MORE EXAMPLES OF A SHRINKING & DESPERATE AMERICAN MIDDLE-CLASS

 

…An American small town that died when Wal-Mart came to town.

 

What you see when you visit many small towns in America today.

 

One of the, I guess you could call it “benefits,” that comes from having a business that requires one to visit or drive through small town of rural America, is to see how those parts of the country are doing.  My wife and I have a small business endeavor that requires us to regularly do just that.

 

The problem with this effort is that much of what we see many times times is very depressing.  It seriously shows that what we hear about the decline of the average middle class American life is real, and it is a disturbing situation.

 

At first, we thought it was just a problem in a few areas we had to drive through on a regular basis.

 

But then, being retired and having the available time, I was able to do some of this exploring in areas not that far from my home.  This allowed me to visit some other rural areas of Northern California.  But what I saw on those excursions was even more disappointing.

 

Recently, another Blogger and a science writer for some major newspapers, Mr. Joel Achenbach, after reading a Washington Post series titled, “Sick and Dying in Small-Town America”, he asked his own readers for some inputs about their experiences of living in today's “Small-Town America”.

 

In reading the results of his reader request, if I hadn’t recently been exposed to some small rural communities, I would never think that these were stories about the same America where I grew up.

 

I will not bore you with the complete re-printing of the total responses that Mr. Achenbach received.  But what I will reference are some of the statements from those readers that I can personally agree were what I have also observed.  This is from my own experiences of driving through towns in rural Northern California. 

 

Here are some excerpts from Mr. Achenbach’s readers:

 

·       “Four decades ago my wife and I escaped the rural rust belt for Silicon Valley. When I return, I am appalled at the physical condition of family, friends and neighbors. Even the healthiest of those with college educations look 10-15 years older than my neighbors here. Most look much worse. It seems nearly all are carrying extra pounds, eating too much sugar, processed snack foods and useless calories.

People there still smoke, and smoke heavily. Their kids, now adults, smoke. Curiously, those who mostly smoke marijuana look healthier than those who are heavy drinkers.”

 

·       “It’s one thing … if all of us have to bear the short, hard, bitter life together. It’s another if we are working harder than ever, and not being rewarded for it, and we are constantly being shown how a tiny percentage at the top of society is reaping the rewards of our hard work.”

 

·       “I saw two in-laws, mother and daughter, who worked at Walmart for a period that literally accelerated their decline into near-poverty. Even with both parents and both teens working they barely could keep the very used cars running and the rent paid.”  (Author’s Note: Many Wal-Mart workers are paid so little, they are full-time workers that are still eligible for Food Stamps.)

 

·       “I moved to a rural area in Oregon 3 years ago. This area has many challenges related to isolation and lack of infrastructure. Our economy is having difficulty transitioning from forestry and milling to a more tourism based economy. We still have fishing, but closures and variable harvests create challenges for the folks in the fishing industry. We do have some local farmers adding revenue by selling more finished products locally. Basic health care is generally available, but if you need a specialist, you will need transportation and time to drive 100 miles or so to the nearest cities. No dialysis, dermatologists or oncologists here. Our area also lacks resources for treatment of addiction and psychiatric conditions. We seem to have a high rate of methamphetamine use and a growing problem with heroin to accompany the lack of resources to treat addiction. As I think about it, we do seem to have more deaths of middle aged residents from illness than I recall seeing in the city.”

 

·       “Having spent the last 15 years in Europe I’ve come to see how some elements of American life that have become normalized are profoundly dysfunctional but not recognized as such by too many. I have raised three children in Hungary and can say unequivocally that the single payer system here is better than the American system in most respects. In terms of public health Europe is far better. And it is virtually unheard of to put people on opioids or anti-depressants. Doctors are much more likely to recommend lifestyle changes, the state pays for extended rehab at spas and so forth. It’s cheaper and works better. When I visit the U.S. I’m just astounded by what and how much people eat. It’s grotesque and most of what’s in supermarkets can’t be described as food. Hungarians and most Europeans eat most of their meals with family, and most food is still home cooked. It makes all the difference. Towns and cities are people friendly and even less affluent people spend time, often daily, relaxing with friends at cafes. Everyone takes at least a month off during the summer. There is way, way less stress for most people. There may be costs in terms of economic efficiency, but so what? Life is better, and this is true for all countries here, including poorer ones like Hungary.”

 

…A familiar sign in rural America

 

·       “When I first started working here in Colorado, I moved to Leadville. But it’s a dying town full of drunks and drug addicts. I met people who literally had not had a job in a decade, and many who made a living mowing lawns and picking up trash. The people looked like hippies but they had some decidedly right wing views, along with paranoia about government conspiracies. Their Congressman is a right wing kook who never speaks to any of them. The chief of police got arrested for drunk driving and then got indicted on 14 felony counts. Everyone in the town smokes.”  

 

·       “Please visit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There are druggies, and some people drink far too much, but we also have very high unemployment. Things were not always this way. One hundred years ago, this region had well over 1 million people. Anyone could get a job that paid decent wages. The mines closed for good in the late 1960s, early 70s and it has been all down-hill since then. Just like all the other mining areas.  Most people live as simply as possible and eat as healthy as they can afford. Often they grow their own food and live off the land as much as possible.

 

·       “I’m a 56 year old white woman. A working class white woman with a job with a salary that very rarely increases. I struggle and our government has failed us. This has been going on for many years. Lost hope is the cause. If you don’t understand this, then you are one of the lucky ones. Yes lucky. We aren’t all lazy, drug and alcohol addicted worthless human beings. We are molded by environment and family history, race and education. Loss of compassion for our fellow man and greed of the 1% are what this country is about today.”

 

I think this last one is an example of where many of those Americans that are “mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore,” are coming from today.  These are the people that are voting for Donald Trump because he is saying what they are thinking, and he says what they think he will be able to fix, which he can’t.

 

But much of what is stated above is what I see every month when we take those trips through rural NorCal.

 

We have all seen the pictures of the “Red-Neck” homes and trailers in the rural mid-west and southern states and those bizarre pictures of Wal-Mart shoppers.  But the reality is that according to all the experts, “the Millennials of today’s American families will be the first American generation since the end of WWII that will be less-well-off than their parents”.

 

If you make the effort to spend some time in the rural small towns in America, you may see that what is going on in America today needs some serious fixes.  I’m sure that what I and my wife have witnessed in just our small NorCal exposure is nothing compared to what is going on in other, poorer parts of America.

 

It’s all very depressing.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016