The working class epidemic of demoralization

A lifestyle of addiction, promiscuity, and chaos comes with a hefty price tag. Sadly, our elites are exporting those values to the people least capable of sustaining them. If you don’t believe me, just watch MTV.

Aside from the money in their bank accounts, the spoiled kids featured on My Super Sweet Sixteen aren’t terribly different from those featured in the trailer for MTV’s upcoming reality series Buckwild. The difference, of course, is that the West Virginia kids being glamorized in Buckwild will grow old before their time — if they live long enough to grow old, that is. Most will likely spend the rest of their lives paying for the sins of their youth. The rich kids, on the other hand — well, they will likely land on their feet…

Kids growing up in rural communities often face tremendous economic pressures and feel they have little to believe in. Many see little hope for their futures. They seem to lack a purpose in life, and humans need a purpose.

Cities offer their own challenges, of course, but they also have a different energy. They have museums, hustle, and bustle. Cities are where — as Matt Ridley says — “ideas have sex.” Small communities lack this energy. (The Hal Ketchum song “Small Town Saturday Night” notes that you “gotta be bad just to have a good time.”)