This article on the social ills of rural America is very instructive about the way things are in this country, despite nostalgia from the Right and hope from the Left. Those of us on the Right have to remember that these rural communities are not being destroyed by urban liberalism, rather it is agribusiness, and the pork subsidies supported by "conservatives" and "liberals" alike from these states that are sapping many agricultural regions (of people if not economic productivity). In addition, Latino immigrants are taking over blue-collar jobs and depressing wages. Even without Latino immigration and agribusiness subsidies (thanks ADM-you feed the world and suck up a a lot of pork) economies of scale make smaller farmers inefficient, and business supply chains and vertical integration make the communities built around farmers less relevant. It seems like these towns will slowly die as young people move to more economically dynamic regions, most likely exurbs that are meeting them in the middle as they expand from hub cities. But the lure of the $30,000 4 bedroom house also holds promise, the telecommuting revolution opens a portal for those willing to step through and relocate to areas that might have housing in abundance, because of a population decline. Those who can do their jobs via e-mail and phone (I do some of this myself, though it has its downsides) could relocate to these small towns if they wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Of course, the crime and violence that is surging up in these locales does not hold promise as brochure material, but someone who might be able to pay a house in full would also be able to finance better security systems. Oh, and why don't we pay attention to these rural regions in decline as opposed to urban ghettos? The media is located in the large cities, where they might have to drive through blighted regions. You don't see much past the interstate when driving between Seattle and Portland, Chicago and Minneapolis, Boston and Buffalo. Also, "white trash" tends to elicit far less sympathy than the "underclass" (code word: poor colored folk). Update: This article was blogged elsewhere....