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Author Topic: So what's the national mood?  (Read 229 times)

unix

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So what's the national mood?
« on: October 13, 2018, 05:45:17 pm »
The economy is doing well, so all is well?

Or does that mean things are going well only in major metro cities and it's quiet desperation in Western Virginia and such?

I ain't even gonna inquire about the state of Ohio.

I know, I know. This question has no answers.

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G0ddard B0lt

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Re: So what's the national mood?
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2018, 09:54:26 am »
My take:

People in public spaces are ruder, more entitled and shittier than ever. We're climbing asymptotically up a curve of "I want mine".

In most areas I am familiar with, it's not desperation (say, here where I live.) People seem to not be as concerned at all about the general economy or things circling the drain. I don't pick up any of the anxiety of the very early 1980s, the early 1990s, or the 2008 - 2012 period. Despise the libtard bloviations about Trump destroying everything good, the exact opposite in general seems to be occurring across the general economy.

"quiet desperation in Western Virginia" - funny you mention that exact state. We just got back (on Friday) from a short vacation trip to the New River area.

The entire New River valley seems to be a millennial / young adult mecca with a ton of outdoor outfitters, "klever" shops, upscale and dining, etc. I don't think it's just the New River/Fayetteville region either. Charleston the state capital which we passed through in both directions seemed to be booming. WV has a state run tourist trap "juried for excellence" arts and crafts center in Beckley called "Tamarack." Prices are in nosebleed territory. But it was full of people and is a slick monument to "PBS supporter" style affluenza.

We stayed where we did - southern/western WV - because our other favorite area, Canaan Valley (100 mi or so from you) was way more expensive for lodging. So whatever I said about the New River, double that for eastern WV.

LOTS of locally made craft beer. LOTS of locally made distillery product. I brought home a fifth of locally made bourbon.

People working in shops seemed pleasant and unstressed.

I saw no surface level desperation in WV. Qualified, of course, by the fact that we were in a mainly tourist area with no current mining or manufacturing operations.

The feel of being in WV was quite different than urban Ohio. If anything, Ohioans radiate dislike and impatience. WV ranks quite low on a lot of quality of life scales but I don't see it compared to Ohio.

Although a quaint gift shop we stopped in had on a shelf next to the bottles of Appalachian hill folk salad dressing, a stack of books with the title "HOW TO QUIT METH NOW!"  :o
« Last Edit: October 14, 2018, 01:31:51 pm by The Gorn »
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unix

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Re: So what's the national mood?
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2018, 07:21:31 pm »
what an interesting report.

I lived in the NRV for years, it's a diverse area. There are two universities there. Really the whole NRV area is a hodge-podge of about 3 different elements. 1. Wealthy ( relatively so ) out of state or from NoVA (which might be considered out of state) kids who attend the schools in the area. 2. Local white trash redneck pickup truck with confederate flags population which includes everyone else who has lived there all of their lives. Lastly, 3. a lot of hippies in areas such as Floyd that are neither 1. nor 2. Some of them are fairly well educated but are kind of drop-outs. Bluegrass music and moonshine is not uncommon there.
 There are of course sub-groups of every group listed but that's the gist of it.
So if you live in the NRV, you constantly interact with all 3 groups and every subculture there is.

but is a really beautiful area, the pic is nice.

a few words about WV. These mainstream places off the highway, tourist traps if you will, are kind of misleading. I think to get an idea, you have to travel deep within enemy territory. I am not familiar with WV and no idea what constitutes the "real" WV.  It's a huge state.   The demographic change between urban/rural must be stunning there.

I visited WV a few times, it's a land of contrasts. Suppose like anything else.


 
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G0ddard B0lt

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Re: So what's the national mood?
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2018, 07:43:08 pm »
Maybe it's changed a bit from what you experienced and remember. Honestly, I got a feeling like the entire local population around there either upgraded due to outside influences and in any event is closer to rural-typical rather than deep rural redneck. I was there last in 2006 and back then it felt more isolated and insular. I think it's changed, honestly.

Perhaps due to tourism that entire area has gentrified a bit. I ran into good old boys in a gas station mini market... but the people around there seemed very close to Ohioan, just not as rude and abrupt. I could honestly see living there.

The drive from Gallipolis, Ohio (entry point into WV) to the interstate just outside Charleston was picture postcard rural Americana.  Very nice. Would not mind living there.

The drive across Charleston to the rural outskirts was semi hectic medium sized city interstate.

The drive from Charleston's outskirts for about 30 miles was Blade Runner style huge linear factories and railroad along the highway. Eventually you get out of that and it looks more like Pennsylvania rural until we got to the state park.

Bridge day is next weekend. It looked like a blast.

Maybe local TV and news tells the story better. The local TV is clogged with ads from SSI attorneys, mesothelioma and other industrial lawsuit attorneys, and ads for health services. The indigenous population is probably old, fat and sick.
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unix

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Re: So what's the national mood?
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2018, 07:58:13 pm »

yeah, it has been a quarter century since I resided there, so it must be radically different yet I doubt the underlying currents have much changed. I did visit about 10 years ago and was shocked just how much new stuff they built.
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Phil

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Re: So what's the national mood?
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2018, 06:37:42 am »
I stumbled across this site a couple of years ago: https://www.dailyyonder.com/. I go back to it every once in a while to try to have some knowledge of the rural sections of America.

They have quite a few posts on West Virginia https://www.dailyyonder.com/?s=west+virginia
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G0ddard B0lt

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Re: So what's the national mood?
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2018, 07:04:26 am »
Quote from: Phil on October 16, 2018, 06:37:42 am
I stumbled across this site a couple of years ago: https://www.dailyyonder.com/. I go back to it every once in a while to try to have some knowledge of the rural sections of America.

They have quite a few posts on West Virginia https://www.dailyyonder.com/?s=west+virginia

A great website. But that direct link returns a server error. One has to use the on-site search box there.
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