3 ms·

Your point with regards to criteria has merit, but this is unlikely to move the needle as Rural America continues to hollow out, so it's their funds to run the

Your point with regards to criteria has merit, but this is unlikely to move the needle as Rural America continues to hollow out, so it's their funds to run the experiment. West Virginia has one of the oldest populations in the country (3rd [1]) while having the lowest birth rate (~16k/year and falling), for example (one of their pilots was in Mercer County, WV). Similar for Mississippi (highest out migration in the US [2] [3]). There is simply no political appetite for the spending required in this regard without broad system changes to enable remote work to support rural communities as employers leave and agriculture dies. As you mention, this population cohort is what SNAP and Medicaid was stripped from. If some people have better lives through direct cash transfers while the outcome isn't going to change, that's fine I suppose. There are worse hobbies someone with resources could have. TLDR Rural America will remain in decline [4] [5], urbanization will continue (because that's where the economic potential and jobs are). [1] https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/west-virginia-has-third-oldest-population-in-the-united-states/ https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/west-virginia-has-th... [2] https://www.wapt.com/article/mississippi-ranks-among-top-states-people-are-leaving-national-moving-study-finds/69882639 https://www.wapt.com/article/mississippi-ranks-among-top-sta... [3] https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/15/faq-mississippi-brain-drain-crisis/ https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/15/faq-mississippi-brai... [4] ‘Too many old people’: A rural Pa. town reckons with population loss - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44583495 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44583495 - June 2024 (81% of rural counties recording more deaths than births between 2019 and 2023) [5] Map Shows 21 States Where Deaths Now Outnumber Births - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46889024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46889024 - February 2026 (I track the decline of Rural America broadly to reach out to institutions to ingest their data and collections for long term archival before they evaporate)

OutOfHere 9mo ago
"Agriculture dies" makes zero sense. Have people stopped eating food and plants? There are hundreds to thousands of plants with commercial value that are grown around the globe. You're trying to tell me that WV can't grow one of them profitably. Or maybe it's because they've so thoroughly and irreversibly poisoned their soil and water to where nothing good will grow anymore.
- toomuchtodo 9mo ago
  Average age of a farmer is 58, China has reconfigured their imports towards South America for trade stability. "Agriculture dies" = Rural America agriculture, which is needed to sustain Rural America economies. Farmers also commit suicide at ~3.5x the rate of the general public; it is too early to tell imho how much of the strife I enumerate below will lead to changes in that statistic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_West_Virginia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_West_Virginia https://usafacts.org/articles/us-agricultural-exports/ https://usafacts.org/articles/us-agricultural-exports/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_the_Uni... https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-farmers-therapy-mental-health-suicide-rates https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-farmers-therapy-ment... Former Farming Leaders Warn U.S. Agriculture Could Face ‘Widespread Collapse’ - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/us-agriculture-warning.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/us-agricultur... | https://archive.today/dDebF https://archive.today/dDebF - February 3rd, 2026 China to favour Brazilian soybean imports in 2026 H1 despite renewed US inflows - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-favour-brazilian-soybean-imports-h1-despite-renewed-us-inflows-2026-01-26/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-favour-brazilian-s... | https://archive.today/NXFCC https://archive.today/NXFCC - January 27th, 2026 $12 Billion Farm Aid Package Not Enough, Farm Leaders Say - https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/12/12-billion-farm-aid-package-not-enough-farm-leaders-say/ https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/12/12-billion-farm-... - December 12th, 2025 Farm Bankruptcies Rising in 2025 - https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/07/farm-bankruptcies-this-year-already-exceed-2024-levels/ https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/07/farm-bankruptcie... - July 15th, 2025 Q1 2025 U.S. farm bankruptcies exceed 2024 - https://www.uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2025/july/07-07-2025-ark-farm-bankruptcies.aspx https://www.uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2025/july/07-... - July 7th, 2025

OutOfHere 9mo ago

"Agriculture dies" makes zero sense. Have people stopped eating food and plants? There are hundreds to thousands of plants with commercial value that are grown around the globe. You're trying to tell me that WV can't grow one of them profitably. Or maybe it's because they've so thoroughly and irreversibly poisoned their soil and water to where nothing good will grow anymore.

toomuchtodo 9mo ago
Average age of a farmer is 58, China has reconfigured their imports towards South America for trade stability. "Agriculture dies" = Rural America agriculture, which is needed to sustain Rural America economies. Farmers also commit suicide at ~3.5x the rate of the general public; it is too early to tell imho how much of the strife I enumerate below will lead to changes in that statistic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_West_Virginia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_West_Virginia https://usafacts.org/articles/us-agricultural-exports/ https://usafacts.org/articles/us-agricultural-exports/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_the_Uni... https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-farmers-therapy-mental-health-suicide-rates https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-farmers-therapy-ment... Former Farming Leaders Warn U.S. Agriculture Could Face ‘Widespread Collapse’ - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/us-agriculture-warning.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/us-agricultur... | https://archive.today/dDebF https://archive.today/dDebF - February 3rd, 2026 China to favour Brazilian soybean imports in 2026 H1 despite renewed US inflows - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-favour-brazilian-soybean-imports-h1-despite-renewed-us-inflows-2026-01-26/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-favour-brazilian-s... | https://archive.today/NXFCC https://archive.today/NXFCC - January 27th, 2026 $12 Billion Farm Aid Package Not Enough, Farm Leaders Say - https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/12/12-billion-farm-aid-package-not-enough-farm-leaders-say/ https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/12/12-billion-farm-... - December 12th, 2025 Farm Bankruptcies Rising in 2025 - https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/07/farm-bankruptcies-this-year-already-exceed-2024-levels/ https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2025/07/farm-bankruptcie... - July 15th, 2025 Q1 2025 U.S. farm bankruptcies exceed 2024 - https://www.uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2025/july/07-07-2025-ark-farm-bankruptcies.aspx https://www.uaex.uada.edu/media-resources/news/2025/july/07-... - July 7th, 2025