Good Tuesday Morning -
It’s starting again, earlier and earlier - and no, I’m not talking about Halloween decorations or people talking about fall. I’m talking about the folks running for election in 2020, already starting to carve out what they think they can take credit for.
Where I’m standing, I don’t know that anyone at the national or state level has much to crow about. Folks are going to try and tell you that WV has improved so much in the last few years - but only when you compare it against all-time historic lows. Folks are going to try and tell you that they are bringing in businesses and improving infrastructure, but the roads in my area are hammered, there aren’t sufficient resources to respond to the floods and other natural disasters, and all of the improvements are in temporary industries (pipelines and such) that will lead to permanent extraction, but only provide work for a short time.
The real point is that no one, absolutely no one, from outside of this state has done anything for anyone inside this state in a very long time (FDR?), and very few people inside this state have done anything for anyone inside this state (other than themselves) in about the same period.
If change is going to come to this place, it’s going to have to be from the inside out - not the other way around. We don’t want handouts. We don’t want gun regulations. We don’t want urban crowds and wall-to-wall connectivity. But, a fair shake, and industries that have a skin in whether people make it here or not would be a nice start.
If we could ever figure this stuff out, the rest of the problems would sort themselves out - because otherwise, this is a pretty incredible place to live.
Hope ya’ll have a good week.