My kinfolks hit the Appalachians and stopped moving west.
We were the people you see in “Life” magazine, the scruffy but hard working dirt farmers.
Nobody in my family’s history ever got jack-squat from the “gummint” nor did they want it.
In spite of a long history of dying in coal mines, toiling for pitiful harvests and making do with precious little, they all still consider themselves “blessed” to be who they are.
Maybe that’s the difference; they still had pride when they had nothing else.
You hit the nail on the head, so to speak. My family ended up in Georgia in the penal colony. Never had anything until my grandfather and father worked hard enough to buy a small farm. And because of my mothers illness my dad has had to sell most of it to take care of her. Of course they could get no gov’t cheese and did not want it.
My grandparents any both my husband’s grandparents came to the Central Valley with the clothes on their backs. They stayed in tents for a short time after they got here during the Depression/WWII timeframe. They all worked hard and took care of their families. I’m sorry if others couldn’t do that, but it’s not our fault. I say the whiners have gotten enough handouts. Get to work and improve yourself!