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Comment by Spooky23 | Hacker News Reader

Amazon like most consolidators can still prosper amoungnst the ruins.

I grew up in a rural mostly farming community. The farming part started dying when I was in school in the 90s. Now it's throughly dead. People are still surviving, but the "rich" folks are teachers, cops, and government workers who commute an hour to the state capital.

When you drive though you can see the decay -- unpainted house here, barn with a hole in the roof there, dollar general store popping up over here. It's the inner city replicated in the countryside. There's more misery than there was 20 years ago.

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it's interesting that the 'rich' folks are government workers. maybe that's the employment model of the new normal in a LOT of places.

it makes me wonder if, really, that's the model that has always been the norm, historically.

i mean, when i think about the civil service jobs in the UK, or the true original civil service jobs in China going back centuries, i see a system where the brightest, most motivated minds compete for a limited number of government job posts - because those are the best jobs available.

occasionally in history, there are times when the private sector offers paths to affluence for the masses, but mostly, that's not what happens. mostly, we're trying to get a legally protected, high-benefit position in government. most of the time, historically, that's the most lucrative path.

Gov't workers can't be outsourced overseas and they're usually able to pay well. This is why after an industrial base is wiped out, the only people making a decent salary work for the state.

But these towns are going to keep getting wiped out until we free up the concentration of capital that favors dense urban areas

> until we free up the concentration of capital that favors dense urban areas

What is this supposed to mean? Is "favor[ing] dense urban areas" somehow wrong? What dark force is driving this concentration of capital? What is necessary to free it?

Consolidation in finance and other sectors has made it difficult or impossible for small and medium business to survive. As regional banking dries up, its dramatically more difficult for firms to get loans, even for working capital.

There's no reason for large banks to lend money. They can print money via the Fed to get their assets and lend money to the highest quality borrowers or those with explicit government guarantees. The traditional regional banking model was much better for everyone.

Are you (and kesselvon) suggesting that otherwise viable businesses are getting wiped out because they are in small towns? And the reason for that is that regional banking is "drying up"?

That seems improbable to me, especially at a time when so much capital is looking for a decent return

Also, as I asked, what does this have to do with "dense urban areas" being "favored"?

"They can print money via the Fed to get their assets..."

I don't think that's how it works.

> Consolidation in finance and other sectors has made it difficult or impossible for small and medium business to survive

reminds me of the VC / startup landscape

Couple of years ago I was wondering why the hate on government workers in places like this. And then had the thought. My dad worked for the government as an engineer. But he made probably 80% of prevailing bay area wages. Thought is once you get out into less flush parts of the US the government jobs probably pay much better than prevailing wages. Breeds resentment.

It's not only in places like that. Even in Los Angeles, some residents have the feeling that government workers are a kind of protected elite class, mostly insulated from the free market's demands for ever increasing productivity and efficiency, global competition, economic cycles and the high cost of health care and retirement.

See, for example: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-dwp-cont...

I wonder a lot about this. Everyone I know in my hometown works in some sort of local service industry -- for the most part city government, healthcare, or construction. The factories are all closed down, there's very little office space, and it's a bit too far from the regional capital to commute. I really wonder what economy all the service workers are there to support.

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