Category: Politics
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Telling it how it is….
I recently engaged in a conversation with people on the “Coal Miners Light” Facebook page, asking pro-coal followers if they wanted their children to become future coal miners. I was not entirely unsurprised to find that everyone was about saving “coal,” but I was surprised that no one would answer my question directly. I pondered…
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Are We Ignorant Hillbillies?
Previously titled “Ignorance – Fighting the Appalachian Stereotype” Appalachians have been looked down upon, made fun of, and dehumanized as “uneducated,” “backwards,” or just down right “ignorant.” I myself would often denounce such stereotyping, but as of late I cannot help but acknowledge that many Appalachian people are fulfilling the descriptions placed upon them. The…
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True Appalachians
We are finding more and more ways to overextend ourselves in Appalachia. Our wants create debt; our debts force us to work dangerous environmentally destructive jobs. Nice homes, nice vehicles, nice this…nice that. Happiness is no longer admiring the small things—happiness became what people on TV told us it should be, it became what salesmen…
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Coal Miners are Good People
I’ve often stated that younger coal miners have a tendency to get themselves into large amounts of debt. It’s easy to do when you grow up in a low income household, start making decent money, and your coal company pay stub acts as instant credit with many local banks and auto dealerships. When the coal…
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Coal, Greed, and Maintaining a Captive Generational Workforce
Previously titled “Guess Who Wants Your Kids to Work in a Coal Mine?” There are many resources in Appalachia that make men wealthy. But without people, those resources would stay locked in the ground. After all, no one has been able to design fully autonomous machines to produce coal. Without coal miners the coal industry…