tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773232892183310097.post8822433417647925088..comments2022-08-17T23:40:12.662-06:00Comments on Rural Republic: A Clog in the Brain DrainJon Klhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09956720704093836925noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773232892183310097.post-47649914590155836412010-09-10T07:37:55.798-06:002010-09-10T07:37:55.798-06:00I love this article, Bret! Adam and I both have fo...I love this article, Bret! Adam and I both have fond memories of that ball diamond (him moreso than I do--I think that is one of the reasons why he drags us to his softball games still today). <br /><br />I have to admit that I have had the menacing thought of not making it until you leave. I was never taught that, but somehow there was always that underlying attitude that leaving the country meant sophistication, more money, a better way of life. The problem is that it takes about ten years or so to realize that that is wrong and by then you are faced with sacrificing the life you've built for ten (or more) years to go back. Even though my husband and I both talk very fondly of farm life, our daughter has an automatic snobbery towards that type of living. Her current biggest attempt to battle me when she's in trouble is to say, "Mom, you don't understand. You grew up in the country." In those moments, I always understand why my grandma used a paddle to whip bottoms (and am tempted to do the same).<br /><br />I couldn't help but think of a similar mentality that occurs in the 'hood'. How many times are we told of stories of people who overcame growing up in the hood and being able to leave it and make something of themselves. The biggest difference is that they truly are leaving a rougher way of life.<br /><br />Which leads me to believe that current generations are just more apt to leave their family ties than previous generations. I don't know if it is because of advances in technology that make it easier to communicate or what. But, I do think more people are leaving 'home' in search of a different life.J-Lohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964758680434680621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773232892183310097.post-43493089705316397212010-09-10T01:56:13.791-06:002010-09-10T01:56:13.791-06:00Bret, this is an amazingly well thought out and wr...Bret, this is an amazingly well thought out and written article. There are a couple of changes to rural America that also contributed to the demise of the ball park; 1. The need to farm more ground to justify or maybe just pay for bigger equipment means longer hours at work; 2. Television happened. Why get together to play ball when you could be entertained in the comfort of your own home; 3. Bigger equipment and television makes you not want to go run around a ball diamond. The other thing that may have contributed to this brain drain is that for so long college was only for rich city kids and so when a generation of country schooled farmers realized that with the new machinery and more ground along with the new acceptance of working on credit they felt they could send their kids to college to get an education that was never possible to them and save their kids from a life of back breaking work. I think that the point about satisfying the desire to see the world first is a good point. But for whatever reasons the ball park is a mess and our small towns desperately need their young people to come home.Karin K.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773232892183310097.post-74056356237556635752010-09-09T22:57:23.474-06:002010-09-09T22:57:23.474-06:00Being a non-native rural dweller, I have to admit ...Being a non-native rural dweller, I have to admit that I have always disliked the graduation ceremony at the local high school. I do not know if most small town schools have similar ceremonies or not.<br /><br />The part I so dislike is that each child, as they receive their diploma has a paragraph read about them. This paragraph includes what college the child will be attending, all scholarships the child was offered, what they will be studying, and any sports they will be playing. I'm sure this is great for the families who are high achieving, college bound and can afford college tuition...but I always feel for the students who are going straight into the workforce, or who have babies that they need to raise, or who just can't afford to go to college. They have shorter paragraphs, and they all feel compelled to write (or might be instructed to write by the counselors or administrators) that he or she "plans continue his (her) education in the near future."<br /><br />Since we are hosting a high school aged exchange student, I am learning more about the school. This year, all the kids have one class called ICAP (Indvidual Career and Academic Plans), and during this class several times a week they do things like decide what colleges they are interested in (all logged into a website) practice standardized testing, talk to their teacher about college plans. Our exchange students ICAP teacher has been trying to talk her into taking the SAT. Why? I am not really sure, and neither is our exchange student. She is not interested in going to college in the US, it would be difficult since so much of the SAT and ACT tests involve English language vocabulary that she may or may not be familiar with...it just seems that even theses "Individual Career and Academic Plans" are a one-size fits all approach to getting more kids accepted into college, while ignoring the kids who do not have the interest, the capability, or the resources to go to college.<br /><br />I think that it would be difficult to grow up in a small town with all of the pressure from the school and the community (as well as any pressure from your own family) about your future. The whole community seems to feel that it is their right to know exactly what you plan to do with your life, and let's face it...most of us at 17 or 18 years old wouldn't have been able to guess what we are doing now.majellamomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03809626019321902004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773232892183310097.post-33906166561958126772010-09-09T08:11:07.848-06:002010-09-09T08:11:07.848-06:00Both of you have written facts and suppositions ve...Both of you have written facts and suppositions very eloquently. (The same goes for others who frequently grace this site.) Here we read and realize the great minds that were developed in this small rural community. Yes, the discussion of the "ballpark" is still echoing. It is just too difficult to let even a small piece of history disappear. I suppose that is why we are always grateful to have our children return to raise the nest generation of great minds. Perhaps parents who say you must leave to "find a better life" know that it is only then that you realize where that "better life" truly is. The restless feet and the need to experience the world can now be calm and happy. On the other hand, I don't believe that it is always the parents saying their young should leave. How many HS grads relish the thought of getting out of here and seeing the real world. But, in reality, how many of them continue to "remember the good old days." Keep up the good work!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14096167086645963605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7773232892183310097.post-22246052105960814982010-09-09T00:01:31.297-06:002010-09-09T00:01:31.297-06:00Incredibly thought-provoking piece, Bret. Thanks....Incredibly thought-provoking piece, Bret. Thanks. I really like the pictures, too - when I saw the first one of the octagonal merry-go-round, I knew exactly what I was looking at, even though it had been years since I spun on it. I think of that field often, whether it's playing in the softball culture of another smallish town, or as a frustrated baseball fan, exclaiming "Nine fat farmers could hit better than these bums right now" and remembering the days (was it Tuesday and Thursday nights?) when nine 9 or more of the proverbial "fat farmers" would give it a go on that field. <br /><br />The elucidation of the suicidal flaw in small town demography - that success is to be found "anywhere but here" - is a fascinating and powerful one. Its name must be spoken, and its falsehood shouted from every water tower and grain elevator in the land in an attempt to break that spell. <br /><br />Kauffman, in the WSJ article, does a very good job identifying another problem - school consolidation. I recently drove through a very small town - it was literally a grain elevator, a church, and a grade school - presumably all drawing the surrounding population to it, and thought of the same thing. There's a perfectly good, relatively large city within 8-10 miles; why does this place still exist? I don't know the answer to that question, but I suspect at least part of the answer is just plain cursed stubbornness, and that's a good thing. <br /><br />What's wrong with small schools? Our grandparents learned on the prairie in one-room schoolhouses with at most two separate grades for all of the school-age children. What would be so wrong with stepping in that direction today? The cynic in me thinks the towns are probably giving up their identity to compete in sports, but I'll try not to judge folks' intentions so harshly. <br /><br />Overall, though, this reminds me of a book I read that touched briefly on small town economics. A University of Nebraska study found that WalMart, to use an oft-demonized example business, doesn't kill the towns it sets up shops in, it kills the towns next door. The reason for this is that a town's economic viability is not determined by who gets the money in the town, but which way the money goes across the city limits. If it goes to the next town over, or to an internet store matters little; that more money goes out than in, in general, makes all the difference. <br /><br />The same could be said for human capital. Which is only surprising in that it's surprising at all. <br /><br />One last thing from me: part of the trap, I've discovered, keeping those who leave out, is that they often get married when they're off in "the big city," and often that spouse is incredibly skeptical to such a foreign, apparently-isolated life. It's not an impossible issue, of course, but I suspect many who would consider returning stop as soon as they recognize that little speedbump. <br /><br />Okay, one *last* last thing. I wonder if the "success is found elsewhere" stigma affects that demographic gradient in a more subtle way, in addition to driving people out. Does that stigma affect the perception and <i>reception</i> of those returning, and those coming out for the first time - both in the attitude that maybe since they left they think they're better, or since they're back they have failed? <br /><br />I've always said that in wide-open spaces there are fewer secrets, but maybe that's one that stays hidden.Jon Klhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956720704093836925noreply@blogger.com