Appalachia: Are there solutions?

[9thIDdoc]

Seems to me that rednecks are-on average-much happier with who and what they are and where and how they live than any yuppie ever thought about.

 

[editec]

There is NO solution to the economic problems in Appalachia.

Appalachia has little to offer the world.

NOT even fracking will help.

Why?

Because fracking doesn't create many jobs.

 

[natstew]

Here's a good article about coal and Appalachia. Note the names of the robber barons who took advantage of the original inhabitants of the land and became filthy rich from it, Rockfellers, Delanos, and Roosevelts. Their offspring are the biggest Liberals in America today while still living off the largess they stole from the people who are now the poorest in America.
This is where I break from most Conservatives. I see Appalachia as an example of the corruption that ruled America after the North won the War for State's Rights. How did these 'Robber Barons' get possession of the land? First you buy a politician or two, just enough to raise taxes beyond the reach of the people who were farming the land. Same way my people lost thousands of acres in the South during the mislabeled, 'Reconstruction" era. most of my people were not slave owners, but that did not matter to the corrupt politicians.

And in advance: Eff you who are about to say that we brought it on ourselves, that's a lie to justify the rape and pillage of so called, "Reconstruction".
If "eff" is to crude for the "clean Debate Zone", I'll apologize.

Oh, almost forgot the article: http://www.ecooutpost.org/1/post/2013/11/coal-and-appalachia.html

 

[natstew]

Solutions? Hell yes!

Take everything the Rockefeller's, Delano's, and Roosevelt's heirs have, throw them out on the street, and give their wealth to the offspring of the original owners of the land above the coal.

JUST EFFING DO IT!!

 

[gnarlylove]

Seems to me that rednecks are-on average-much happier with who and what they are and where and how they live than any yuppie ever thought about.

This seems true on the surface but entering the world of appalachia reveals a completely different story! Poverty is the fundamental continuity of rednecks and we all know it stems from policy. Beyond that, we don't think about it as we press a button to start our 4-wheelers and get beer to forget the shitty life.

 

[gnarlylove]

Appalachia has little to offer the world.

Because fracking doesn't create many jobs.

Your comment is unmeaning and hollow. Maybe it's easily pardoned because you don't know what your saying. But to think millions of people have nothing to offer is just not thinking. People are the whole drive behind economic activity and economic activity does not always have to involve resource extraction! People can value activity of a different sort like that of community building and offering opportunities that people are grateful to have. Of course this implies a fundamental change in the meaning of profit (for some reason it's suppose to be the only incentive of life) but such an overhaul is essential for meaningful advancement.

For you to say a blatantly untrue blanket statement shows to me that you've never been to Appalachia. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you just werent thinking when you typed your reply. But if you stand by your allegation, then you are swiftly condemning the pristine wildlife, long stretches of rural land, a beauty that is my sanctuary not to mention those who live here. Without these vast sanctuaries I'd be more sympathetic to your denunciation, but as it stands, you are way off base.

As for your other comment, you are correct. Fracking is not a significant source of jobs, even given its national and international markets. It mostly pools money at the top. But we are pursuing it fast enough to cause Earth quakes in Ohio.

 

[strollingbones]

that is another problem....yall act like all of the area is alike...we have no fracking....no coal.....mountain top removal is an issue everywhere but not for coal....

yes the robber barons raped the western parts of the state for their resources....as did they did everyone...and today they are 'celebrated' cone manor on the parkway...biltmore house...etc and so forth...

the resources are what they have always been.....mostly illegal.....more smoke than shine now...and the fact that people will either give in and leave....or buck up and stay...those who stay are willing to put up with a lot ....as long as we are given our privacy and human rights....

now i am riding a polaris exp 425....what you riding.....

 

[editec]

Appalachia has little to offer the world.

Because fracking doesn't create many jobs.

Your comment is unmeaning and hollow. Maybe it's easily pardoned because you don't know what your saying. But to think millions of people have nothing to offer is just not thinking. People are the whole drive behind economic activity and economic activity does not always have to involve resource extraction! People can value activity of a different sort like that of community building and offering opportunities that people are grateful to have. Of course this implies a fundamental change in the meaning of profit (for some reason it's suppose to be the only incentive of life) but such an overhaul is essential for meaningful advancement.

For you to say a blatantly untrue blanket statement shows to me that you've never been to Appalachia. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you just werent thinking when you typed your reply. But if you stand by your allegation, then you are swiftly condemning the pristine wildlife, long stretches of rural land, a beauty that is my sanctuary not to mention those who live here. Without these vast sanctuaries I'd be more sympathetic to your denunciation, but as it stands, you are way off base.

As for your other comment, you are correct. Fracking is not a significant source of jobs, even given its national and international markets. It mostly pools money at the top. But we are pursuing it fast enough to cause Earth quakes in Ohio.

You take umbrage because you love pristine wildlife, long stretches of rural land, a beauty that is my sanctuary.


I can understand that living as I do in rural Maine. (which is, my friend ALSO part of Appalatia...and one without COAL, I might add.


But the question before us was an ECONOMIC question, Gnarely..it was about "POVERTY"


The lack of economic capital or easily convertible natural resources is the same in Southern and Mid Atlantic Appalachia as it is in Appalachia Maine.

WE cannot EAT the scenery​

 

[gnarlylove]

Actually you can eat the scenery--it's called Earth. You must have little clue as to the volume of food stuffs, corn, soy, etc that is produced from this fertile region. You have it entirely backward.

When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
--Cree Prophecy

You need to realize Economics is a game to justify impoverishing the masses. Economics has almost no bearing on reality when it's foundational assumptions present us with a world where air, water and biodiversity are external to human survival. And yet you act like economics is essential to humanity while the Earth or "scenery" is not. How inane.

 

[Shrimpbox]

I have been wanting to comment on this thread not to take sides but to just report my experiences. Living in fl we would long to go to the mountains, I am now talking about a fifty year time period. The smokies and the Cherokee reservation were always our final destination. So we have been through all the towns like Gainesville, Franklin, Dilliard, sylva, and many more.early on the roads were two lane winding, and narrow. My wife's parents liked the sylva area so much they bought land and built a modest house, a house that was built by a local who had made a success of his construction business. Many locals became wealthy selling land for development and many jobs were created by tourism, the national park( the smokies are the most visited park in the country) new construction, and the expansion of public services. Schools were built and the concern that mountain culture was disappearing lead to the creation of the nationally famous Foxfire series. Just five or ten years ago we were finally able to leave Atlanta and ride a four lane highway all the way to the reservation, which has sadly built a casino which has brought in enough cash for the Indians to build a new school, revitalize the Cherokee language, and provide many social benefits to the native Americans who truly did live in squalor forty years ago. You can still drive around and find rid down trailers or even shacks but you could not call the area poor, and I would suggest the future looks promising especially if the economy really takes off. All I am pointing out here is that this area of Appalachia has been transformed and is not hurting and offers a good example of how to take advantage of your assets.

It seems if you transpose the map of poor counties over Appalachia it seems that other than eastern Kentucky Appalachia is better off than many parts of the Deep South. My family is forever grateful for the beauty of the mountains and the peace they offer. Shout out to the mile high campground, the blue ridge parkway, and the reintroduction of elk into the park.