Uneven Ground Read Online Free PDF Page B

Appalachia is not the “other America” that the national stereotypes would have us believe; instead, it may be more of a bellwether of the challenges facing our larger society. Despite more than a century of the media’s stereotyping the mountains as a “strange land inhabited by a peculiar people,” Appalachia has consistently reflected the struggles, trends, and value conflicts of the larger society, sometimes with agonizing intensity. For more than a century the stereotypes created about Appalachia have obscured the reality of political and economic life in the region and have hidden the exploitation of land and people for the benefit of the rest of the country and for the enrichment of the few. Popular stereotypes have tended to blame the land or the culture of Appalachia for regional disparities, but the real uneven ground of Appalachia has been the consequence of structural inequalities based on class, race, and gender, and on political corruption, land abuse, and greed.
    Second, growth and development are not the same thing, despite more than a century of equating any change in the name of modernizationwith progress. Appalachia has experienced growth without development that has left the region modernized and altered but lacking the improved public resources needed to support the new lifestyles. Job creation does not necessarily produce security, wealth, and happiness. Increased consumption doesn’t equal economic independence, and more consumption doesn’t necessarily produce meaning in life.
    Third, urban and national models of growth are not always appropriate for rural places. The consolidation of public services in one place can cause the decline and neglect of other places. Public resource expenditures in Appalachia have nurtured the development of some growth centers in the mountains, but that strategy has facilitated the decline of many rural and remote communities. Rural places usually play catch-up to urban trends, and Appalachia has often tried to copy strategies that have already been abandoned by urban areas. The sad failure of industrial recruitment and the disappointing outcomes of school consolidation are but two examples.
    Fourth, land use matters. Extractive economies tend to produce social and economic inequality, environmental destruction, and short-term growth rather than sustainable incomes and lifestyles. Wherever extractive economies have dominated around the world, they have produced inequality; they often confine an area to single-industry dependence and inhibit diversification. Extractive economies and the extractive elites who thrive on them are inconsistent with long-term thinking.
    Fifth, environment and culture are inextricably connected. How we use the land affects how we see ourselves, how we relate to each other, the values that we pass on to our children, and the meanings that we give to life. Rich, vibrant landscapes can give us hope and confidence for tomorrow; desolate landscapes limit future possibilities and can leave us constrained by hopelessness and despair. Preserving the Appalachian biosystem is at the very core of preserving an Appalachian identity for our children.
    Sixth, development is a political act that requires democratic community engagement and open public debate. Visionary leadership and civic participation are essential for successful communities. Effective civic leadership involves thinking beyond self-interest and specialinterestpolitics. Civic leadership requires us to act collectively and to think creatively. Good leadership learns from the past and uses the lessons of the past to embrace change; blindly implementing the policies that have failed in the past will produce the same failed outcomes.
    And finally, community-based economies produce more sustainable and equitable development than those based solely on national and global market priorities. Local and regional markets are important because they foster diversity; disperse