>Assuming I agree with you, what proportion of the fuckedupness in each
>environment do you think is a product of economic circumstances?
Earlier I said talk about no future in reference to small towns. That wasn't just a throwaway line.
In the stA I'm talking about, the one of towns with fewer than 10,000 whose vacant city center is a few miles from the interstate, there's no economic growth and probably won't be ever again.
Drive through the southwest and plains states along I-40 and every little town along the way has billboards inviting you to visit their "historic" city center. The city leaders are desperate to get something going. Wal-Mart deciding to build a distribution center off the highway outside of town is big news.
So yeah economics is a big part of it.
Beyond that there's a certain lack of desire to engage with the outside world that is characteristic of small towns. That's why people stay there. So when small town values are portrayed as characteristic of the better angels of america, I say no and no.