I was born and raised in Williamson. Moved away in 1962 at age 15. Back then, it was a vibrant town of 8,000 in the heart of the coals fields. It was (then) a great place to grow up, families appeared to be strong. I had good memories of it.
Went back in 2007 for a funeral. I was shocked to see the decline citywide. Unkempt homes with many falling apart. Rundown doesn’t begin to describe it. No sense of pride anywhere. I learned from a Catholic priest that it was due to drugs.
Somewhat later I came across an article on the internet discussing the town’s decline and reason why. It painted a very bleak picture. Turned out to be a real Communist Party rag showing the virtues of “capitalism”. A real punch in the gut to read this article.
Sadly, these drugs are decimating cities and towns everywhere. Is this due to Big Pharma’s greed or is there something more sinister here?
Unscrupulous doctors profiteering off their trade in drugs, most likely. Probably shipping them out to overseas and locals alike. Big Pharma has nothing to do with it. Blaming them for the drug problem is no different than blaming Colt Arms for the gun violence.
The problem is liberalism policies that intentionally create these wastelands. Venezuela and West Virginia are both victims of the same disease: Socialism/Communism................