The War on Poverty in U-Hauls: When Government Aid Can’t Save a Town
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The War on Poverty in U-Hauls. It was a really, it was actually a sad story. It really was. Wall Street Journal did an entire piece on certain areas in the state of West Virginia. There was a county, it’s called McDowell County, and talked about a lady nine years old when she became one of the first Americans to get food stamps.
in that area. was actually when John F. Kennedy went on his, his tour when he’s running for president, and he was appalled by the poverty in Appalachia. And it’s when he started the food stamp program. LBJ, obviously his war on poverty, great society, he took that entire thing and he put it on steroids. written extensively.
about it and actually his whole war on poverty and the great society he actually the pictures were taken it was on a porch and Appalachia that’s how they pitched it and I this is going back years ago did an entire piece on this it was I don’t remember exactly where in West Virginia but the addiction to handouts and giveaways is real it’s real and the principal at the school
they were interviewing say, you know, kids are just talking about and looking forward to their aspirations in life were to get a government check. No bueno, by any stretch of the imagination. This one county in particular talk about McDowell County, the federal government has poured $3.6 billion into it in the economic
I try to stimulate the economy there. And that doesn’t include the 13 billion that’s spent in Medicare and Medicaid payments. And you look at these areas, lengthy article, some of the things that they’re trying to do. Some people trying to teach others how to farm in the hills where they are there. A lot of the land is still owned by various different corporations that left.
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coal mining in that region used to be, you know, one of the top jobs that went away actually a long, long time ago, when it became more mechanized, then you know, many of those mines have been shut down. They’re actually talking about in this one area, the Walmart shutdown. And it shows how many people the county itself lost 67 % of its residents, which was the largest drop in West Virginia population.
going from 51,000 down to 17,000 and they got little towns there that just have a couple hundred in them.
And it, you know, they talk about, what can the government do? How can the government fix this? This area where this is located, it’s really very difficult to get to, not someplace where people are going to come and look to go ahead and develop. This is another. And again, I don’t want to sound flippant by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve talked about the economist Joseph Schumpeter.
where we talk about creative destruction and somebody’s idea will come in, it’ll be better, build a better mousetrap, destroy a company and invention, whatever it may be. And then life goes on. The same thing holds true for cities and towns. And I know I’ve talked about this before and I got some people ticked off, are your families that have been there for generations?
So
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So I had, know, my family wasn’t, didn’t, know, going back to my grandpa, they came to this country for a reason. They moved to where there was opportunity. They moved to where the food is. And I’m again, I’m quoting one of the great Sam Kinderson, one of the great all time, great standup comedians and that classic standup routine where he was some.
making fun of all the aid that we continue to send to Africa. This was in the 1980s. And his thing was, don’t send them money, don’t send them food, send them U-Hauls. Move them to where the food is. Why continue to spend? And it’s got a point here. Wouldn’t the billions of dollars in that, wouldn’t it be better to help them move out? It’s okay.
It’s okay to turn certain areas of the country, if the world, back to nature. There’s nothing wrong with that just because there once was a city there. That doesn’t mean there always going to be a city there. That’s what archaeologists do all the time. They dig up old cities for crying out loud. dig areas where there were people, now there’s not. Sometimes it’s due to war, sometimes it’s due to
You know, well, famine, again, example right there. I guess you want to call it a famine, right? I, you know, I don’t pick it on just West Virginia. I remember bringing this point up on the show, you know, long, long time ago, because I’m from upstate New York. You go through certain parts of upstate New York and areas that are just extraordinarily blighted.
Extraneous and people you know blame it. you know companies move to China this that the next time hold on a second Hold on You know, yeah that has happened without a doubt in certain areas. There’s no doubt about that. But also Technologies changed. I mean the state of New York State of New York built this thing called the Erie Canal They built the Erie Canal and again you could get
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goods and services from New York. You could get them all the way to the Great Lakes and then you could get them to Chicago. You move everything out west and there was very successful and wealthy towns and different spots built along the Erie Canal and these waterways. Guess what? Not using that anymore.
And still some of these areas, these blighted towns, they still exist.
Yeah, I’m not telling people, you know, to kick people out. But how about buying their land up and turning it back to nature and giving them a fresh start somewhere else? I’m thinking out loud here, people, OK, wouldn’t it be better? Wouldn’t it be better? You got these are getting this area, you know, where you know, 17000 people are still living there.
Wouldn’t it be better? don’t know, you’re in the hills of West Virginia. Turn it into a national park. Turn it back to nature. It’s okay. Buy the people out and have them move somewhere else rather than to continue to spend good money after bed. Yeah, it’s going to be a one-time investment, but why not?
You you got all of these different things, we need this help, we You’re not gonna do anything there. There’s nothing moving there anytime soon.
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Again, Sam Kinison was on to something. Let’s just leave it at that. Plus he was a pretty funny guy. Again, buy their property, send them to you hauls and give them a shot somewhere else. Watchdogonwallstreet.com.
