http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_census_dying_counties;_ylt=ApsQ8pubgKwOLuyVUtub5CxH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTNoNGEya3VqBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMjIyL3VzX2NlbnN1c19keWluZ19jb3VudGllcwRjY29kZQN1c25ld3N2aWV3c2hhcmUEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDY2Vuc3VzbmVhci1y
about dying counties across the US.
For years, reading about ghost towns or the legend of Atlantis, or other lost communities and societies, I wonder what happened in a community that causes a die-off or abandonment. But I see it happening around me, vacant homes, closed businesses and, as described in the article, loss of population.
We could ask, have we over-built? Should we have more farms or open space to use for wind and solar? Should we live in smaller homes, closer to the cities, more mass transit, fewer cars? Aren't these some issues we, as a society, should consider? What should the American dream be? Do we really need some McMansion with three cars in the garage (for two people)? Is the time for this over-consumption finally over? Can we truly reconfigure our lifestyles to a more realistic level?
Can we learn from the rise and fall of other imperialist societies? First we would have to admit (like the first step in recovery) that we were, in fact, an imperialist society. And then, as all such societies do, we over-extended financially and in other ways (personnel overseas, trying to rule countries and peoples whose cultures and languages we don't understand and can't communicate with because we don't have the language skills), and that this over-extension is unmanageable and beyond our control.
Then we would have to really look at what to do? Do we shore up dying communities at home and abroad, when we can no longer afford in any way to do so? The answer clearly becomes a no.
And then what? Maybe we finally address the issues I set forth in my prior post. Should we have a blue-ribbon panel that travels the world and studies what works, or does not work, in other countries and can translate to America, to solve some of our entrenched problems?
Over the holiday weekend, we were with friends and discussing the immigration problem here. It is discussed in a small way in the article above - i.e. that without hispanic immigration, some communities are going to die-off, because locals will leave after high-school (if they can graduate). And, no one is staying and having children in those communities.
At this point, I am definitely not a Republican because there is no place for me in that party, no moderates left. Democrats are too disorganized. I am certainly leaning more independent as I become increasingly frustrated with both parties to put rhetoric aside and solve our problems, including immigration, an issue confronting many European countries too.
Why do we allow all of the monies earned here to leave via Western Union and other wire services? Should it stay here?
Why do we allow our jobs to be shipped overseas? Other countries engage in some degree of protectionism to save their manufacturing jobs - what can't we? Is the free market really all that? If we are truly free-market should we also be open borders?
If we are not going to enforce our immigration laws that are on the books, what's the point of having them? Shouldn't we provide the resources to law enforcement to remove undocumented persons? What is this doing to our society, to have so many people (we are now down to 8-10 million) living under the radar in our country?
So many questions, so little time, so few answers. Answers anyone?
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