Beyond Coal: Imagining Appalachia

[UK2K]

THIS is poverty. Not the shit you see in the cities... this is real poverty. Where going to the grocery store isn't a walk around the block, or going to the doctor isn't easy like it is anywhere else. These are the people that should be complaining... they've had their entire livelihood destroyed in the name of political war.

Some on this board will talk about poverty in the cities, but this is real and never ending; not because these people are being arrested over and over again for committing crimes or because they're having 18 kids with no intention of taking care of them... but because there just is no opportunity. None. Any poor person in the city can take the bus to community college if they want an education. Or walk. That's not possible in Appalachia, where the nearest town may be 30 miles away through mountains.

Good article on what can be done in Appalachia after coal is gone. I'm on both sides of it... my extended family on my fathers side own several coal mines; my girlfriends family owns several large scale hemp farms in central KY.

Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/us...ture.html?_r=0

This is REAL poverty... where, in many cases, there is no way out. Ever.










The poverty rate is Appalachia in KY is 25.6%, by far the worst anywhere in the country. IN. THE. COUNTRY.

Many don't have running water. Or electricity. Or much of anything else. It's not like living in the city and getting government goodies while living a relatively stable life... where you can walk 10 minutes from your home and purchase anything you would need.

Poorest counties in the country:

4 Elliott County, Kentucky $19,879
11 McCreary County, Kentucky $22,152
26 Morgan County, Kentucky $23,713
35 Jackson County, Kentucky $24,129
45 Lee County, Kentucky $24,691
48 Magoffin County, Kentucky $24,791

Six of the poorest 50 counties are found in Eastern KY. The majority of the rest are in WV, Eastern TN, and NE Georgia.

[You Cant Ban Me]

wow no running water, no electricity, and they have to actually walk far distances!They have it so rough no one in 3rd world countrys should every complain once they hear about kentucky

[UK2K]

wow no running water, no electricity, and they have to actually walk far distances!They have it so rough no one in 3rd world countrys should every complain once they hear about kentucky

Relative to THIS country....

You and I both know nobody in THIS country cares about what happens outside THIS country.

How many feminists do you see complaining about the way women are treated in Muslim societies? You see reparations demanders addressing the fact slavery is still legal in Africa, even today? You see hippy weirdos demanding gun confiscation in Iraq? Or Syria? Or Africa? Or South America?

This is 'Merica we are talking about here... Americans don't give two shits about the rest of the world. Come on now...

[Back In Shape]

wow no running water, no electricity, and they have to actually walk far distances!They have it so rough no one in 3rd world countrys should every complain once they hear about kentucky

So poor.

Yet about half the national average crime rate. Hmmmmm...

[Charlie Sheen]

Why can't you just make your case without drawing faulty comparisons to poverty in urban areas.

[UK2K]

Why can't you just make your case without drawing faulty comparisons to poverty in urban areas.

Because to understand what real poverty looks like, you have time first understand that 'poverty' in the inner cities (which some claim to care so much about) is a hell of a lot easier to live in than it is elsewhere.

It's no different than pointing out that, while Orlando was bad, it doesn't come close to comparing to terrorist attacks that take place elsewhere in the world where 200 people are killed every other day.

Just nobody cares about terrorism elsewhere...which was my point in my second post.

It's not the point of the thread... you found one idea in that whole post to respond to and that's what you came up with?

[warriorfan]

At least they aren't getting killed by the police

[Akrazotile]

Very interesting look at things OP, but I remain unconvinced. Only POC (People of Color) know what it is TRULY like to be poor. Doesnt matter where they live or how much money they make. They - and only they - have experienced the real hardships of poverty.

That's why it's so important that they vote Democratic. Because only Democrats know how to make POC rich. Hillary has the plan. And it's critical they unite against white people by voting for this white woman who KNOWS the truth about POC poverty and will do what Obama was SUPPOSED to do, which is to magically make poverty go away without anyone having to do anything.

But nice article nonetheless.

[Charlie Sheen]

Because to understand what real poverty looks like, you have time first understand that 'poverty' in the inner cities (which some claim to care so much about) is a hell of a lot easier to live in than it is elsewhere.

It's no different than pointing out that, while Orlando was bad, it doesn't come close to comparing to terrorist attacks that take place elsewhere in the world where 200 people are killed every other day.

Just nobody cares about terrorism elsewhere...which was my point in my second post.

It's not the point of the thread... you found one idea in that whole post to respond to and that's what you came up with?

You made it the point of the thread once you tried to sneak in this bit

not because these people are being arrested over and over again for committing crimes or because they're having 18 kids with no intention of taking care of them

That's not what poverty looks like in the city. It isn't one dimensional. Get a clue.

[UK2K]

You made it the point of the thread once you tried to sneak in this bit



That's not what poverty looks like in the city. It isn't one dimensional. Get a clue.

If you'd been arrested over and over again (and thus couldn't keep a steady job), or we're having children at a rate that you can't afford to take care of them (and thus, couldn't keep a steady job or afford to take care of them even if you did have a job)...

Then the poverty you are suffering through has a lot to do with your own choices, yes?

Whereas, those problems aren't plaguing Appalachia. They are facing a shortage of jobs, as in, there are none. That's not true in the cities. Even in the slightest. Get a clue.



Subconscious racism at its finest.

[Charlie Sheen]

Subconscious racism at its finest.

What in the hell are you even talking about now?

[Jameerthefear]

are they killed by cops doe

[UK2K]

are they killed by cops doe

Not really. Most there have common sense to follow the law.

Also, there, people don't call cops. You handle yourself, because the nearest officer is likely an hour away, if not more.

[DeuceWallaces]

So poor.

Yet about half the national average crime rate. Hmmmmm...

There's a shit ton of crime. Just no one there to detect it.

This is a very simple concept people don't seem to understand. There are cops crawling every corner of the inner city of the top 60 metro areas, but there's not a cop to be found in Hazard or Jackson, KY to catch drunken disorderly, domestic and public assaults, meth labs around every corner, state forests filled with marijuana fields, etc..