From the comments section"
I grew up in Appalachia and still have relatives who are miners. And yes, they ARE bigoted and YES they vote primarily GOP, and YES, they ARE on welfare/black lung/social security. I left because my parents were professionals and told me to get out into the real world and don't EVER look back.
They were right.
Education is key and we all know that RWs believe education is a liberal plot and kinds of "elitist" and "snobby". Betcha too that these sad folks think homeschooling is just nifty, good book crap and all that.
If you live there, you better hope your own parents somehow got an education because if they didn't, you're likely stuck in that hell hole and digging for coal - not for your own enrichment but to line the pockets of the 1%.