[Enduro Guy]

My opinion:

The plan was to create a population of desperate idle minds that either turn into:

(1) Do nothing druggies and/or criminals
or...
(2) Social Justice Warriors rising up against corporate America (probable druggies and/or criminals mixed in as well)

[Ciexyz]

The article says "Fifty-one percent rated the cost of living in their area as poor or fair."

Political leaders should do well to understand why this is so because people ultimately vote their pocketbooks.

[central_va]

The effects of gloBULLism, free trade, immigration(both legal and illegal), offshoring and de industrialization are felt more keenly in the small and mid sized factory towns that were once decent places to live and are now a drug addled messes.

[Renkluaf]

MOVE!

[spintreebob]

Part of a free, democratic society is that we vote with our feet. Some vote to move to the city. Some vote to move to the burbs. Some vote to move to exurbia. So vote to not move.

There are upside and downside to every choice of where to live. Accept it and don’t play the victim.

But is there opportunity for a new economic model?
There are many small IT specialty shops that operate totally online and need little or no face-to-face contact with anyone in the hi tech clusters of Alpharetta, Austin, Bellvue, Silicon Valley, etc.

Would it be possible to create a COOL factor for a small rural hi tech company where people are hi tech but live close to nature and real natural life? Would it be possible to create work-from-home businesses where the homes could be in rural areas?

Well, first, some rural areas have good internet service, some don’t. But aren’t there niche opportunities for the opportunist?