I wrote about the rural problem - in a different context - over a week ago. It’s here: Discussion: Town By Town, Local Journalism Is Dying In Plain Sight
The bottom line is that there’s no easy fix for the long-term flight from rural areas, perhaps no fix at all. Those areas are increasingly less economically viable - ultimately for the same reasons the job market is slowly but constantly changing almost everywhere - as it always has - because of technology. At best, government policy can only lessen the pain of change, not prevent it.
The short-sighted NYT article offers some stopgaps. Similar though not identical measures could be used in other rural areas (and I happen to live in one). But “doing something” about this needs to be mixed in with all the other things that need to be done - slowing climate change, retraining urban workforces, updating infrastructure almost everywhere, rebuilding education at all levels, relieving urban and rural homelessness, making more affordable middle class housing available, etc. etc.
As long as the wealthy 1% continue to suck up all the money in this country, everyone else suffers - not just the unfortunate rural farmers. It’s impossible to improve almost anything on less and less funding. What the NYT article proposes is about as helpful as aspirin to treat cancer. I know this isn’t what Iowa people want to hear. But it’s the cold, hard truth.
