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> "One of the greatest things the tech industry could do to decrease the economic inequality due to location would be to embrace remote work. Imagine what even

> "One of the greatest things the tech industry could do to decrease the economic inequality due to location would be to embrace remote work. Imagine what even having 10 developers living in the village could do for its economy." In rural areas I think you have to start thinking more concretely about what "economy" means. With smaller populations things are much more micro than macro. One huge difference between rural and urban areas is that people are much more self sufficient, which makes economic numbers difficult to compare. For instance somebody with an income of $5,000 is generally going to be living a pretty miserable life in the city. On the other hand that can easily be more than enough to live extremely comfortably, even given comparable costs for what's purchased, in a rural area. And the reason is self sufficiency. In a rural area that person likely already owns their home (80%+ home ownership in rural areas [1]) and activities come entertainment like hunting, fishing, and agriculture can provide immense amounts of resources. For instance just a single large whitetail deer can easily yield more than 100 pounds of edible meat. A single catfish and you're looking at 5-10 pounds of food, and so on. And the overhead costs there are completely negligible. The hunting license costs way more than everything else combined (once you already have your guns, rods, tackle, etc). Get into things like raising chickens and pigs, and you literally will never have to pay a dime for food again if you don't want. $5,000 ends up meaning very different things, even if we ignore localized inflation. It's just you don't need to buy as much. Of course the corollary there is that notions like "economy" start to mean different things. If people don't need, or want, to buy as much - then economic growth is not a very good indicator of how well a place is doing. We take the view that people must not only constantly want more, but also buy more, earn more, and spend more. Growth, growth, growth! What of people that are, "Nah - thanks, but I'm okay with what I have"? So now we stick a guy earning 6 figures into the middle of all of this. I'm not really sure his effect is going to be, but it seems a bit simplistic to simply immediately equate more money with success. [1] - https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/12/homes_on_the_range.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/...

pjc50 8y ago
> single large whitetail deer Are these widely available in Greece? > Get into things like raising chickens and pigs, and you literally will never have to pay a dime for food again if you don't want. Have you actually done this? I know people who have tiny farms as a hobby, and people who've retired from smallholding because it was uneconomic, and people who live in remote areas of Scotland .. and this resembles none of their lives. You might not have to pay for food (of a few types at certain times of the year), but you can't grow your own petrol or heating oil.
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  Greece has wild boar - beats the pants off whitetail any day! And yeah, most of my family is very rural and raise and grow all sorts of stuff on relatively small plots of land. I'm not talking about entirely off-grid living. That's why I was comparing $5,000 to $5,000. That $5,000 is what pays for your satellite, electric, gas, and all the other little things. That said with solar and electric vehicles now you can start getting even more self sufficient, which is great.
cycrutchfield 8y ago
How about instead of wasting their time hunting and foraging for food, people should spend their time improving their skill set so they can earn more than $5000 a year? You say self-sufficiency, I say inefficient subsistence hunting/farming.
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  It's kind of funny how people's supposed political ideologies can so quickly take a 180 isn't it? You literally just suggested 'why don't those poor people just go get better jobs'. Of course I think the problem is most people don't actually create their own ideological systems and instead just pick one 'side' or another, and adopt those beliefs as their own - even when they don't necessarily fit. In any case, the point I was making is that not everybody wants or needs change. Some people for certain do, and I do actually agree with you (though I doubt you agree with yourself!) - going to the city and getting a job that pays way more than you'd earn in a rural area is an easy option. It's precisely what my parent did. But when looking at those that remain, you can't really compare economic systems since it's just so entirely different. And trying to 'better' rural America by implanting 6 figure remoters is going to have unclear implications.

pjc50 8y ago

> single large whitetail deer Are these widely available in Greece? > Get into things like raising chickens and pigs, and you literally will never have to pay a dime for food again if you don't want. Have you actually done this? I know people who have tiny farms as a hobby, and people who've retired from smallholding because it was uneconomic, and people who live in remote areas of Scotland .. and this resembles none of their lives. You might not have to pay for food (of a few types at certain times of the year), but you can't grow your own petrol or heating oil.

TangoTrotFox 8y ago
Greece has wild boar - beats the pants off whitetail any day! And yeah, most of my family is very rural and raise and grow all sorts of stuff on relatively small plots of land. I'm not talking about entirely off-grid living. That's why I was comparing $5,000 to $5,000. That $5,000 is what pays for your satellite, electric, gas, and all the other little things. That said with solar and electric vehicles now you can start getting even more self sufficient, which is great.

cycrutchfield 8y ago

How about instead of wasting their time hunting and foraging for food, people should spend their time improving their skill set so they can earn more than $5000 a year? You say self-sufficiency, I say inefficient subsistence hunting/farming.

TangoTrotFox 8y ago
It's kind of funny how people's supposed political ideologies can so quickly take a 180 isn't it? You literally just suggested 'why don't those poor people just go get better jobs'. Of course I think the problem is most people don't actually create their own ideological systems and instead just pick one 'side' or another, and adopt those beliefs as their own - even when they don't necessarily fit. In any case, the point I was making is that not everybody wants or needs change. Some people for certain do, and I do actually agree with you (though I doubt you agree with yourself!) - going to the city and getting a job that pays way more than you'd earn in a rural area is an easy option. It's precisely what my parent did. But when looking at those that remain, you can't really compare economic systems since it's just so entirely different. And trying to 'better' rural America by implanting 6 figure remoters is going to have unclear implications.