The Stupid Things I Save...

While clearing out some files tonight, I found this. I forgot I wrote it, much less saved it. I never received a reply. Of course not. Those who write about "rural" issues and live in large cities prefer to not discuss matters with those who live "in ground zero," if you will pardon the phrase.

Three years have gone by.  I have only one correction to make.  We are now "Detroit" up in Macomb County, and medical marijuana is what is driving up the housing market.  Those from the city are buying up housing and setting LARGE operations then financially destroying the rural townships who have ordinances regulating operations.  This is Michigan, after all.   Take your beating, residents, because that's what the Michigan state government is for, to destroy its residents.

That said, here's a laugh for everyone:

In your article “Getting Real about Rural America”, you wrote, “I’m sure that some rural readers will be angered by everything I’ve just said, seeing it as typical big-city condescension. But that’s neither my intention nor the point. I’m simply trying to get real. We can’t help rural America without understanding that the role it used to play in our nation is being undermined by powerful economic forces that nobody knows how to stop.”

Yes, I am angry; No, not at you. Perhaps I am more tired and annoyed than angry. I live in Southeast Michigan, an area that constantly is tossed in with Detroit though it is not Detroit yet. While health care, child care and infrastructure are problems that we all can agree exist, the real issues facing the rural areas here are greedy real estate moguls, the change of agriculture to agri-business, and the mafia. More localized are the natural gas issues and increasing crime as the gangs travel north.

I am 43 years old. I do not want to bombard you with my experiences, because in my experience those who write for newspapers are only interested in something that gets him or her 5 minutes of glory, not actually dealing with the issues at hand. No one wants to talk about the “immigrant families” who five and six generations down still have to work twice as hard as others to get an education. No one wants to talk about how small farmers have been destroyed so that a few could take over that which Thomas Jefferson lauded as the basis of freedom. No one wants to talk about how one person’s reality is so very different from another’s. If you care to read about some of my experiences, you will find them here: 

Don’t take my word for it; come and see for yourself. However, NO ONE wants to come up here and see. Half the battle of fighting stereotypes is to come and see, and it is easier for Michigan if no one notices what has been going on for generations. Should you come to Michigan to see, look me up and I’ll show you the forgotten areas and what life is really like for some of us Americans.