My County is 3rd Poorest in America

Source

Southeastern Kentucky was home to four of the nation's poorest counties. The country's poorest county saw its median income drop $1,500 since 2000,

The 3 poorest counties in America... I live in number 3...
1 and 2 are surrounding counties...

There is nothing here...

If you want work, you got to leave...

Its kinda depressing seeing your home being ranked "3rd Poorest County in America"

I've compared this place to a "3rd World Country" before...
didnt know I was more dead on than I realized...

So if you don't live here... or in the surrounding counties...
be thankful to whoever you pray to...
be glad you don't live in this hell...

If I didnt have family here... I would have long been gone...

reply to post by EvolEric


How you make money? porn? Bluegrass Porn?

Damn boss, can you elaborate on how bad it is??? i live out in Jerseys a pretty wealthy(expensive as balls) state, i heard alot pf people feel we are actually in a depression, i feel that pretty soon that everywhere in the country will feel it sooner than later, how are you dealing with it, im not gonna be a dick and and say "just move" (like that option didnt pop into your head already) how are you and your family dealing with it??

sad sign that shows the US crumbling apart little by little. Looks like the US is becoming a third world nation

WOW....nothing like the original stereotype. I find that to be fairly insensitive and moronic. You throw the word Kentucky into the equation and it leads to bull# like this. It's simple minded people and comments like this that truly show the ignorance of people. The sad thing is that this site seems to magnet more of the close minded anymore.

Originally posted by minorsj34
Damn boss, can you elaborate on how bad it is??? i live out in Jerseys a pretty wealthy(expensive as balls) state, i heard alot pf people feel we are actually in a depression, i feel that pretty soon that everywhere in the country will feel it sooner than later, how are you dealing with it, im not gonna be a dick and and say "just move" (like that option didnt pop into your head already) how are you and your family dealing with it??

The school system is the biggest best employer... but hard to get a job with them, due to demand...
Next is the hospital... but again same as above...
Wal-Mart is next... but try feeding a family on that kinda money...

Our fast food joints arent for teenagers... I go else where to bigger brighter cities, and its a 16 year old taking my order... here, its a 40 year old man with a college degree who cant find other work...


Most people make a living by being scum...
draw a check from the government...

I make money legally and doing honest work...

Next time you have a energy drink or Pepsi max with Ginseng
you can thank me and other like me

Ginseng has to be dug by someone...

I "Herb" ...not the illegal herb... but I dig stuff like
*rattle weed
*yellow root
and strip the bark off of Elm Tree's

I then sell the "herbs" and collect money from them... btw its a heck of a drive to go the nearest buyer...
but the herbs I dig are used to make anything from Medicine, vitamins to energy drinks...

I also grow my own food, hunt my own meat as much as I can...

I also sell pop cans... you city dwellers gotta recycle them right?
at .50cents a pound you could be making the big bucks out here!!


I spent time in New Jersey a few years back...
i've been to my fair share of places... most major US cities...

My family just deals...
My wife and I live with my parents... that helps...
but it takes us all to make it!

Originally posted by crkking
WOW....nothing like the original stereotype. I find that to be fairly insensitive and moronic. You throw the word Kentucky into the equation and it leads to bull# like this. It's simple minded people and comments like this that truly show the ignorance of people. The sad thing is that this site seems to magnet more of the close minded anymore.

Since mine was the only insensitive quote, I figure you were talking about me. America is a 3rd world country we've been just living in a wierd illusion where we can get anything we want like willy wonka and the chocolate factory. Eventually the pendilum will have to swing back the other way. This man's town is just the first of many to go under.

sorry if I seem unsensitive, most of the time I'm joking around being sarcastic. nice to meet you.

nevermind

Kentucky is a beautiful state. The state needs to lure more retiree's and develop more prosperous business. Kentucky is a low wage state, there is so much more large companies can do for one of the most beautiful states in the country. The people there are the salt of the earth. Just quit drinking Mountain Dew. LOL.

Oh... in Perry County... which is a neighboring county...

There is one of the main Bank of America call centers...
But the pay sucks!
and
AT&T Broadband operates there...I actually worked there for a while... We were responsible for putting internet in all the Starbucks in 08...
A team member of mine was responsible for the BET Awards... providing T1 internet for a "sateliitle" link for one of the winners who couldnt make the show... and setting up the internet for the venue

But keep in mind... i was earning 10 bucks... at the AT&T headquarters in New Jersey, to do my job, you had to have a college degree and you started out at 25 bucks... so us ignorant uneducated hicks were doing a job that requires 2 years of college...

So the next time you BoA users over draft... its a redneck that is handing your account
and all those big corporations who have T1 and T3 internet... you can think my former co-workers


Glad I left AT&T though... I would much rather dig and sweat than work there!

i had the privilege of driving thru some of your beautiful states from canada.

buffalo, new york looks like a cockroach infested slum, 3 levels above a shantytown in south africa. i drove for 45 mins around trying to find a good area to stop, i failed.

usually cities have at least some decent areas. buffalo had none. i turned around and headed back to canada, because no restaurant looked like it has passed a health inspection in decades.

then i drove thru detroit. it looked like a post apocalypse war zone. i have never seen so many boarded up, burnt and abandoned houses in my life. i drove around looking for signs of life. i guess everyone was to scared to be jacked by marauding gangs.

i think the original robocop was filmed in 2011 and transported back in time, because it accurately represents detroit.


i have also visited washington d.c. i think the capital, is one of the most beautiful and best laid out cities in the world. if you can get past homelessville, which have decided to build base camp right across the street from the whitehouse.

but go outside of washington to the surrounding suburbs and communities, it looks like little beirut. the only time i have seen so many bullet riddled buildings is when they show footage of fallujah on the history channel.

i would be ashamed if i were president or a senator and saw my constituents were living like that just several blocks away.

you would have to travel to guatemala or south america to see conditions worse than this.

i was expecting to see the streets paved with gold and immaculate infrastructure, since america is the self proclaimed greatest, wealthiest and most powerful superpower in history. this is completely false. just like the wealthy, only 1% of america is livable from what i saw.


is america the land of opportunity. yes, it gives you the opportunity to live in squalor, poverty and debt.

in contrast i have been to rome, spain and england and have seen nothing that compares to what i have seen in america. those places are really paved in wealth. everything was world class there. that's what i was expecting in america.


the difference in wealth is gigantic. it's bordering on criminal. and this was years ago. i can only imagine now.
there was no middle class from what i saw. you'd have better luck finding a $3 dollar bill, than actually meeting someone who is wealthy. that's how rare they are.

i actually feel bad and pity for america, because i can say the people are top notch and friendly and in no way representative of it's governments image.

next time you say God bless america, say God bless our people, we need it.

Originally posted by brilab45
Kentucky is a beautiful state. The state needs to lure more retiree's and develop more prosperous business. Kentucky is a low wage state, there is so much more large companies can do for one of the most beautiful states in the country. The people there are the salt of the earth. Just quit drinking Mountain Dew. LOL.

mmmmmm moonshine

we have some big companies here...

read my above post... but they under cut us...

but if there was more jobs it would help!

but yeah I agree!
People here would love to work!
But there is nothing hardly to work at...

I left AT&T cos it was too far of a drive, my gas bill, insurance and other bills were starting to overcome what I was making there...
I did far better being "unemployed" and digging Herbs

reply to post by randomname

then i drove thru detroit. it looked like a post apocalypse war zone. i have never seen so many boarded up, burnt and abandoned houses in my life. i drove around looking for signs of life. i guess everyone was to scared to be jacked by marauding gangs.

i think the original robocop was filmed in 2011 and transported back in time, because it accurately represents detroit.

I stayed in detroit for a lil while... you described it perfectly! lol
Sad... I have good friends there!
But they do better than I do! lol

and for the record, I carried a big stick with me everywhere I went..
I got a hand crafted walking staff... i take with me everywhere...

also I will note...
The people I was staying with, my friends who were of mixed races...
feared their neighbors...

Told me not to go out wandering...
I was alone one afternoon... and needed smokes... needless to say... I wandered

ending up enjoying a nice evening sitting outside on the sidewalk
drinking a 40 with a nice gentleman who went by the name of Jay-Bone

I just checked the US Census data to see how my county stacks up and was actually shocked to see the results. My county’s median income is $67,000 a year with only 8% poverty rate. I always thought it was actually pretty bad around here, I guess it can be a hell of a lot worse. Especially considering our cost of living is 9% lower than the national average.

My friend I feel for your situation, I do hope it improves. It must be asked, has the region always been this impoverished? Is it only since the 80s like the Rust Belt that the economy in the Appalachian region has collapsed? I know your part of the country used to have vast coal resources so you would assume that would equate with wealth generation.

I still havent seen a 3D movie...
gotta drive 80 miles to the closest 3D enabled cinema...
and that 15 dollar price tag times 3 people... and the 40-50 dollars of gas it would take to get there...
i just don't see that happening, lol


For entertainment around here, I chat with you fine people lol
or listen to a coyote howl...

Originally posted by EvolEric
Source

Southeastern Kentucky was home to four of the nation's poorest counties. The country's poorest county saw its median income drop $1,500 since 2000,

The 3 poorest counties in America... I live in number 3...
1 and 2 are surrounding counties...

There is nothing here...

If you want work, you got to leave...

Its kinda depressing seeing your home being ranked "3rd Poorest County in America"

I feel for you buddy. Life is rough when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

But I will say this though. Times may be tough, you may live in the third worst county. But you are in a country that is bloated with ill gotten wealth and you still have hope. Spare a thought for those who actually really live in 3rd world countries. They have no option to move state. They have no hope of ever getting out of the poverty cycle. And worst of all a lot of these countries don't even grow enough food to feed themselves so dinner can be boiled grass mixed with flour and water.

Remember, no matter how bad things seem, there is always someone worse off than you out there.

Originally posted by Misoir
I just checked the US Census data to see how my county stacks up and was actually shocked to see the results. My county’s median income is $67,000 a year with only 8% poverty rate. I always thought it was actually pretty bad around here, I guess it can be a hell of a lot worse. Especially considering our cost of living is 9% lower than the national average.

My friend I feel for your situation, I do hope it improves. It must be asked, has the region always been this impoverished? Is it only since the 80s like the Rust Belt that the economy in the Appalachian region has collapsed? I know your part of the country used to have vast coal resources so you would assume that would equate with wealth generation.

Actually its probably the best its been really...

My father who was born in 1946... might as well been born in 1846...
They didnt have jobs... where we grew up... which is a few counties over from me...
you lived off the land or died.

He didnt have electricity...or a phone... wasnt offered... couldnt afford it, had it been...

My mom who grew up in the same county i live in today... lived on a better standard as my father... she was born in 61... but still she was poorer than dirt...

The coal boom during the 80's made several people rich... but those people got out after the coal industries did...
My father worked for several coal companies until he had an accident and was disabled in the 90's
...he wasnt rich though... and his injury took most the savings back then...

Its better than it was... in the terms of quality of life, as in modern convenience... but its always sucked

$67,000

for that kind of money...
I would jump through hoops of fire and sing the star spangled banner... backwards
lol

reply to post by markosity1973

I feel for you buddy. Life is rough when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. But I will say this though. Times may be tough, you may live in the third worst county. But you are in a country that is bloated with ill gotten wealth and you still have hope. Spare a thought for those who actually really live in 3rd world countries. They have no option to move state. They have no hope of ever getting out of the poverty cycle. And worst of all a lot of these countries don't even grow enough food to feed themselves so dinner can be boiled grass mixed with flour and water. Remember, no matter how bad things seem, there is always someone worse off than you out there.

I appreciate it!
I am not trying to throw a pity party for myself
I make it, I wont get rich... but i have family, and I have an amazing wife...
and I get to enjoy many things most people won't...

no light pollution hindering the stars...
I can lay in the road across from me for hours naked and no one would see me...
I can walk for days in the hills and never meet another person...
and I can grow my own food and hunt...

I do alright...

and I know there is so many more who have it much worse!!!!

but i can tell you... i live almost at the bottom of the barrel in America...
I couldnt live in an actual 3rd world country...
those people who do... are tough! so they got my blessings and the tip of my hat!

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has stopped by this thread.

I hope you can feel better about where you live, lol

As sad as it is... as bad as this place is... I could be living in the Poorest county in America instead of the 3rd... but anytime I want a reminder that my county is better off than the poorest county... I'll drive for about 20 minutes, lol

Actually... the poorest county in America has complete DSL coverage and the 3rd doesnt!
thats messed up!

-Peace be with you all

reply to post by randomname


Just reading your post almost made me want to cry, it really did.

My grandparents came over here from Central Europe and fell in love with this country, but at the time they had no choice because they were refugees. Anyway they travelled across from Connecticut to Indiana and north into Ontario and Manitoba in Canada. This was during the 1950s when the economy of the area was BOOMING. New homes were being constructed everywhere, factories working overtime, and the cities were experiencing lavish wealth and the world’s highest standard of living bar-none.

Then Nixon signed us off to our death. He ended the US Dollar with gold and normalized relations with PRC. Since the oil crisis and the beginning trade with China in the 1970s the Great Lakes region began to experience economic decline, factories were slowing production and firing workers. By the 1980s it took the turn for the worst, the free-trade deals were being signed and factories were closing every month from Minnesota to New Jersey.

The urban centers in the region; St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo began to experience “white flight”. All of the wealthier more affluent households left the large cities for the suburbs. Detroit’s population collapsed as all of the wealthier individuals left those cities due to rising crime and poverty from the unemployment and closed businesses.

Under Clinton the kiss of death finally met America; NAFTA and WTO were signed and ever since we have all but lost the region now known as the ‘Rust Belt’. Every urban center in the Great Lakes began losing population to the suburbs as wealthier people fled the crime, depression, and unemployment of the cities. This can be seen in almost every large Great Lakes and to a lesser extent, Northeastern city. Some have fought back hard such as New York, Boston, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh, others have just given up because well there is no hope.

For many in the once wealthiest place in the world, Great Lakes region of US, there is no more hope besides organized crime. The only way to make money is through drugs, sex, robbery, murder, theft, or welfare, because that is all they have left. It’s easy to say “get a job” but there are millions of people who live in a place where there literally are no jobs or ones that pay so little you could never afford to survive.

Simple fact is that we cannot compete with third world slave labor but we are told that we must and it is better for us to do so. How can we compete with a country that performs unfair trade policies and allows their people to be paid less $0.50 an hour? We can’t and those in Washington don’t care, they really just don’t. They leave the White House, the Congress, and they go to their luxurious hotel rooms and meet with their wealthy business friends while dining at a five star restaurant. It doesn’t matter to them because they will never have to live it.

People on the Mexican border are told not to defend their property and the states told not to enforce the laws our federal government refuses to. We have drug gangs roaming our borders, smuggling illegals into our country, kidnapping and abducting people in our country, attacking farmers, and we’re told there’s no problem. A bomb was just put in the street of a city on the Mexico border in southern Texas, probably by drug gangs.

Phoenix, Arizona has the highest abduction rate in the country. Enormous amounts of illegal workers have flooded the economy of the Southwest lowering wages, taking jobs, causing tension, violence, and crime. Ciudad Juarez across the Rio Grande from El Paso, TX has the highest murder rate in the world. Drugs, crime, violence, gangs, and poverty spreading across the Southwest, yet no one has anything to say about it unless you want to be called a bigot, xenophobe, or nativist.

Parts of the Deep South and Appalachian region sit in absolute squalor with unemployment in some areas exceeding 30% even with the official statistics. Entire counties in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania classified as “Depressed”.

Yeah what happened to the wealth? It is socially and geographically concentrated. That’s not because the people have done something wrong, they are just reaching for justice and hope, albeit in the wrong places.

When businesses left the Great Lakes government stepped in to fill the void which required more taxes and regulations to set up a house of cards, that house has collapsed. Business won’t return and even if they considered returning people want them punished for what the international elite have done to them along with Washington.

If you would have come to America 45 years ago you would have thought Buffalo was a vibrant metropolis with a high income and growth, come here now and you will see vacant buildings, broken glass, abandoned homes, and gangs. That is what they have done to us. That is what we have let them do to us.

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