Small Town Rural America Has Been Screwed

[Dana7360]

Right wingers come out in hives when you mention higher wages. Higher wages are communism because they reduce the profits that their masters make. Its the big right wing con.

Well except for higher pay for the overhead (CEO, etc).

I have never understood that.

These people are living in poverty while the ceos, executives and stockholders are being paid millions of dollars a year.

They want to keep living in such horrible circumstances.

I don't get it. Why would anyone want to work hard all their lives to make someone else filthy rich while at the same time fight to keep yourself living in poverty.

It doesn't make sense to me.

 

[colfax_m]

It happened because of President William Jefferson Clinton's 300+ "great" trade deals that absolutely destroyed small manufacturing in America.

How did those trade deals destroy small manufacturing in America?

 

[Blues Man]

I've been on a road trip that I've wanted to do for a very long time.

I drove east to Illinois then am driving southwest to the Pacific Ocean on what's left of Route 66.

That road, or what's left of it, goes through small town rural America.

I've gone through ghost town after ghost town. The towns that aren't abandoned are so deeply depressed it's painful and shameful to see.

Small town rural America has been totally screwed and abandoned by both our government and our citizens.

I understand now why so many republicans are so angry. I don't understand why they can't see why they have been screwed so badly and by whom.

Most of the states and all of the towns are controlled by republicans. People keep voting for them because of social issues like gay marriage and because they don't make much money and wrongly seem to believe that tax cuts are the answer to their financial problems.

Tax cuts have only totally screwed small town rural America. Their roads are so bad. I mean so bad that there were times the rough road and wind has my car literally bouncing down the road. When was the last time their roads were paved? The poverty is just terrible.

This is the result of keeping wages low, no regulation on business and trillions in tax cuts for the rich and big business.

Capitalism is making it worse because there's no money to be made in those areas so they are abandoned by business which results in more depressed economic conditions.

Raising wages will help these people a lot. Not just by increasing their own pay but by increased business from others being paid more. No little tax cut that is temporary will be a solution to such poverty. Higher wages will.

Better education will help a lot. So people don't have to take low wage jobs that require public assistance to be able to survive.

Small town rural America needs to stop electing politicians who don't give a damn about them and won't invest in the people and the areas they live in.

I was in one place that the water coming out of the faucet was a light brown and cloudy. I didn't wash my hands, I used hand sanitizer instead.

I have gone through countless towns that are totally abandoned. I've gone through farming areas that there aren't houses on the land. Just farming. People don't live in those areas anymore so the towns are turning into ghost towns.

The air in Oklahoma and Texas was so polluted it has caused a sinus infection. And people live in those areas. I can only imagine the health problems of the people in those areas but they don't have any hospital or medical facilities to go to. They have to travel hundreds of miles to get medical help.

Younger people who weren't alive before Reagan think this is normal.

It's not.

America wasn't like this before the conservatives convinced Americans that taxes, regulations, worker protections, a livable wage and investing in our nation was a horrible thing.

I totally understand now why so many in small town rural America voted for trump. He was the first republican who actually vocalized the problems the Republican Party was creating.

Only he either went about fixing the problem wrong or just didn't do anything. Which is what he mostly did. Nothing. In fact, things got worse for small town rural America.

I don't know what the solution is to help these people see that voting for republicans got them in this mess and won't get them out of it.

But I finally saw for myself the reasons why republicans voted for trump.

So you just drove through and you had time to find out the political leanings of every person in every town huh?

That is such a stupid comment.

All I have to do is look at who they elect.

Guess what?

Democrats or moderates don't vote for republicans.

If the mayor, city counsel, the representation in their state congress and congress in DC are republican, the majority of the people in that area are republicans.

While the cities are in good shape compared to the rural areas, they are still sub par compared to the area I live in but the cities in the red states are much better off than the small towns in the rural areas.

You don't realize they are taking your tax dollars and spending it on the cities while leaving the rural areas to fall apart.

The state I live in doesn't have conditions like this. We don't have ghost towns. You can drive through rural areas of my state and find small towns that while aren't as well off as the cities, they aren't dying.

You people need to get out of your areas and experience what's happening in the cities and other states.

Yes, I haven't spent much time in red states anymore so I was very shocked to see what has happened to small town rural America in red states.

The change is very dramatic and I find it shameful. It shouldn't be happening.

And how do you know who voted for who in each rural town you spent all of a few minutes driving through?

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Let's see here - democrats shut down their businesses, and so communism is the only thing that can save them. Got it.

It appears that some people did not get their retardation check up this morning.

 

[colfax_m]

Let's see here - democrats shut down their businesses, and so communism is the only thing that can save them. Got it.

It appears that some people did not get their retardation check up this morning.

Death of small towns has been going on for decades. What could help is better infrastructure, specifically high speed internet so that remote workers can enjoy the small towns if they want and still work in larger high tech industries.

There’s a huge opportunity here, but it won’t be easy.

 

[22lcidw]

I don't know what the solution is to help these people see that voting for republicans got them in this mess and won't get them out of it.

But I finally saw for myself the reasons why republicans voted for trump.

It's very simple, and Trump and the Republicans have it right. It just takes time for the policies we want to take affect.

High taxes and global warming policies have pushed rural America's jobs over seas. The only thing that will bring those jobs back is a competitive tax rate on corporations.

The Democrat's "spread the wealth" agenda is what you see on your trip. The only problem is America is not part of where they WANT to spread the wealth to.

Jobs have been leaving since the 70's. Long before any "global warming policies" and Reagan cut taxes and the jobs still left.

Big ticket unions in our nation became to greedy. After WW 2 they held the nation hostage in their contracts. Auto and Steel Industries are nothing what they were. We ended up bringing in more and more autos and steel from overseas. Employees after WW 2 from the big companies got paid well and may have even saw a couple hundred thousand dollars with their pensions also when they retired. We could not compete in many industries and they slowly closed down. And then the retirees even left the areas they lived in. Which turned formerly incredibly rich areas into massive ghettos. So when Michael Moore blames the CEO's of the Auto companies, he should also look at the employees. For the blame goes in all directions. A GM vehicles starts with 3000 dollars of the price to be given to retirees. Its hard to compete with that. I wondered why they stuck with the same engines and transmissions for many years why the foreign competition may have had a few generations of advancements with the same. And then the dealers. They treated the customers like shit. They still do. But at least the reliability of the foreign vehicles is a lot better.

 

[MarcATL]

I've been on a road trip that I've wanted to do for a very long time.

I drove east to Illinois then am driving southwest to the Pacific Ocean on what's left of Route 66.

That road, or what's left of it, goes through small town rural America.

I've gone through ghost town after ghost town. The towns that aren't abandoned are so deeply depressed it's painful and shameful to see.

Small town rural America has been totally screwed and abandoned by both our government and our citizens.

I understand now why so many republicans are so angry. I don't understand why they can't see why they have been screwed so badly and by whom.

Most of the states and all of the towns are controlled by republicans. People keep voting for them because of social issues like gay marriage and because they don't make much money and wrongly seem to believe that tax cuts are the answer to their financial problems.

Tax cuts have only totally screwed small town rural America. Their roads are so bad. I mean so bad that there were times the rough road and wind has my car literally bouncing down the road. When was the last time their roads were paved? The poverty is just terrible.

This is the result of keeping wages low, no regulation on business and trillions in tax cuts for the rich and big business.

Capitalism is making it worse because there's no money to be made in those areas so they are abandoned by business which results in more depressed economic conditions.

Raising wages will help these people a lot. Not just by increasing their own pay but by increased business from others being paid more. No little tax cut that is temporary will be a solution to such poverty. Higher wages will.

Better education will help a lot. So people don't have to take low wage jobs that require public assistance to be able to survive.

Small town rural America needs to stop electing politicians who don't give a damn about them and won't invest in the people and the areas they live in.

I was in one place that the water coming out of the faucet was a light brown and cloudy. I didn't wash my hands, I used hand sanitizer instead.

I have gone through countless towns that are totally abandoned. I've gone through farming areas that there aren't houses on the land. Just farming. People don't live in those areas anymore so the towns are turning into ghost towns.

The air in Oklahoma and Texas was so polluted it has caused a sinus infection. And people live in those areas. I can only imagine the health problems of the people in those areas but they don't have any hospital or medical facilities to go to. They have to travel hundreds of miles to get medical help.

Younger people who weren't alive before Reagan think this is normal.

It's not.

America wasn't like this before the conservatives convinced Americans that taxes, regulations, worker protections, a livable wage and investing in our nation was a horrible thing.

I totally understand now why so many in small town rural America voted for trump. He was the first republican who actually vocalized the problems the Republican Party was creating.

Only he either went about fixing the problem wrong or just didn't do anything. Which is what he mostly did. Nothing. In fact, things got worse for small town rural America.

I don't know what the solution is to help these people see that voting for republicans got them in this mess and won't get them out of it.

But I finally saw for myself the reasons why republicans voted for trump.

It's the racism.

Too many white American voters will vote against their own self-interest if they perceive that that they're voting against will benefit black Americans in the least. Even if it benefits them more.

Racism is at the root of all problems in America.

It has to be abolished, if we are to succeed as a Western country.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

If liberals and or Dimocrats truly cared about rural America, they would stop trying to end the electoral college.

 

[pknopp]

I don't know what the solution is to help these people see that voting for republicans got them in this mess and won't get them out of it.

But I finally saw for myself the reasons why republicans voted for trump.

It's very simple, and Trump and the Republicans have it right. It just takes time for the policies we want to take affect.

High taxes and global warming policies have pushed rural America's jobs over seas. The only thing that will bring those jobs back is a competitive tax rate on corporations.

The Democrat's "spread the wealth" agenda is what you see on your trip. The only problem is America is not part of where they WANT to spread the wealth to.

Jobs have been leaving since the 70's. Long before any "global warming policies" and Reagan cut taxes and the jobs still left.

Big ticket unions in our nation became to greedy. After WW 2 they held the nation hostage in their contracts. Auto and Steel Industries are nothing what they were. We ended up bringing in more and more autos and steel from overseas. Employees after WW 2 from the big companies got paid well and may have even saw a couple hundred thousand dollars with their pensions also when they retired. We could not compete in many industries and they slowly closed down. And then the retirees even left the areas they lived in. Which turned formerly incredibly rich areas into massive ghettos. So when Michael Moore blames the CEO's of the Auto companies, he should also look at the employees. For the blame goes in all directions. A GM vehicles starts with 3000 dollars of the price to be given to retirees. Its hard to compete with that. I wondered why they stuck with the same engines and transmissions for many years why the foreign competition may have had a few generations of advancements with the same. And then the dealers. They treated the customers like shit. They still do. But at least the reliability of the foreign vehicles is a lot better.

It's a pretty sucky system where people work 30 plus years and be able to retire and have something to show for that labor isn't it?

 

[Dana7360]

Let's see here - democrats shut down their businesses, and so communism is the only thing that can save them. Got it.

It appears that some people did not get their retardation check up this morning.

Death of small towns has been going on for decades. What could help is better infrastructure, specifically high speed internet so that remote workers can enjoy the small towns if they want and still work in larger high tech industries.

There’s a huge opportunity here, but it won’t be easy.

It's been going on since the reagan years.

Not all small towns in my state but most of them do have that high speed internet so people can work from home.

A good friend of mine lives in a small town over on the peninsula which requires a ferry to get to work if you work on the other side of the water. So not many people lived out there, businesses had no encouragement to develop in that area.

Then Comcast did invest in the area. Houses there have changed from not selling to now selling as fast as they do in the city. Malls have been built, business has invested.

Because the infrastructure exists for business to make money. Those areas are growing, not dying.

That isn't happening in rural small towns in red states.

 

[Dekster]

It happened because of President William Jefferson Clinton's 300+ "great" trade deals that absolutely destroyed small manufacturing in America.

How did those trade deals destroy small manufacturing in America?

NAFTA’s Impact on U.S. Workers

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NATFA) was the door through which American workers were shoved into the neoliberal global labor market. By establishing the principle that U.S. corporations could relocate production elsewhere and sell back into the United States, NAFTA undercut the...

www.epi.org

 

[Gdjjr]

Then Comcast did invest in the area. Houses there have changed from not selling to now selling as fast as they do in the city. Malls have been built, business has invested.

Because the infrastructure exists for business to make money. Those areas are growing, not dying.

Private enterprise- which pays it's CEO handsomely- Comcast- not the fed gov't?
Who held a gun to their heads and forced them to invest in something not there? Investors. Stock holders- retirement acct's with large (and small) equities and returns-

 

[colfax_m]

It happened because of President William Jefferson Clinton's 300+ "great" trade deals that absolutely destroyed small manufacturing in America.

How did those trade deals destroy small manufacturing in America?

NAFTA’s Impact on U.S. Workers

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NATFA) was the door through which American workers were shoved into the neoliberal global labor market. By establishing the principle that U.S. corporations could relocate production elsewhere and sell back into the United States, NAFTA undercut the...

www.epi.org

So the corporations are the ones that shipped jobs overseas, no?

Seems like the capitalism is biting y’all in the ass.

 

[InspectorDetector]

I've been on a road trip that I've wanted to do for a very long time.

I drove east to Illinois then am driving southwest to the Pacific Ocean on what's left of Route 66.

That road, or what's left of it, goes through small town rural America.

I've gone through ghost town after ghost town. The towns that aren't abandoned are so deeply depressed it's painful and shameful to see.

Small town rural America has been totally screwed and abandoned by both our government and our citizens.

I understand now why so many republicans are so angry. I don't understand why they can't see why they have been screwed so badly and by whom.

Most of the states and all of the towns are controlled by republicans. People keep voting for them because of social issues like gay marriage and because they don't make much money and wrongly seem to believe that tax cuts are the answer to their financial problems.

Tax cuts have only totally screwed small town rural America. Their roads are so bad. I mean so bad that there were times the rough road and wind has my car literally bouncing down the road. When was the last time their roads were paved? The poverty is just terrible.

This is the result of keeping wages low, no regulation on business and trillions in tax cuts for the rich and big business.

Capitalism is making it worse because there's no money to be made in those areas so they are abandoned by business which results in more depressed economic conditions.

Raising wages will help these people a lot. Not just by increasing their own pay but by increased business from others being paid more. No little tax cut that is temporary will be a solution to such poverty. Higher wages will.

Better education will help a lot. So people don't have to take low wage jobs that require public assistance to be able to survive.

Small town rural America needs to stop electing politicians who don't give a damn about them and won't invest in the people and the areas they live in.

I was in one place that the water coming out of the faucet was a light brown and cloudy. I didn't wash my hands, I used hand sanitizer instead.

I have gone through countless towns that are totally abandoned. I've gone through farming areas that there aren't houses on the land. Just farming. People don't live in those areas anymore so the towns are turning into ghost towns.

The air in Oklahoma and Texas was so polluted it has caused a sinus infection. And people live in those areas. I can only imagine the health problems of the people in those areas but they don't have any hospital or medical facilities to go to. They have to travel hundreds of miles to get medical help.

Younger people who weren't alive before Reagan think this is normal.

It's not.

America wasn't like this before the conservatives convinced Americans that taxes, regulations, worker protections, a livable wage and investing in our nation was a horrible thing.

I totally understand now why so many in small town rural America voted for trump. He was the first republican who actually vocalized the problems the Republican Party was creating.

Only he either went about fixing the problem wrong or just didn't do anything. Which is what he mostly did. Nothing. In fact, things got worse for small town rural America.

I don't know what the solution is to help these people see that voting for republicans got them in this mess and won't get them out of it.

But I finally saw for myself the reasons why republicans voted for trump.

I grew up in an America that was completely different than it is today. Small towns USED to thrive. No more. I have traveled Route 66 since I was a kid (in its' heyday) to the "joke" that it is today. Damned shame, but I guess that's what the idiots today call "progressive".

In short - this is NOT the country I grew up in. We are watching a country that is in its' death throes - not unlike Rome.

Or, as Santayana stated - "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Well, here we go again......

 

[progressive hunter]

Capitalism is making it worse

What capitalism? You type all of this hogwash and dont even understand your own premise.
You bitter fool.

Capitalism prevents new business and development in rural areas.

There is no money there so business doesn't go there.

They don't have high speed internet because there's no money to be made so big business like Comcast doesn't build the infrastructure for high speed internet or even basic cable.

Big business like AT&T, Verizon, Costco and so many others aren't in rural areas because there's no money to be made there.

So the areas don't attract new people who spend money there so the areas get more depressed.

You don't understand what capitalism is.

I do.

In fact, my college education and degree is in accounting/finance. I had to take economic classes all through college.

You don't understand that capitalism needs both regulation and the free flow of capital throughout the whole economy to work properly.

Unregulated or not properly regulated capitalism only results in monopolies which destroys competition, innovation and economies.

Keep it up, keep believing the lies you're being fed.

The problem will only get worse.

When I was in the large cities in those states they had great roads. I didn't see satellite dishes on all of the houses. There were nice areas where I wasn't afraid to be in unlike the small rural towns.

All the money is going to the cities which has resulted in leaving the rural small towns broke, depressed and turning into ghost towns.

I think your confusing government regulated capitalism with real free market capitalism,,,

anytime the government is involved the majority of the people get screwed and a few benefit,,

I heard on one of the news shows this morning that we have a new record of billionaires because of it,,

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Access to quality internet is an issue over here as well. The only solution to poor access is by the government taking it over and ensuring that there is a national standard. The government has had to do so at all stages of our evolution, from the postal service through the telephone service.
Green initiatives should encourage folk to live and work at home but there needs to be investment in local services to make that work.

 

[BrokeLoser]

I've been on a road trip that I've wanted to do for a very long time.

I drove east to Illinois then am driving southwest to the Pacific Ocean on what's left of Route 66.

That road, or what's left of it, goes through small town rural America.

I've gone through ghost town after ghost town. The towns that aren't abandoned are so deeply depressed it's painful and shameful to see.

Small town rural America has been totally screwed and abandoned by both our government and our citizens.

I understand now why so many republicans are so angry. I don't understand why they can't see why they have been screwed so badly and by whom.

Most of the states and all of the towns are controlled by republicans. People keep voting for them because of social issues like gay marriage and because they don't make much money and wrongly seem to believe that tax cuts are the answer to their financial problems.

Tax cuts have only totally screwed small town rural America. Their roads are so bad. I mean so bad that there were times the rough road and wind has my car literally bouncing down the road. When was the last time their roads were paved? The poverty is just terrible.

This is the result of keeping wages low, no regulation on business and trillions in tax cuts for the rich and big business.

Capitalism is making it worse because there's no money to be made in those areas so they are abandoned by business which results in more depressed economic conditions.

Raising wages will help these people a lot. Not just by increasing their own pay but by increased business from others being paid more. No little tax cut that is temporary will be a solution to such poverty. Higher wages will.

Better education will help a lot. So people don't have to take low wage jobs that require public assistance to be able to survive.

Small town rural America needs to stop electing politicians who don't give a damn about them and won't invest in the people and the areas they live in.

I was in one place that the water coming out of the faucet was a light brown and cloudy. I didn't wash my hands, I used hand sanitizer instead.

I have gone through countless towns that are totally abandoned. I've gone through farming areas that there aren't houses on the land. Just farming. People don't live in those areas anymore so the towns are turning into ghost towns.

The air in Oklahoma and Texas was so polluted it has caused a sinus infection. And people live in those areas. I can only imagine the health problems of the people in those areas but they don't have any hospital or medical facilities to go to. They have to travel hundreds of miles to get medical help.

Younger people who weren't alive before Reagan think this is normal.

It's not.

America wasn't like this before the conservatives convinced Americans that taxes, regulations, worker protections, a livable wage and investing in our nation was a horrible thing.

I totally understand now why so many in small town rural America voted for trump. He was the first republican who actually vocalized the problems the Republican Party was creating.

Only he either went about fixing the problem wrong or just didn't do anything. Which is what he mostly did. Nothing. In fact, things got worse for small town rural America.

I don't know what the solution is to help these people see that voting for republicans got them in this mess and won't get them out of it.

But I finally saw for myself the reasons why republicans voted for trump.

Meanwhile, outside of LibTardia, here in the real world, Mexifornia boasts the highest poverty level in the nation and the worst quality of life for it’s citizens. Mexifornia is home to only 12% on the nations population but 33% of the nations welfare recipients.
Bright blue Mexifornia has more homeless shitting in the streets than some cities have general population. Mexifornia’s population of illegal aliens is greater than the total population of some states.

Thanks Dana7360 for another fine thread that proves just how fucked in the head Lefties actually are. Their twisted perception of reality is extremely fascinating. They don’t realize that they can’t get out of their own way.
They complain about community degradation but then beg wetbacks to destroy them.
They complain about wages but then beg wetbacks to compete with Americans for work.
They complain about our healthcare and education systems but then beg wetbacks to overrun them.
They complain about our welfare system but then beg wetbacks to use it for all it’s worth.
It’s so bizarre that lefties are too ignorant to realize how they fuck themselves over like they do.

California continues to have the highest poverty level in the nation

(The Center Square) – California has the highest level of functional poverty in the U.S., according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

www.thecentersquare.com

COMMENTARY: Illegal immigrants have turned California into the American Nightmare

Clearly, immigration — in the wrong form — does not lead to prosperity. California has become unlivable.

www.reviewjournal.com

 

[Lysistrata]

These rural folks are very confusing. They seem to want help, on one hand, and then want, on the other hand, to live apart from the rest of their fellow Americans, blaming their fellow citizens all the way when nobody else is actually treating them badly.

The ruralists need to get out more, meet more people, acknowledge that people who are different from themselves exist. They somehow expect that the rest of the U.S. cater to their desire to live in a bubble. The closer you live to a population center, the more different people you interact with. I grew up right outside of NYC, and live in the DC suburbs. I've known people from all over the world. I've really enjoyed it. I can't imagine living any other way.

The anger that these ruralists exhibit toward others is entirely unfounded. Nobody owes them anything. They have no one else to blame for their failure to participate in society.

 

[TNHarley]

The ruralists need to get out more, meet more people, acknowledge that people who are different from themselves exist.

In my rural area, we call that "irony"

 

[TNHarley]

The anger that these ruralists exhibit toward others is entirely unfounded. Nobody owes them anything.

Thats not just ironic, its hilariously ironic