I said above, the image of the country dweller as an ignorant rube who has no idea what's going on in the wider world has been largely obsolete for more than 50 years now.
But there are vast areas of the country, where you cannot get cellular phone service. Where it can be 50 and even 100 miles between towns. Especially small towns can be 50 miles to a small city of any size. We are 50 miles from a city of any size, and 95 miles or so another direction. However we do have cell phone service, and cable and broadband internet.
And there are a lot of small town areas in the country, where people have decent well paying jobs, and earn a good living. Everything is not like the OP tries to make it sound so terrible.
Here McDonald's pays $14 an hour. House cleaners/house keepers get $15 to $20 an hour. Median home price is $325,000.
Our free and clear half a million dollar home located across the street from best part of the city on 5 acres has a terrible high property tax, at $2,100. The same home back where we raised our family (Silicon Valley) would be between $3 million and $4 million and we could not afford it. It is a 3,700 sq. ft. custom built 4 level (not 4 story) contemporary home with soaring window wall 25 foot ceiling in the living room area. And fantastic views of the Rocky Mountains 96 miles away. Yes we can see them clearly 96 miles away.
There are many areas like ours, where people prosper well in small towns, and all is not doom and gloom like the OP pictures small towns.
I'm only about 5 or 6 miles from the nearest cell tower, but there are a few million tons of basalt between me and it. I'm working on installing a signal booster with a directional antenna aimed at a mountain with no tower, but enough signal reflects off of it to move the meter. If all you have is a cell phone, you won't get a signal within 3 miles from my house.
I want to thank all those who chimed back about the gas price I stated earlier and that someone said I was lying about as well as lying about the other stuff. I started to think maybe my memory was much worse than it is. If I had used the names of the people in my true stories people there would know who I was talking about and it's a small world now.
Now I live in a different small town in a different state but remember the lessons learned. NEVER speak ill of any one because there is probably a relative of that person nearby, or an ex. I will always be an outsider here no matter how many years here.
Small town people have long memories, back several generations.
I don't think small town people are naive but at the same time they have not experienced as many different kinds of people as those from large cities, they have not encountered completely different viewpoints from theirs that they were required to adjust to and not just dismiss. That's not naivete, it's inexperience.
Maybe not "naïve" but, rather, tend to believe what they are told that big cities are bad, scary, full of crime etc.
I live in the most criminal, most sexually diseased state with one of the worst education levels, in a town with the worst air pollution level in the US. And you know what? Many people think it's the best place in the world. Huh? How? Many kids by the end of HS have never been farther from home than to a fishing trip. Far from all adults went to see other states or the state capital. Are they entitled to their opinions? Yes. Do their opinions matter, for, let's say, research purposes? No because only people who can compare can form real opinions. Those who can't, form emotions which they present as opinions. There's nothing wrong with that, one just need to know the credentials. I's rather believe misskansas' opinion - she goes round, sees things, weights them, compares people and places, builds up her experience, - that a person who kicks the same dirt his grandfather was kicking. Not because kicking that same dirt is wrong, it's actually can be great, but because it's very different from average - more or less mobile - life experience.
As for making something of one's self, I can't think of a better place to do it. Small towns are where people can the most diverse. There's always a community of non-specialists looking to come together and get something accomplished. You're definitely more than your job there.
My job doesn't exist where I came from. They don't need it. The reality is that my job exists because big companies have failures that can only be hidden in big companies. That's just me though. Lots of my relatives have gone on to do quite well in small towns...even financially.
The OP should learn that in small towns, the wealthy, for whatever reason, don't all feel the need for conspicuous consumption that are prerequisites in other areas. What's 1,000 acres priced at $10,000 each worth again anyway??
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