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Small-town America fights for its life

washingtonexaminer.com

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Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#41

Post by Pigo »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #21
spodek wrote: post #13

Environmental destruction is the story here, but with one misunderstanding. > Rural America is eroding. If you talk to farmers such as Short and Roger, they lament it. But almost nobody thinks it can be prevented. More efficient farming... The new farming isn't more efficient physically, chemically, or biologically. It consumes without replacing resources like topsoil, biodiversity, water, etc. It looks more efficien…

> The new farming isn't more efficient physically, chemically, or biologically. It consumes without replacing resources like topsoil, biodiversity, water, etc. It looks more efficient financially only by neglecting the future costs to restore those resources. B.S. Farmers aren't stupid, they still remember the lessons of the 1930s. They all plan to farm until they're physically unable to, and hope that the family far…

Every farmer I've met, seen interviewed, etc, seem like they are at the top of their game. I usually end up surprised at how they have their hands in every aspect of every operation in their business. They seem very knowledgeable, while still dealing with the notion they are some hick with hayseed hanging out of their mouth.

We have farmers learning programming in order to hack their John Deere tractors, working with lawyers to sue John Deere for the right to do so, and having the ability to rebuild the tractor itself.

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#42

Post by electricslpnsld »

humanrebar wrote: post #33
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #30

If small town 'murica is dying because no one is popping out 8 or more children, well, welcome to the modern world. Large families were required on family farms simply as a way of getting help, which is much reduced these days. And the children that are born into that life, see the bright city lights and the hustle and bustle of Des Moines and decide that is where they want to be. Nope, small town America, as seen in…

That sounds like trouble for the urban way of life, too. Where do all the young urban types come from? Not from downtown. Where do all the older folks go when their savings or mobility dwindle? Not downtown.

> Where do all the young urban types come from? Not from downtown.

Queens or the Upper West Side!

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#43

Post by blamestross »

humanrebar wrote: post #33
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #30

If small town 'murica is dying because no one is popping out 8 or more children, well, welcome to the modern world. Large families were required on family farms simply as a way of getting help, which is much reduced these days. And the children that are born into that life, see the bright city lights and the hustle and bustle of Des Moines and decide that is where they want to be. Nope, small town America, as seen in…

That sounds like trouble for the urban way of life, too. Where do all the young urban types come from? Not from downtown. Where do all the older folks go when their savings or mobility dwindle? Not downtown.

You are right, but with the wrong goal. We need culture and people in rural areas. We need a new "small town culture" I'm not sure what that will look like, but this one is rotten.

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#44

Post by toomuchtodo »

blamestross wrote: post #43
humanrebar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like trouble for the urban way of life, too. Where do all the young urban types come from? Not from downtown. Where do all the older folks go when their savings or mobility dwindle? Not downtown.

You are right, but with the wrong goal. We need culture and people in rural areas. We need a new "small town culture" I'm not sure what that will look like, but this one is rotten.

Support remote work and rural infra investment (shoutout to Bernie Sanders and his rural internet investment plan). I want to live in rural areas while still being able to work a job that isn't going to (needlessly) require me to be onsite in a downtown core (Disclaimer: I work remotely).

> We need a new "small town culture"

100 percent. Community building is hard, not profitable, but necessary. It used to be churches. Not sure what it looks like today. If I had to hazard a guess, something like Mr Money Mustache's coworking setup [1] [2].

[1] https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/hq/

[2] https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/09/05/what-really-goes-...

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#45

Post by ikeyany »

humanrebar wrote: post #33
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #30

If small town 'murica is dying because no one is popping out 8 or more children, well, welcome to the modern world. Large families were required on family farms simply as a way of getting help, which is much reduced these days. And the children that are born into that life, see the bright city lights and the hustle and bustle of Des Moines and decide that is where they want to be. Nope, small town America, as seen in…

That sounds like trouble for the urban way of life, too. Where do all the young urban types come from? Not from downtown. Where do all the older folks go when their savings or mobility dwindle? Not downtown.

They are settling down in the cities, which America decided can be livable if you invest in transit and walkable neighborhoods.

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#46

Post by rjkennedy98 »

blamestross wrote: post #36

Good. It needs to die and be replaced with something new. I grew up there and the only reason it has survived this long is encouraging teenage pregnancy.

I am not from small town America - but I think this attitude which is openly celebrated among many is sickening. Its the kind of rhetoric that leads people to believe in ideas like "white genocide" and other frankly dangerous and violent partisan ideas.

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#47

Post by bryanlarsen »

Mvandenbergh wrote: post #35
spodek wrote: post #13

Environmental destruction is the story here, but with one misunderstanding. > Rural America is eroding. If you talk to farmers such as Short and Roger, they lament it. But almost nobody thinks it can be prevented. More efficient farming... The new farming isn't more efficient physically, chemically, or biologically. It consumes without replacing resources like topsoil, biodiversity, water, etc. It looks more efficien…

I see that other commenters have already addressed this but the issue here is a confusion of timelines. The farming you are referring to is a caricature of first generation Green Revolution farming. Farming techniques being adopted today are designed to preserve soil, and to minimise water use. Biodiversity is not as much of a focus, that is true.

> Biodiversity is not as much of a focus, that is true.

Not yet, but it's coming, for a couple of reasons:

- biodiversity helps soil health and disease resistance

- bi-cropping potentially means the ability to harvest two different crops from the same field without significantly impacting the yield of the primary. Twice the gross per acre is a pretty big incentive for adoption.

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#49

Post by CharlesColeman »

dfsegoat wrote: post #8
zrail wrote: post #5

No judgement on this particular opinion piece, but just for sake of clarity in case people are unaware, the Washington Examiner has a rather pronounced conservative and Republican bias.

Neutral source: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/

> Neutral source: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/

Neutral, perhaps, but also poorly qualified:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Bias/Fact_Check:

> The Columbia Journalism Review describes Media Bias/Fact Check as an amateur attempt at categorizing media bias and Van Zandt as an "armchair media analyst."[2] Van Zandt describes himself as someone with "more than 20 years as an arm chair researcher on media bias and its role in political influence."[3] The Poynter Institute notes, "Media Bias/Fact Check is a widely cited source for news stories and even studies about misinformation, despite the fact that its method is in no way scientific."[4]

Re: Small-town America fights for its life

#50

Post by blamestross »

rjkennedy98 wrote: post #46
blamestross wrote: post #36

Good. It needs to die and be replaced with something new. I grew up there and the only reason it has survived this long is encouraging teenage pregnancy.

I am not from small town America - but I think this attitude which is openly celebrated among many is sickening. Its the kind of rhetoric that leads people to believe in ideas like "white genocide" and other frankly dangerous and violent partisan ideas.

My other option is to lie. My words are extreme because the reality is. On the surface they present it looks ok. Until you realize how it all works. "What will the neighbors think" is a question with survival implications there. There is a point where I have to decide if people who participate in the culture of fear and hate that is most of rural America are either evil, or mentally disabled. Neither let me speak kindly of the system that traps so many children in it.
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