I can agree with the economic aspect of this piece - which shouldn't fall squarely on the globalization bogeyman - but also shared among the education gap, the improved automation of manufacturing, and the shift in the energy sector that is happening. The same people around me in OH and WV who have "Stop Obama's War on Coal" are also psyched as shit that their communities are welcoming the fracking industry with opened arms (and poo poo'ing any attempts to garner more green energy jobs). But yes - small towns (at least where I'm from) are depressed.

But the rest of the article as it relates to social changes is a bunch of bunk. Those problems are rooted in bigotry and racism.

Let me ask you this Peter (and anyone else who might chime in) - would an article like this be written from the flip side? I doubt.