late wrote:Most of the biggest increases were in areas both rural and Southern."
And you are concerned about this why?
late wrote:We are slowly unraveling what FDR did, with entirely predictable results.
What did FDR do that you think Trump is undoing? FDR built dams that leftists would like to remove. FDR supported power production that leftists say is destroying the environment. What exactly is Trump doing that you find so objectionable?
Like Bullock, Carter has an aging population, and a meat processing plant is its largest employer. It also has an AT&T customer service center, and many residents drive to coal-related jobs in other areas.
But the county has seen a long decline in business related to the coal industry and has been hit by drug addiction as opioids and meth come in on highways from urban areas, Webb said.
Most of the county’s 20,000 registered voters are Democrats but the county has voted Republican for president since 2008, including 73% for Donald Trump in 2016.
“Now they’re closing the coal-fired plants,” Webb said, “and those tradesmen and -women are being thrown out of those highly skilled jobs, and it’s having a terrible impact.”
Any guesses why all those Democrats started voting Republican under Obama, besides racism of course? Obama's war on coal destroyed their livelihoods. That's also why they voted against Clinton. That's why Trump won in Pennsylvania. No, it wasn't sexism or racism. It was that the Democrats decided that these poor white people were no longer important constituencies for the Democratic party.
So it seems like you are just concern trolling here @late.
In Bullock County, median income after inflation dropped 18% between 2016 and 2018 to $29,267. Padgett said that may reflect a more realistic estimate than in years past, when immigrants working at the poultry plant were afraid to participate in the 2010 census. That may have resulted in an undercount of the low-income population, distorting income statistics, he said.
“We have to do a better job next year,” Padgett said, referring to the 2020 census. An artificially high median income figure in 2010 left the county with less money for things like police cars. The U.S. Department of Agriculture should subsidize those purchases 55%, he said, but instead the county qualifies for only 25% to 35%.
Yeah, the census is probably undercounting the homeless population as well as illegal immigrants. However, it's interesting to note how illegal immigrants are hurting sanctuary states, counties and cities. Maybe try not violating the law that you guys created, because you thought exploiting illegal aliens was some sort of free lunch. It's not.
JohnRawls wrote:Simply put, if a business can hire somebody for 10 to 20 times less the price then there is no reason for them not to do it as long as they have any education. (Quality doesn't matter) The profit margins matter too much and the financial market allows to compensate for any loss in quality of the product as long as that profit margin is good.
To say nothing of having to comply with labor standards, environmental standards, etc. Again, the ONLY viable US politician willing to address illegal immigration and trade with communist dictatorship slave states like China is Donald Trump. Ironically, Nancy Pelosi used to be the most vocal person about this in the Democratic Party, and she's trying to impeach Trump.
@late's article is also talking about methamphetamine and opioids, coming in mostly from Mexico--yet another reason to build a wall to at least slow that down. Since the fentanyl comes mostly from China to Mexico, then to America, it's all the more reason to keep tariffs high on Chinese goods. A dictatorship allowing fentanyl exports isn't turning a blind eye. It's waging a war in an orthogonal manner.
Julian658 wrote:UBI is the only solution.
That would only increase aggregate demand for alcohol, opioids and meth. That's why we have food stamps and rent vouchers--it prevents misuse of funds.
Julian658 wrote:But sadly this will lead to nihilism, drug use, low self esteem and a dystopian world.
So you have an answer to your own question. Paying poor people a stipend to do some skills training might be an answer. There would have to be a graduated scale however, where those who successfully complete the training are rewarded for doing so. Otherwise, you'll have class rooms of people hung over and asleep waiting to collect a voucher at the end of class when they wake up.
Pants-of-dog wrote:While it is true that many people in these places voted for Trump because they (incorrectly) thought he would fix this, it does not change the fact that Trump and his administration will not fix the problem.
Trump can't change the coal-fired plants switching to gas. He has helped in places like Pennsylvania where they have opened new mines and are using coal for smelting.
JohnRawls wrote:Actually the first ones to point this out were people like Chomsky and Zizek, come to think of it.
Libertarians like Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein pointed it out in the 1990s with The Bell Curve, basically showing that de-industrialization--a deliberate policy--was not going to work well for people with low IQ. You could not simply send them to college. Today, we have lots of low IQ people with high college debt and worthless college degrees like "Women's Studies", "Black Studies" and such that can only get you a government job. The private sector doesn't give a shit about that stuff. That's why free college tuition isn't an answer either. We need consumer protections for students now, because colleges and universities are a business whether they run for-profit or not, and they will lie, cheat and steal just like any other business. Just as we have a Truth in Lending Act, we need to have a Truth in Education Expenses act so that students know what they are facing when they get out of school with a worthless degree and a ton of debt.
JohnRawls wrote:The right more or less understand now that the EU is here to stay nor is there a reason to remove it and the centrists will probably side with the right because of this over the next decade.
The UK is leaving the EU. The EU's popularity is waning among its core nations. Lege, Marine Le Pen, AfD, etc. are all gaining. The idea that the EU is here to stay remains to be seen. Even George Soros fears it may go the way of the Soviet Union.
"We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics."
-- Joe Biden
- By wat0n