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It's sad that people on this thread can't move beyond a senseless debate of city vs rural. That's not the point.
The issues of city living are well documented. People were not aware that rural areas are now facing many of the same issues, plus decreasing access to jobs and healthcare.
Do we want to discuss how to help those rural areas in need or just waste time arguing over city vs rural?
It's sad that people on this thread can't move beyond a senseless debate of city vs rural. That's not the point.
The issues of city living are well documented. People were not aware that rural areas are now facing many of the same issues, plus decreasing access to jobs and healthcare.
Do we want to discuss how to help those rural areas in need or just waste time arguing over city vs rural?
I really thought the green energy idea an early poster brought up was a good one to bring jobs back to these areas.
I really thought the green energy idea an early poster brought up was a good one to bring jobs back to these areas.
That's so generous of you that you want to decide what jobs will save rural America! Much of rural America does not want to be saved by our cities deciding what we should do with our lives. Does anybody tell you what you should do with your life?
Let the rural people come up with their own rural solutions instead of forcing them to go one way of another. As it is our cities would starve to death if there was no rural America. Perhaps they should give up farming just to watch what happens?
That's so generous of you that you want to decide what jobs will save rural America! Much of rural America does not want to be saved by our cities deciding what we should do with our lives. Does anybody tell you what you should do with your life?
Let the rural people come up with their own rural solutions instead of forcing them to go one way of another. As it is our cities would starve to death if there was no rural America. Perhaps they should give up farming just to watch what happens?
Again as has been explained multi times, we are not speaking about all of rural America. If you’d take your fingers out of your ears, you’d see we are speaking about those towns in those areas that are half dead and have been struggling for decades since the loss of factories and farms and other jobs. These jobs need to be replaced. I work in these areas I see people suffering. I see the alcoholism and the drug use and the lack of hope. Didn’t make a decision. Someone threw out an idea and I said that sounds like a good idea. Meaning let’s explore that idea. Go tell the people of Appalachia that they don’t need any jobs and that you know what’s best for them.
The truth is that the rural poor rely on Medicaid, heating subsidies and food stamps at an alarming rate, their kids are ODing at an alarming rate, and many of us would like to see them have real opportunities for a better life, probably the kind you have in your rural area that IS doing well.
I’m not going to be bullied by a snowflake who is hell bent on feeling offended despite all facts to the contrary, into beleving that I have no right to contribute to solutions where people are suffering in my own state. You’re getting your hackles up out of some sort of sense of being attacked because you live in a rural area, while thousands and thousands and thousands of people who do live in those areas need jobs feel very differently than you do about it.
What a colossal nerve you have, believing that you have the right to speak for all of rural America. You don’t. You don’t have anything constructive to contribute, and only want to pretend to feel attacked so you can lash back.
Again as has been explained multi times, we are not speaking about all of rural America. If you’d take your fingers out of your ears, you’d see we are speaking about those towns in those areas that are half dead and have been struggling for decades since the loss of factories and farms and other jobs. These jobs need to be replaced. I work in these areas I see people suffering. I see the alcoholism and the drug use and the lack of hope. Didn’t make a decision. Someone threw out an idea and I said that sounds like a good idea. Meaning let’s explore that idea. Go tell the people of Appalachia that they don’t need any jobs and that you know what’s best for them.
The truth is that the rural poor rely on Medicaid, heating subsidies and food stamps at an alarming rate, their kids are ODing at an alarming rate, and many of us would like to see them have real opportunities for a better life, probably the kind you have in your rural area that IS doing well.
I’m not going to be bullied by a snowflake who is hell bent on feeling offended despite all facts to the contrary, into beleving that I have no right to contribute to solutions where people are suffering in my own state. You’re getting your hackles up out of some sort of sense of being attacked because you live in a rural area, while thousands and thousands and thousands of people who do live in those areas need jobs feel very differently than you do about it.
What a colossal nerve you have, believing that you have the right to speak for all of rural America. You don’t. You don’t have anything constructive to contribute, and only want to pretend to feel attacked so you can lash back.
I do not speak for rural America; I believe they will come up with their own solutions or they will perish. That's nature. Just like some neighborhoods in the cities; some make it and some don't.
All I have said from the beginning is that the NYT does not have the best intentions for rural America. They will do everything they can to belittle rural or to place themselves on a pedestal. There are hidden politics in any story we read from that source.
I do not speak for rural America; I believe they will come up with their own solutions or they will perish. That's nature. Just like some neighborhoods in the cities; some make it and some don't.
All I have said from the beginning is that the NYT does not have the best intentions for rural America. They will do everything they can to belittle rural or to place themselves on a pedestal. There are hidden politics in any story we read from that source.
Well, we will just have to agree to disagree about that one.
Historically where I am the rural towns were dominated by small farms. Those in the valleys with more productive soil tended to always be more profitable while the hill farms that dominated the mountains here were more or less subsistence farms. These people made a living not so much by making money but by supplying their own needs and not spending money. A very strong barter network existed to get what they couldn't make themselves. The federal government quite explicitly wanted to buyout these farms back during the Depression and make it so these people had to work at jobs as employees. Resistance blocked that then but various factors brought them down later. One is younger people thought they'd have more money working jobs than the old farm. Which was true to a point and especially true in the 50's perhaps but today I'd say it's an illusion of prosperity because incomes don't match the cost of living where the jobs are for most people.
The death blow where I live for many small farms was rising property taxes (a result of state policies created by a legislature dominated by urban areas of the state) combined with the 1980's era policies of the USDA which favored mega farms out west over small family farms in the northeast. Federal policies have kept food prices low to ensure the population has affordable food. That's good on that side but the effect on farmers is they can't make enough money to get by on unless they are large and industrial in character. I've been advocating in my state for the abolition of property taxes for a long time to make things better in the rural areas. The idea seems to be gaining some traction so we'll see. The other side of things is people need to actually support their own communities. The local farmer's market in the town I'm building my house in is pretty dead. Everyone drives 45 minutes away to walmart to buy food and stuff even with plenty of great food being available in their backyards. The commuter/big box culture of relying on outside sources of food and fuel will prevent the local economy from getting back to where it was years ago.
Part of the problem is that corporate America is unwilling to allow people to telecommute.
... but those kinds of jobs are increasingly consolidating in fewer geographic areas.
Which is what would happen your 26mi commute job when they do decide to allow the telecommuting.
Be careful what you ask for.
Those numbers are based on expenditures on military bases, Indian reservations, things like.locks on the Mississippi river, etc....
Here in Montana, we have only 1,000,000 people in entire state, which is 4th largest in nation,..
We have 7 American Indian Reservations, which are controlled by the U.S. Government, with largest larger than the smallest state which the government controls and sends a lot of money to the reservations.
We have a Interstate Highway, which takes a lot of federal money due to the long length in the state, about a days drive through the state.
We have National Parks, and National Forests, that again take a lot of money.
We get on the list as a larger money from government, but it is largely to government expenditures not to the state and people that makes it a huge money grabber over federal taxes paid.
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