"It’s not a stretch at all to say that my grandparents, Appalachian grandparents, believed that progress was good and that forward movement was better than going backward—even if you had to move to town to get it. Rural folks were progressive and I know that from my personal history."
Absolutely right. Do you know what was probably the most important advancement for people in farm-country Missouri in the 20th century? Rural electrification, straight out of the New Deal. It changed so many lives, and made so much possible for poor people living in the country.
Rural electrification didn't happen because of Wall Street or because of foreign investors or because of some tech bro from Silicon Valley. It happened because FDR's government saw a need that the for-profit world had decided wasn't worth filling.
It was worth filling, just like providing good education to kids in the country is worth doing, no matter what the GOP says. It's worth paying teachers a livable salary and keeping schools open 5 days a week since you no longer have to bribe them with time off to get them to stay. Instead of getting bogged down in the culture wars the GOP loves to stoke, voters need to be reminded of the ways that competent government actually benefits them.
Yes. I was born in a 3 room house without electricity. We did move when I was 6 weeks old to one with electricity. My grandparents didn't have electricity until I was about 10. My teenage uncles used their wages from helping in hay bailing to buy a TV. We all watched wrestling there on Saturday nights.
That grandfather was a Republican whose handshake was as good as a signed contract. No lying in his house. He would be horrified by current party.
"It’s not a stretch at all to say that my grandparents, Appalachian grandparents, believed that progress was good and that forward movement was better than going backward—even if you had to move to town to get it. Rural folks were progressive and I know that from my personal history."
Absolutely right. Do you know what was probably the most important advancement for people in farm-country Missouri in the 20th century? Rural electrification, straight out of the New Deal. It changed so many lives, and made so much possible for poor people living in the country.
Rural electrification didn't happen because of Wall Street or because of foreign investors or because of some tech bro from Silicon Valley. It happened because FDR's government saw a need that the for-profit world had decided wasn't worth filling.
It was worth filling, just like providing good education to kids in the country is worth doing, no matter what the GOP says. It's worth paying teachers a livable salary and keeping schools open 5 days a week since you no longer have to bribe them with time off to get them to stay. Instead of getting bogged down in the culture wars the GOP loves to stoke, voters need to be reminded of the ways that competent government actually benefits them.
Yes. I was born in a 3 room house without electricity. We did move when I was 6 weeks old to one with electricity. My grandparents didn't have electricity until I was about 10. My teenage uncles used their wages from helping in hay bailing to buy a TV. We all watched wrestling there on Saturday nights.
That grandfather was a Republican whose handshake was as good as a signed contract. No lying in his house. He would be horrified by current party.