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You gotta come visit rural Appalachia and see if you still think they have any power. We have turned our poorest, most vulnerable populations into the enemy. W
by listless 5y ago
You gotta come visit rural Appalachia and see if you still think they have any power.
We have turned our poorest, most vulnerable populations into the enemy. We did it in the 80s/90s with young black men, then in the 2000s with Muslims and we’re doing it again but this time it’s “racists”. Because we have to have an enemy.
This is not a defense of racism, but it is a defense of the people being made into the target.
- Arainach 5y agoTargeting groups based on what they innately are is wrong. Targeting them on what they choose to be is reasonable. Racists are not a demographic. I've spent plenty of time in Appalachia. You can only help people who want to be helped. The Obama administration wanted to retrain coal miners to new.jobs to help them and they (and.the politicians they elect) rejected it out of hand. They've had decades to change and have actively opposed it. This is fundamentally on them at this point, just like a good chunk of the rust belt suffering is because states and people had decades to try to diversify into something other than automobiles and decided not to.