Not sure that follows. The inability for each household to buy crap from China online means there can't be a leased line to a call center? Of course you can say that is true using the at-home "call center" example. But those jobs are not much more than a scam.
The fact is that the rural economy is adequate. The author seems to think that progress is defined by the number of Walmarts but that kind of economic "progress" is an unsustainable charade.
While the article points out some sad realities, I think much of it would go away before long without EBT cards-there are people like those spoken of in the article where I live, too, right down to the meth labs in the woods, the intoxicated arrested for DUI, and the addicted for petty crimes-just not on such a scale as where the author went. The suicide and accidental death rates among young males are disheartening, but I blame that on the welfare and addiction cycle, too.
Like many others here, I’m a ranch kid and have taken it upon myself to move back to the country, in a remote-and now, thanks to Obamanomics-poor place-an old resort/tourist area, pretty much ruined by economy and circumstance. None of the neighbors or others I know well receive government cheese, or use EBT cards-we work at whatever we can. Organic veggies and free range chickens and eggs are for sale/trade everywhere.
I noticed that the article doesn’t mention gardens or livestock-do these people not grow/raise their own food? That would be a start to not being dependent on that EBT card...
There are a lot of people like me here, returned to country roots, wasting our college educations doing the manual labor we did in our youth. We make less money, and yeah, I guess we’re trashy, but we work for ourselves and not someone else. The general store is 9 miles away, the nearest town is 20, Walmart is 25, the post office is 14, but we order stuff online, it gets delivered to your gate in a timely manner-and that is just fine...
No, it means that it is difficult to attract specialized talent to the area if the available lifestyle is unappealing. Even if the potential business is dependent on relatively low skilled labor you will still need to attract some high skilled people. These people generally have conventional tastes, their wives probably more so.
And lack of amenities closes off other things, like retirement homes, vacation homes and venues, etc.
And think about what the presence of Walmart means. Its an effect AND a cause.