Other Vice reporters should watch this guy. He doesn't try to make it about himself. He gets good information and doesn't try to play to the camera like so many other Vice people do.
I feel bad for the man who says his home is entirely paid off... because even if he wanted to leave Harlan County at one point, no one is ever going to buy his house.
Solid point. This is part of the problem with the standard rhetoric. These folks have more voting power than anyone in the country but they’re stuck in a place that relies on 1920s industry.
Ryan Goldade maybe... it wouldn’t be worth much with a dead industry and no infrastructure. As a pose to the same house in NYC or something it would be worth 5x as much
@Matt M Declare bankruptcy. The banks got bailed out in 2007 crisis, Hedge Fund managers got the lion's share of the GOP's trillion $ tax cut, which left ordinary people with the debt. He should play the system to have a future.
You can get between 5 and 10 reloads out of a brass case if you're not loading too hot or don't have to sloppy of a chamber And it's been ammo than you'll ever find on a shelf in a store
Yeah when you shoot guns, you tend to have to buy ammo and when you shoot a lot of ammo , you reload brass and when you hunt or shoot somewhere there’s about a million reasons why you wouldn’t want to leave any evidence.
I tried explaining this to a college educated black woman. She just believed I was just got the EE I was working with because I was white. Well there were no grant programs for poor white single males. You just had to go where there was work and save up for it one semester at a time. There are still a lot places in and around Harlan county in West Virginia and Northeast Tennessee that is no different than being from the projects. Actually for those that want there is more opportunity for those in the projects. If they want to continue working and apply the opportunities available..Absoulutly don't want to understand poverty does not have any color.
My entire family has been coal miners, and I am the first to not follow in their footsteps. Thank you for shedding light on how forgotten southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky are.
I joined the army, besides college it was really the only way out of town. I don't like having debt in my name so armed forces was really all I had. Actually my graduating year we had a record set for most the most people enlisting at all. Out of a class of 200 or so we had 10 people, may not seem like alot, but these past two years more people have signed on from my class. there are about 20 of us in total that joined either the army, marines or, air force. One guy joined the merchant marines but they arent really the military its a weird grey area or something.
@@Joty295 My Great-Uncle was in the Merchant Marine in WWII. They're basically 'Pentagon civilians' who run transport ships. It's an OK gig as long as no-one's attacking our shipping, in which case they're screwed, and don't get medals or anything. Worked out for my uncle, though; he got in after the worst of the U-Boat menace, and worked with computers for AAA. After the war, he ended up starting an automation consulting firm and got rich. Too bad his clients never listened to him when he recommended they retrain the employees that were getting laid off.
Osco in Ohio is hiring according to a sign out front, it's an iron foundry, but all my neighbors work there and it pays pretty damn good. Might be worth a shot. It's in Portsmouth.
@@Joty295 thanks for your service. Hope the service is helping you prosper and a stepping stone to continue to do great after if and when you move on to other careers.
@@Joty295 that's why the Republicans and democrats have never done anything to help u people.. They see u people as their foot soldiers for their wars..
That line really stuck out to me when he said he'd have to move away from family, "Im a grown man i aint scared of that" but you can tell that's a super important element of his life.
@@zacharysmith4787 I lived away from my family from 17 to 23 years old. Came back because of family's health problems, cant leave them by themselves out in the country...
I have a love/hate relationship with Vice. They produce some amazing journalistic content and then end up wasting a lot of their mind-share on intentionally click-batey and salacious content. Still, credit where it is due: well done on this piece.
@luuk Pollaerts I don't think they let just any one but I do know they hire people all across the world and that separation probably makes its easier for poorly or bias docs to slip through the cracks. I also believe that the separation of employees make them less crupt unlike other news outlets were there is clear fact manipulation.
I grew up with TV and I suppose you did too. Don't you remember the times when only shit was on? Not every content is made for you and nowadays we are so lucky, we can just not click on it if it looks like shit and move to something better.
That's the point there are no specific agendas at vice. People just believe there is because there were few people who uploaded their opinions on the channel. All people have different views on certain things. It's not like Fox News or MSNBC where all the news put out is sanitized, processed, and regurgitated to make you feel a certain way.
I think the clickbaity nature is more a sign of how hard it is to produce journalism online as it's all based on outrage and shock to get the revenue. I let them off the hook for this just because of how hard it is to maintain a constant income
This is the journalism I love! No opinions from the interviewer. He asked questions and got answers from the people in the community. He let us, the viewers, make our own judgements on it. He didn’t tell us what we had to think like most mainstream media does. Journalists need to take notes from this guy.
Then it's not journalism. Do you know what journalism is? It's about the facts and truth. Those people he's interviewing barely recognize the issue at hand because they are focused on their own personal journey to survive. You like stories, personal ones that is fine. It's not journalism though. If journalism was about you the reader "figuring it out or making your own decisions" then they are doing a horrible job. You're not educated or qualified to understand the issues and all that impacts the story here, that's why we need news. That's the problem with the American right. They've dumbed Americans down and made their base think they are the brain surgeons and virologists. Like with COVID so they make decisions. And they die. Teen pregnancy and STDs was in the 80s and 90s mostly a blue state issue, today it is almost exclusively a problem is red states. You're not qualified. You're not very smart. Just shut up and listen... Just sometimes okay?
The main guy interviewed who he was shooting guns with seemed liked a great guy. Best of luck to him and I hope he finds stability. I have 2 college degrees, am older, and I don't have shit to show for it. Whoever is reading this, you will have a good life. Know you will.
You don't need to create anything material to show to anybody. Let go of status anxiety. I had a successful career in hospitality, just quit it all to go back to school for a BSc... I'm 33. Do what feels right
@@shmooveyea true. I didnt even finish my bachelors degree even though i was at my last year. I just followed my dreams and never looked back. You do you.
They'll have to start something new if they want to revive their town. Hats off to the journalist, Lee Adams! He asked the right questions and appeared very genuine in how he interacted with the people of that town.
precisely, but it will take time. I'm from an ex-mining community in south wales uk. all the mines closed in the early 80's and mass unemployment still persists here today. but its changing. diversification and community-based projects are working..
@@scottyman78 really what's going on in the valleys? I'm from Barry and can't see much going on in Merthyr. People have to commute right down to Cardiff to get jobs unless they want to work at mickey D's or Tesco's/ Plus all the people from the Valleys who can't work or can only do very simple jobs due to low intelligence; due to all the cousin-cousin / foetal alcohol impacting a fair amount of people up there.
Hello concerned citizen, to say that I'm SICK of all the things being done in this country, would be a massive understatement, let me be clear, I could live my life on a day-to-day basis and never give this lack of control another thought, if it was only myself that no one else listen to. But I can no longer sit by, while Millions of my fellow citizen"s feel the same way on these same issues and are still ignored, while at the same time a small number of mostly greedy individuals can do whatever they want. So, I have taken it upon myself to start a RUclips channel. It's a No-Frills Channel so if production value is your only concern, save yourself some time and stop reading the rest of my post. But if you can remember that the channel is only a week old as well as the fact that I am new to all of this and need some time to get my bearings, then you might consider becoming a subscriber. The objective of the Channel is to counteract the propaganda machine, that has been put in place with the intent to destroy the citizen"s of the United States with information overload. If you would like to at least check out the channel keep in mind the videos that I posted are intended to give individuals like yourself a chance to get a rudimentary taste of what direction the channel is heading. I blatantly and shamelessly ask that if you check out the channel to please subscribe, give me a few weeks to get the channel on its feet before you judge weather the channel has any Merit. You can get to the channel by Clicking on the icon of the flag. Then scroll to the bottom of the page. Lastly click on view Channel. I look forward to having your voice added to mine. A Thousand Mile Journey starts with a single step. No matter what you decide God bless stay safe. Thank you for your time. Sincerely yours Citizen's Briefing.
If those of us whose people immigrated to the US look at our immigrant ancestors, they left their homes in other lands and came to the US because life was dying there. Did they want to leave? Hell no. They were scared as hell. They emigrated because there were economic realities in those places which were grim and they wanted better lives. Seems like the same tough realities face these people now. You got to make hard choices to make a better life for yourself and your people. Impermanence is a constant theme.
In northern Japan, Yubari a coal town declared bankruptcy after the mines closed. The rail service was discontinued, schools and other municipal services were closed, Building a community around a single business can be devastating when it closes down......
@Geoffrey Harris Except there's plenty of coal and oil in the ground and it's just leftists who've decided workers aren't useful anymore passing policy that actively destroys those lives.
@@skogib4846 it's not blue v red. That fight is not relevant when you realize that both parties have screwed the working class over and over and over again. You are right to blame politicians, but it's not just the leftists. Those restrictions were only out in place after the downsizing and outsourcing of American jobs. That includes coal, factory jobs, and more. That was red and blue.
@@skogib4846 I don't mind on who you voted for. You have a right to vote for who you wish for and I wouldn't judge you for whoever you voted. The truth remains that both parties have not backed the working class for generations.
This story isn't really about the decline of coal. It's about the dangers of basing any towns income around a single major employer. Coal is just the most obvious example.
@@ujjalshill6442 we are a self sustaining people for hundreds of years before the coal companies came we can put food on the table the problem is paying the bank notes on our land and home I think you are right about farming crops to export to make money coal people in these small Appalachian towns are some of the best people on earth I love my people and it breaks my heart to see them hurt this way I pray things will get better
This area is the graveyard of broken promises universally ppl sympathize with these ppl ( I am from a village in the middle east ) so reporters come here to get some journalistic cool points ( bringing you the stories of the underrepresented) and politicians come for votes. But nothing changes, you'd think vice would give out some of the money they made of this video. It doesn't take much if the government build 1 large university (they get a few 100 million as a budget ) it would create 1000s of jobs boost all businesses push up the price of real estate but for some reason it remains on life support.
I thought a lot of the questions he asked were far too obvious & formulaic, and could have been interpreted as insulting by some. However, at least he didn't try to make the interviews about himself, and the conclusion segment was well written; I think he has potential to improve as he gets more experience.
@@patsykoch6478 i wouldn't go that far. There are hundreds of religions all claiming they have the answers. If you choose to believe. More power to you. But if you ask me. Religion has killed more people than it has saved
@@klounpound6945 nah I agree, PEOPLE have slaughtered others in the name of religion till modern times still I ain't say he convinced me but he had enough charisma to convince me to look into it ya see what I'm saying? I'm on your side inna way but I gotta give props where it's due lol
@@patsykoch6478 you’ve got a point, if only people were more like this man and not zealots doing everything to get people to believe their own doctrine
Just like when the factories packed up and left middle America working for temp agencies and struggling to get re-trained for the information revolution.
I live in pike county ky, just a few counties over from harlan. My dad, grand dad, and great grandad was all coal miners. My dad was underground for 28 years and the one thing hes always told me is to get out of here and to not even think about going underground. People dont understand that this is all we know, we dont have any other training in anything and no one is coming to help and train us for anything else. Were trying to stray away from coal but their is just nothing else around here. Nothing, no opportunities but to leave here. I leave here in less than a month im moving to nashville for trade school for automotive.
Fellow Kentuckian here with roots in Leslie County - unfortunately I had to leave too. Leaving my family, friends, and community behind was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I'm still not sure if I made the right decision.
That was an excellent documentary. Having a Black man acknowledge White poverty through his choice of topic and interviewing style is especially important. And hat’s off to the people of Harlan KY for opening up their lives to him in such a neighborly yet poignant manner. This is top-notch journalism done on an extremely important topic. High praise to everyone in this piece.
Poor is poor no matter what color they are been to a lot of places that are poor and no matter the color of u come into the town with a open mind and not disrespecting them they’ll treat u like family
@@Nikita-vz5wj if you think poor people are in any way different because of the color of their skin then you are racist. It’s ok though... maybe nobody ever told you that you were racist. Now maybe you can fix it.
The vice guy is tight Kentucky homeboy: you should come out here and deer hunt sometime(strong country accent) Vice dude: yea dude im totally down(cali accent)
@@theUNEXPLAINABLEuap Yes, there definitely is. What kind’ve American accent does the black dude have? Cuz it definitely ain’t a Cali accent. Nevada’s an example of a generic American accent.
@Sho Yu Weeni that could said the same for steel mills or detroit and cars, they didnt squander it. They spent it on housing in an area that now has no jobs to support it thats literally what the video is about. Everything most people end up working for in their life goes towards owning a house.
@Sho Yu Weeni Those on wall street keep lieing to them - the town failed to deveresifiy into new source of income.. Sad - but like the last logger - some don't see the future until it hits them between the eyes
The biggest reason for the decline of "coal country" isn't renewable energy, nor is it environmental regulations, it is economics. The biggest competitor and threat to Appalachian Coal is Wyoming Coal. Wyoming coal isn't buried under mountains, so you don't need complex mine shafts and all the risks and costs associated with them. Wyoming coal can be mined in open pits, making it much cheaper than Appalachian Coal. To make matters worse, all the "easy" Appalachian coal has already been mined, making the remaining coal even more expensive to mine. The coal industry didn't die, it just moved west. No amount of government intervention is going to bring coal mining back to Appalachia, its just not profitable there anymore. If they want to "save" these towns, they are going to need to find some new industries to take the place of coal mines. I think one way the government could help is to either revoke, or buy out the mineral rights from the mining companies. This would make the land available for other developments. That area looks like it could be a prime location for an outdoor recreation based economy. Commercial hunting lodges, ski areas, etc.
During the late 1970s early 80s lots small manufacturing moved into traditional coal county , the plan was for small scale manufacturing to replace the coal jobs everyone new where going away and it was working until NAFTA
14:10 Joe casually and with out thought bends down to pick up his spent shell casings. Meanwhile the entire area has, at one time, been bulldozed and strip mined. He obviously cares deeply for his home.
Yea he’s recycling the shells, not necessarily about respecting the land. Also, I doubt people that dig for coal and base their lives around it worry about their environment
"i mean, i'm a grown man, i ain't scared of that." man, this is so tragic. it's not about fear. being pulled away from your family is like having your heart ripped from your chest. you can suffer the wound without fear, but it's still a debilitating wound.
There is an incredible historic documentary about this town titled "Harlan County USA" (1976) The film depicts the tensions created between coal miners who sought to create a union, to better their labour condition and the mine Owners, who refuse to accept the labour contract. The inability of the two groups to reach an agreement results in a strike that lasts over a year and leads to violence in their community. I highly recommend giving it a watch, it is available on youtube and runs for about an hour and 45 minutes.
It’s such an insanely good documentary. Watching that doc and then watching videos like this really breaks your heart. It’s so incredibly tragic to even just think about what the miners of the past went through just to eek out a semblance of dignity working in coal mines. Striking for an entire year, being shot and beaten by brown shirts and cops, scabs crossing the line. It was one of the hardest fought battles for a union in the US I’d ever heard of. And even when they succeeded in creating a union, it doesn’t even take long for all the work to be for nothing with the discovery that coal is horrific for the environment. It’s so incredibly sad.
It’s one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long time on the subject, and as a Union miner I can tell you that our industry needs more protection for the workers. I also enjoyed the Doc. Blood on the Mountain that’s a really good movie as well.
Very well done. Those kids in coal country are going through what we went through in the Midwest 30+ years ago when the Farm Crisis changed farming forever and the consolidation of farms and the resulting changes in Agri-business and small towns all over the Midwest saw a huge unreported movement of young adults away from small towns in the late 80's into the 90's. I know how these kids feel and I hope the families are doing ok.
@@ivanalvarez5511 it’s still happening in rural WI. Pretty much every family farm is hanging on by threads. And the ones that still are hanging on abs have been thru generations won’t get passed down again. The land will but the younger gen won’t continue to use it as a farm. It’s all Mega farms now. None of these generational farmers can make it anymore and it’s so sad.
Agri-business is still hurting and that's up full running. The Government has been way to involved in just normal people's lives. The overview to me is we're starting to see what they have been trying to do for year's. Turning this nation into a Socialist Country. Our option's are becoming more limited in the workforce. Seems like the choice is being taken from us. This goes much deeper!
@@packpock4369 no wonder the elite of the country can trick you folks so easily your over here blaming socialism when its quite literally the opposite. The reason youre getting fucked is because their is no human or societal factor that corporations take in when making decisions its all about a bottom line and their "shareholders". They dont care if they poison people or leave towns hollowed out through vulture like monopolistic strategies. But yea keep blaming socialism moron.
As an Englishman watching this, it's interesting to hear the similarities between the East Kentucky accent and the accent of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk).
Does the accent of folks from Norfolk and Suffolk imply that they are ignorant? When the US government forced a migration of Appalachian families to the north industrial cites to fill the employment gap, the Appalachia were denied an education. Sent home under the government agreement that they were too ignorant to learn. The truth is that the language barrier was far too great and no will from government to help. At the time, the industries needed mass uneducated and the US government was all in on their scheme. $ Most people here are taught the false history of the US. In many parts of Appalachia, the dialect was derived from a mix of Scott/Irish, Native American/and African American. All of these 3 groups considered less than human by the elite and their government at one time. There was good reason for these folks to stay in the mountains generation after generation. They did not have a nation. It has not changed much today.
These are some of the most forgotten people in America. When you think poverty and having nothing most people don’t think about a random county in kentucky
I do! Rode my motorcycle across America (I’m canadian) and the Midwest and Deep South were the most depressing things I’ve ever seen. There’s nicer places in Mexico (I also rode across that country).
I think the issue could be political representation. Poor people in cities tend to vote for people to implement programs to make them less poor, whereas these programs have a stigma in more conservative areas.
jacob f Neither do Republicans. Bernie was the only candidate who cared about poor whites and other oppressed groups but the media killed his campaign.
Finally a guy to do an honest real report he needs more Air Time. Also the young guy in video seems like a really good person I hope everyone The Best.
Indeed. Usually Vice reporters act like they come in with some agenda or aim to achieve and film to that effect. This guy did amazing and respectful journalism here.
That's what you get when you stand your ground against all evidence that your industry is in decline. They had the chance to get some people elected that were actively working for the end of coal yeah, but who had plans to help them. They chose the fleeing Trump administration and that's what they get. SAD
I really like this journalist. He's super chill and genuine, like when he and that guy were shooting, he's like "Yeah down for that dude!" When the guy said they should go hunting up there. 😂 He is much better than the vast majority of Vice reporters who just judge and shame everyone who doesn't think the way they do instead of just listening, truly trying to understand where people are coming from and let them be heard. Keep this guy around Vice! ✌🏻✌🏻 Also, I know plenty of other people are saying basically the same thing, i just want Vice to see how many people agree this is one of, if not the best, reporter they have so they can not only keep him around but realize what their viewers actually want.
I think the biggest issue with these small towns are that they can only survive by exporting a good. You can't train these people the become solar panel installers, unless there's a big enough market close enough nearby to commute to that will keep them busy. These towns die or they pivot and find ways to manufacture another good that can be exported and sold to a larger customer base. This could be a tangible good or a digitally delivered good or service.
Solar panels, nuclear power plants, and electric cars need copper. The Feds need to allow mining of copper in Alaska, that's where these people can move to.
@@xxxBradTxxx Would you want to move to Alaska? Where it's cold and dark for at least 6 months out of the year? A creative solution is needed, but I'm certain it isn't moving an entire community to Alaska!
@@xxxBradTxxx I don't think we watched the same video. The issue is some people lose a lot by moving, as they have built up what little equity they have in that tiny town. This may not seem like a big deal, but it matters. A 55 year old who invested most of his money into real estate, his home--loses a tremendous amount by moving as his old house cannot be sold, or at best, will vastly undersell. Don't say this isn't a big deal, as most Americans in history built up their minor piece of wealth on their home's value. This undercuts the traditional American dream (in a financial sense) right at the knees.
People need to understand there are A LOT of different types of "America" and there are a ton of different views due to the environment you lived in. It is not as simple as "Democrat" or "Republican".
I agree. For example, I just a stamp on a product and it said made in America. I has an image of the entire continent of N. America. I believe this means it was made in Mexico, which in their minds is simply a different type of America.
I remember teachers telling us in the 90's that there were no more life-time jobs at one company. They told us we needed to learn many skills. They specifically said. America is no longer a manufacturing base, most jobs will be in sales and services. That was 30 years ago. Like another comment said. Kentucky needs to start growing Marijuana. Talk about a family business.
Graduated in 95' Been a machinist since I graduated and never looked back. I work in a large Tool and Die shop in Wisconsin and make a very good living. Glad I proved some of those teachers wrong....
"We are Christians we are followers of Jesus. Our way of working is not to blame or curse the darkness but to light a candle." I'd love to visit that Church.
Please do come and visit this church. Holy Trinity Church in Harlan, Ky and St. Stephens Church in Cumberland, Kentucky. Fr. Terrence is a gift to our community
@@donellbusroe1887 Thank you so much. I will certainly try. We've got family in Dingess WV that we're going to visit on the first of the month and we can go right through Harlan.
Because the companies have eroded the people's trust in the government by buying politicians, then turn around with their arms open and proclaim "You can trust me i'm not the government."
That's kinda ignorant and privileged thing to say. It's not that they trust the company, its that there is no other choice because coal mining companies hold monopsonies over these towns. Not everywhere is a big city, where there's another 100 companies that have potential job openings. It costs a ridiculous amount of money to move to another city and even more to learn a new trade.
@MR merperls because most republican senators advocate for right to work states and the chasing out of unions. I work at an aluminum mill in washington and the only reason we are treated so well is because we are steel workers union. It's in spokane right on the border between idaho as well, and the work force is 1/2 from idaho. They dont want to get a job there because they know they will be taken advantage of by the right to work laws.
I'm a Hispanic, I've been around everywhere. Till this day the nicest people I've met in this country are people down in the Mississippi delta, and these people right here "coal country". They also happen to be the 2 poorest areas of our country yet most of the people I've met in both places would give you the shirt off their back even though they can barely afford their own. I hate how the media and politics skews our views on the people we have in this country. I'm not big on the whole "coal" industry but I do care about these communities and hope they find a way to prosper again Same goes for all the rural areas of this country, this story can be told 1000 times all over this country
@@jameswill175 Costal Elites hate these people and view them as subhuman, they are hard working people who want an opportunity. Yet who do they elevate to hero status, the criminal thug element in their own cities. Sad.
Not to bring race into things, but this is why I get upset about “white privilege”. Yes I agree that many suburban whites have a “privilege” but many rural communities are just as trapped as the inner cities. Schools are just as bad(if not worse depending how deep into the boonies you get), drugs are a problem, abuse and alcohol abuse is a big problem. But these people seem to always get forgotten.
Since I was a kid, I have been forced to watch my Appalachian community die a slow and painful death. Rampant drug use, higher and higher crime rates, infrastructure deterioration, poverty raising by the year.
I guess it’s the same everywhere, they don’t care about people from working towns or rural area. Greetings from the northern Mexican mountains to my applachian friends!
Por eso necesitamos apoyar a nuestros propios comunidades, los ricos siguen siendo rico y dejan a nosotros los pobres a sufrir y morir por ellos. La lucha no es solo de aqui ni de ella es universal
Thanks! I live 45 minutes away from Harlan. My wife’s family lives and has lived in Harlan for generations but my father’s family is from Northern Mexico - Saltillo.
@@Mdel07304 Tienes razon pero esta as la misma gente que grita" Build the wall" contra los tuyos. Ni te creas que te ven igual por muy jodidos que esten ahora.
My mother is from there. I have one distinct memory of going to visit my mamaw in evarets ky which is near harlan, I remember going down the road and seeing a woman picking coal off the train tracks for fuel. My dad stopped and gave her a box of canned food that we had, food that she needed to feed her children. Looking back that seems crazy because that happened in the US, arguably one of the richest nations in the world, yet that is a reality. I also think it is noteworthy to point out the medical condition that come from working in the mines and living around them. My grandfather had blacklung and my mother would always tell me about the creek that ran by her house turning colors and the fish dying. Many of the people on my mothers side of the family have cancer, such as my aunt with lukemia, etc. I blame that on a polluted water supply that they got from their well. The water can get polluted from the run off. And i sugest, if interested, look up the specifics. They used to own a farm near barbourville aswell and it was taken by the coal companies as they owned the mineral rights. Another point is the enviromental inpqct. In neighboring bell county when in middlesboro you can see where the moutains surrounding the town have been strip mined. It is a ugly scar on a once beautiful landscape. The economic issues that they present in these videos is very much impactful. Drugs have become an epidemic as many turn to it as an escape and a way to illegaly make money. I pray that things get better as it is in the Lords hands. There needs to be a introduction of new industries and a diversifying market as to provide jobs in the region.
Ain't no new industry sprouting up under Biden. The dude flew his son to China for private equity deals and has continued to be very cozy and compliant for them in office. We're getting reamed and leftists celebrate it because they don't need the working class anymore thanks to immigration
He stares into an unknown abyss, his way of life is lost, his family teeters on collapse but his love and respect for his home transcends everything as he meekly picks up his shells after shooting his rifle.
I'm From rural north Alabama, and its not a place with any real Industry to speak of, other than mobile homes that are essentially bought by the people that build them. I joined the military a month after graduating high school in 2006. I miss home, but the thought of ever going back frankly scares me. The fact is, things change, the world changes. And the idea of home, these days, is just that, an idea. And can be one that holds you back. So for places like this, it comes down to a decision, survive at home, or leave and live.
Pretty much. I'm from a small town in the midwest and most of the truly successful among the people I grew up with are those that moved away. Home is home, but a lot of these areas just can't compete with more populous places with more resources.
@@Tim85-y2q Just depends on what you think success is. If you feel your station in life is not where you want it to be, its ultimately up to you to change that situation.
@@Tim85-y2q yeah, I saw my wages drop the longer I stayed in town, as businesses closed and I was forced to find new jobs. I had a degree, but what good was that in the wake of the financial crisis in small-town America? At one point, I was working three part-time jobs because that was the only way to pay rent. Finally, my boyfriend and I packed up and moved to DFW and got jobs there. We were finally able to reverse the trend of declining wages at part-time gigs. We worked for a warehouse and worked our way up through ranks. Unfortunately, that kind of opportunity simply wasn't available in my small town. I now make more than triple what I did when I left my small town, and my now husband makes double what he previously made. We don't need a bunch of part time jobs just to put food on the table. Going back home after seven years, the town looks like it's decaying, with payday loan places sprouting where other businesses have died. The mall that suffered a slow death has finally been officially closed, as they kicked out the last of the vendors there, leaving an empty husk. Small businesses are being supplanted by national chains. I only see more of the same to come.
@yap yap actually it's blacks and whites that convince themselves that they are different, you can tell by simply looking at poor blacks and comparing them to poor whites. The data is there.
yap yap yep! LBJ even told us all 60 years ago what the rulers strategy was and is around racism. Capitalism needs racism and the owners of this country nurture it and foster it to prevent a united front against them.
@Doom Do you actually know what white privilege means? White privilege means you don't suffer because of your race. White privilege does not mean white people do not suffer or experience poverty. It just means you are not systematically oppressed due to your race.
I live in a tech town in Canada, and am as far removed from Kentucky coal miners as you can get, but damn I wish I could reach out and give these fine people a hug right now. I can’t imagine how it feels to lose a living like that.
Parallels in every part of the world and in many industries. You'd only have to change the accents to make this film about the coal industry in England and Wales, or the ship building industry in England and Scotland, or the asbestos mines in South Africa. One day it'll apply to the towns that serve the North Sea oil industry, already it's happening to towns serving a dwindling fishing industry worldwide. It's the inevitable result of tying an entire regional economy to a single industry and then waiting until that industry is completely dead and the economy is on its arse before admitting there's a problem and contemplating the future. Trump did them no favours when he promised them a revival, he just cost them four more years of decline.
Plenty of coal mining communities who are experiencing the same in canada. Shut them down and then had to import power from us on a line that was supposed to take power down to us it really makes a lot of sense
Harlan County KY is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited, filled with kind people and natural wonders. While it's very sad to see the impact the closure of the mines has had on the area and her people, I believe there's a lot of potential to revitalize things by developing tourism there. The drives, hiking, history (particularly pertaining to coal), multi-cultural heritage, and stunning sunsets are just a few of the reasons I'll be going back to Harlan. It's truly a hidden gem of a leisure destination, and I hope that local folks will build their pride and love of place into a sustainable tourism industry.
Great point. There's a case to be made for making a lot of this old industrial heartland into a giant cycling vacation destination. Let people get some exercise and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
In the pacific northwest the area was booming not long ago with timber and fishing. Regulations just about wiped that out and that created a couple generations of kids raised on welfare.
Im so glad my father had the balls to leave behind everything he knew and start over in a new line of work instead of staying put and waiting for a savior.
People are asking "What am i gonna do? What are we gonna do" but even though its hard that is the right answer. What we need is to help and support these communities while they take the time to learn new skills.
Watching this report makes Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul's negative position on transitioning Kentucky to a leading entity in America's pursuit for the future of clean sustainable energy more upsetting. These are their constituaints and they are simply looking for a means to save their town and their families from oblivion.
That still doesn't mean much. Trying to save a dying industry is noble, but if you know (as the coal mining companies knew) that an industry will die out, no matter what--you should be coming up with solutions for the future that's coming, not trying too keep the old industry alive under false pretenses. If the politicians you speak of really cared about their communities, they would have gone in there and started talking about 10 year, and 15 year plans, telling everyone how things were changing and how their children would need new options. We weren't gonna rely on coal forever, so to tell these people that we would continue to do so was a flat out lie. Conversion to new technologies was going to happen anyway, and it was going to have consequences; Mitch and Rand don't care about their communities like they pretend to, they just pander to them with "easy" solutions, which they knew were unsustainable.
"No amount of EPA restrictions being lifted are going to reopen their mines." True that. We must embrace and move forward, has difficult as that may be.
Now more than ever these coal towns being left for dead need to be seen by company's of all types and find ways to bring the people work, they got rails, they got roads, be a manufacturing wet dream. And you got a community already there and people who want to work and will work for their family's.
Any small town with a central buissness faces this problem, military towns are the exact same, base goes, town dies. It sucks but it's been happening for the last 100 years, my mother's town of birth didn't even exist any more, it's a hole in the ground, a mine, she can never go back. Times change, change with them or be left behind, don't mean to be harsh, I worry about my current town now, I get it, you need to move though, or be self sustaining, farm, energy, water, don't rely on this country, the USA has never had the backs of it's people, ever.
@@jr540123 the logistics side is already there, for the most part. like you said, the roads and rails are already there. its most definitely usable land.
@@jr540123 The problem is the coal industry holding all the land like he said. They'll hold onto that land for years to come in case coal makes a come back. The owners don't care because they don't live there and they are making money with their other investments.
i lived in cumberland till i was 10 and my dad always told me we had to move before it was too late and now i understand. i’m now 17 in knoxville and feel bad for those who didn’t move
Growing up poor I feel for them. Please consider becoming Welders. There are plenty of jobs for welders if you are willing, the money is decent and best of all with the knowledge you will acquire from your peers and industry, you can go back home and create new jobs for yourselves and other people. Good luck! Welding career advice: ruclips.net/video/9L1CfvQyfQA/видео.html
how about you just grow your own food. collect rainwater/tap groundwater. Perform a local service people need for money. Get by and live your life, I cut trees for a living in rural wisconsin and hunt, garden, play music, and go to church every saturday and sunday. Not hard!
@@gickygackers yes, but you are probably used to that, these people were COMPLETELY based off of coal mining, it isnt that easy for many to just switch
Electricians and plumbers also make lots of money if they have the right licenses, and you can get a paid apprenticeship. I'm apprenticing right now, and there are people looking for apprentices all over the place, and like welding, you can work anywhere with those jobs.
beter i think if that were an option they would be doing that, the entire local economy depended on the mine and when it died out so did everybody’s income. The people who weren’t directly working for the coal industry still rely on the workers as their customers. It’s a cascading economic impact that can only be solved by leaving unfortunately
"And if your only choices have been voting on an empty promise to protect the lifeline of your town and voting for someone who's promised to do away with it completely, i wouldn't trust the government either." This dude knows what's up and I love it.
@Independent Thinker did you not listen?? Its not as easy to leave as it is to just say you should. The younger people are planning on leaving if they can/when they can. And the older generations will if they have the ability.
Also the last time the coal miners tried to strike for better pay and working conditions the US government sent federal troops in to protect the private thugs hired by the coal companies to beat down and in some instances just shoot the striking miners.
@Independent Thinker not a problem...gonna use Wikipedia as a starting point, if there are credible alternate sources of information that contradict what's written in this article I am not aware of them and I would love to hear about them. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain Edit: I'm from the other side of West Virginia, a century later and a lot of the people in the hills still don't trust the government.
I work in Wisconsin at a large Tool and Die shop, we are dying for hard working skilled labor! Perhaps these lads need to move on and take there hard work ethic and apply it to another trade.
I was reading Modern Machine Shop talking about the "skills gap". I chuckled to myself when I read that the wages of CNC operators and tool makers was in the teens. Degreed engineers seem to doing OK. You can make money in tool and die, but you need to have a stable base of clients and credit to run that business. www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/blog/shopmanagement/manufacturing-is-facing-a-wage-gap-not-a-skills-gap
Tumdéaux they made 16-25 here depending on experience yeah. My dad says it’s cause a lot of children come into the trade and quit so they pay a little. He had 7 guys come in and quit in 2018 cause it was “hard.”
For someone who I'm gonna assume comes from a more urban area, to come out to a place like that and truly meet the people, no judging, no arrogance, just a pure will to understand... We need more people like you dude
It's crazy to me how hard-working people put there trust in someone how's never earned a hard days dollar in his life, Has never falling asleep in their car just sitting in the parking lot after work, has never been so tired to take bend over and take your boots off so you just sit on the edge of your bed and stare at your feet.
Most people, much less politicians, haven’t been in that situation. People vote for who they think can deliver what they want, not just on people’s life stories. Trump got the votes of the poor whites because they thought he’d deliver for them
sweed Trump did not win the popular vote. Most people voted for Hilary and yes, the majority of those who actually voted for Trump were poor whites. Let’s not try to rewrite history to save face. Trump was given the presidency by the Electoral College.
Being so covered in mud you can’t touch anything without getting it dirty even after a shower, having dirt and rocks stick up your nose from inhaling the stone dust all day, forcing yourself to make dinner because you know you have to eat for tomorrow morning. Some people just won’t understand but those who do are proud of it.
“we are going to piss into the wind, and we are not going to get wet” - Donald Trump 2020 It’s quite simple, renewable is the inevitable future, if the government are to help coal country, incentivise the renewable industry to establish, train and employ in these towns
Nah, that would be a clever idea to deal with the coal miners and widen the renewable energy labor sector. Instead we will promise Instead we promise to support this unprofitable energy sector and do nothing at the end.
One political party never ran on the platform of leaving Appalacia behind. They specifically ran on phasing out coal, training workers (mining to coding, etc), and getting them ready for steady work in a new industry. Their opponents twisted this message by saying "They hate you, we will save you. Believe in us. Coal will be here forever." This was in the face of overwhelming evidence that coal was on a 30 year decline, and it was never coming back. While I don't blame them, they focused on their own immediate needs and not the end of the road they were on. Anyone paying attention knew this was inevitable. Many politicians advocated for investing in programs to help make the transition easier, but we had to prepare earlier, even though there were clear skies above. Instead, we chose the hard way. We increased our investments, but that still wasn't enough. No one should be surprised. Now, the damage is much more severe, and too fast to expect a reasonable person to adapt to. If only we saw this coming.
One party told coal miners to learn to code. Exactly how was the Democratic Party showing any indication that they were prepping coal miners for a new illustrious career?
They’re not interested in anything progressive. Even though everything moves forward. Get on board or get left behind. We can’t stop change and we can’t just wish and hope. Coal is dying and it’s not coming back. They should have voted for someone who at least was interested in getting them retrained for a new job with a future. Instead they voted for a con man and now they have no future. The definition of shooting yourself in the foot.
Jon Smith so they should have voted for a party whose top priorities were making sure guys who like to dress up as women have the ability to use whichever bathroom they want and stripping citizens of firearms? Really, training 50 year old coal miners who have never turned a computer on before to code is a realistic practice?
@@jimprestigious863 This video focuses on the young people of a town that died, leaving them no prospects unless they leave. Education and jobs programs could have given the town a chance, but instead they hung on to coal until the bitter end. Now, families who lived there for generations are having their houses foreclosed. Learning new skills is hard, but so is losing your house and relying on churches for food just to stay alive.
As someone from HC, this is a very accurate, yet shocking portrayal of what is happening to my community. Thank you VICE for bringing awareness to what is going on in coal country and for painting us in an honest light, instead of just hee haw people😂
This is why all cities need to diversify. When you have a specific industry or corporation that controls most of the labor force and politics it can actually work against you. This is similar to the auto plants in Chicago, or manufacturing plants throughout the suburbs that have been shipped overseas.
Easier said then done. When an industry starts up, especially something geographically based like mining, the town builds itself around it because people have to live there. People living there means they need services. Services means more people needed to operate them. All of it stems from the source- ie. Mining. You can't just expect communities not to form
@benzo ??? Thats not what causes this. You can't blame the government for everything. In the case of where these communities Do form: mining and factory towns. It makes sense that they exist and lobbying doesn't cause it. Companies being accountable for screwing over workers thru depleting job opportunities =/= them causing it.
I was a former coal miner in Texas. My career ended in 2018. Its hard work but it gets in your blood. Meaning you grow to love it. I was fortunate enough to be in an area where I could find employment elsewhere. It wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to work the mines till i retired But I didn't have much choice. I miss it and the men and women I worked with.
And if you were a business owner in many of the US cities you’re seeing the betrayal of your hard work and property rights by your own government / community.
@trifectors the God Also industrial electrician, instrumentation tech, industrial networks tech, etc...not more than 2-3 years of training and there you go..! Welding is the best, but not everyone is naturally fit to perform professionally...
This does a good job of showing, people form attachments to their home and can't just up and leave based on "markets" or some bullshit. These people deserve a dignified living.
Imagine working entire life and finally paying off your home which is worth nothing since no-one will buy it. Majority of these people get by on food stamps and social security. For older folks only option is to live out their days in a dying town since paying rent elsewhere is not an option. Younger generation will have to move in search of jobs.
I started watching very judgmental and ended this feeling bad for them. They were promised one thing, and the company and government screwed them over. I'm proud of them for standing in the way of the train and screwing the company out of millions of bonus dollars. I hope that they'll be able to recover.
@@dylangregory9855 unfortunately it's sad but like the conservatives say they're going to have to pick themselves up by the boot straps and find a new trade.
VLMIGKHTY THREESIXOWE you talk about it like it’s a full blown conclusion that coal is dead when new coal fired power stations are been built all across China and even in developed countries such as Germany.
Max Power II that’s simply because china has to create energy for over 1.4 billion people and germany is slowly closing its nuclear power plants so they need coal power plants not because somehow it’s still efficient or good. In germany too there is a massive lobby for coal germany has always produced more than 30% of their energy from coal and therefore it’s more difficult for them to kinda switch and slowly closing it like they are doing with nuclear. In reality energy produced from coal already cost more than the one produced by renewable energies like solar or wind at least in europe. In fact coal power plants are becoming too expensive especially to maintain that’s why even right now with lower energy demand worldwide they are still opened because it cost a lot to just close and then reopen again. Coal is becoming less and less efficient and considering taht there are more efficient and clean solutions it’s a matter of years that this industry will fail
Carosello Show that makes no sense. If renewables can provide energy for 1.4bn more effectively and efficiently than coal then it makes economic sense to go with renewables which obviously isn’t what is happening. The size of population does not matter when comparing efficiency of energy generation sources as it is scaled up or down to suit. China has invested in a new generation of coal fired power stations because (as long as you don’t care about emissions) it is cheap, fairly abundant and the technology is robust and matured.
It isn't "renewable energy" that is killing coal. It's natural gas and fracking. Other words innovation and technology in markets. Otherwise good documentary.
Renewable energy is growing too,but you're right about fracking. Anyway,both sectors need far fewer workers to produce the same amount of energy,and that's why they are cheaper
I think it'd be more appropriate to say both have a hand but I agree that natural gas is also a big part. It has it's place but it has its own major problems and renewables are where we need to go. We can't forget about the people who will lose their jobs like the people of Harlan. Efforts should be made to help them find replacement jobs that fit their skillset. The government left them high and dry.
@@gordonconlogue5686 in the end, it's not about Republicans or Democrats, but about rich profiteering bastards being in power. You could easily bet a West Virginia Democrat will be far different than a California Neoliberal.
Gordon Conlogue homeless people go to California because it’s the easiest place to grift money because it’s where all the rich people are. These cities are dying because their industries are dying because of republicans
I have the greatest respect for these hard working men and women. All they want is a chance. I hate that Pres. Trump lied to them and said coal was coming back in exchange for their votes. I further hate that the company in this report had every intention of selling loaded coal and had dismissed the workers. It was courageous of the few to blockade the train for 3-4 months after. God bless them.
And yet in the 2020 general election more than 85% of the county voted for Donald Trump. Despite his opposition to the welfare that kept them alive for months/years. Despite his lying to them about doing anything substantial for coal. Despite his ignorance around what these people actually needed for a better life. They still voted for him. Take that as you will.
I see people in a desperate situation and a con man who took advantage of that. It's a great piece that helps to bridge the divide and tell their story.
The coal companies knew they had a limited time in the traditional business. They've known for a long time, and all they ever did since then was try to squeeze as much out of their employees without setting them up for an alternative future. That's the truly sickening part, all of this could have been avoided, but corporations love treating people like things to be used. Never trust a company far beyond an employer, given the chance to make more money or help you, they will choose to make more money 99.9% of the time.
"In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky, that's the place where I traced my bloodline. And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone, you'll never leave Harlan alive."
Perfect timing to post this! Urban vs Rural... there's no easy answers. Thank you for shining a light on this region of the world that needs to be seen.
Yea there is an easy answer. It's a capitalist mode of production that causes this. Workers are commodities to be bought by business to produce more commodities and therefore more capital (in money form). Therefore, when industries, such as coal, are longer are able to make profit, production ceases and the workforce is disposed off. To mate matters worse, when you have a system built on the division of labour, workers are only able to do one type of job and consequently, in the event that their industry tanks, they become employed and unskilled. That's really the issue we are dealing with here. Ultimately, it's the fact that humans as nothing more than commodities in our mode of production. The hard part is fighting those who seek to keep conditions as they are.
I'm a Harlan county native and this video hits the nail on the head of what it's really like to be young in the mountains. Most kids don't want to leave after graduation but we're forced to move away, at least for higher education and oftentimes for a lifetime just to make a living. I'm a junior in college, I've lived in the Nashville area for close to three years now, and there's not a single day where I don't miss the hills. There's something about Appalachia that sticks with you forever. I hope my community continues to heal so I can come back home one day.
@TheMagnificentPony White privilege means you don't suffer due to your race. White privilege does not mean white people do not suffer poverty. It just means you are not oppressed due to your race. Google is free.
Thatcher de-industrialised Scotland, Northern England and Wales in the 80's, leading to the collapse of the coal industry there too. I've seen first-hand the socio-economic problems that have been caused in these disenfranchised areas and how a lot of them have never recovered. I've got a lot of love for these hard-working people and hope they are able to find an alternative livelihood.
It probably would have eventually collapsed either way, just how these towns basically collapsed twice. But yeah, problems in disenfranchised communities run deep and usually outlast their root cause. My dad's home country comes to mind: It's got roughly the same GDP/capita and basically the same cultures as the countries bordering it, but it is leagues safer because it wasn't overrun by cartels in the 80s.
It always strikes me when I see that people from miner families look like germans since back in the days germans sailed to the USA to work in the mines. Best wishes from germany, hope you guys will get the good chances you deserve.
As a descendant of one of those Germans you're exactly right, makes sense why many stick around the industry (my family got out and started farming when land was essentially free)
It’s so cute when he said he has to come up and hunt with him. Man, this is sad. I’m not from the US, but I don’t want the destruction of it. I do want y’all to be healthy and happy.
Johnathan Manning 🙄 It must be hard being the word police. You have no idea where I’m from or what slang or dialect is used here. Go find something productive to do.
Are you actually calling someone out for using y’all? Are you serious😂, what a god damn joke. Say what you want, how you want. It’s literally our first amendment YALL are assholes.
I relate to this so much, but with retail. My dad spent his whole life in retail, thirty years with one company and even pre-COVID, the industry was struggling. Stores like J.C. Penney's, Sears, etc. that had been around for centuries in some cases, just up and gone overnight.
@@lanietalk There definitely have been many instances of reorganization of industries due to technological improvements over time. The thing we're seeing now is manual labor and the like(ie lower level skilled and unskilled) isn't valuable anymore. The real issue is the outsourcing of labor overseas which is an irreconcilable situation. The rise of online shopping and the like is where the retail industry is being killed. I really do feel for these coal miners, my family settled central Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1700s and only left in the 1960's and 70's. My grandfather ended up running his stepdad's tobacco farm operation at 17 because his stepdad had to work in the mill to make enough money to keep the farm profitable. The death of the family farm is particularly painful for me to see, but it's incredibly similar. American coal mine operations just aren't profitable anymore, especially considering overseas coal sources that are significantly cheaper.
A thing we did in my home town to deal with banks sitting on foreclosed properties after the recession was to enact an ordinance requiring property owners who live more than 50 miles from the property to have someone check the property each month and to upkeep the property, board it up if broken into or squatted in, and generally provide for the security of their property. That ordinance came with a provision that, for landowners not meeting these requirements, the city would provide the service and bill the owner for it. Second ordinance we passed allowed us to take first position on liens resulting from the first ordinance for the purposes of reclaiming property. I'd wonder if a similar ordinance could be passed in those towns or by their county to pressure the mine land holders into doing something meaningful or selling the land.
@@chaffycaesar8026 lol what are you talking about, idiot? Automation is partly why these jobs are going; and the progress in automation and AI in the past few years is insane and is only speeding up.
@@mikesully110 yeaa...but mining is something that is still largely done by miners...sure once the mined coal enters the factory for processing...it might go thru a system that's largely automated..but we still need miners to mine the coal
Glad I watched this. I'm in the renewable energy business and the last 15 minutes has shed an important light on the true cost of the demise of coal. I wish we could prioritize new renewables-manufacturing jobs for workers who come from these circumstances.
So sad man, Im from Detroit. I remember when the automotive industry slowed down. I had over 12 relatives get laid off in a few days. It killed me that I couldn't do anything. From Detroit God bless you guys.
I was in Detroit welding in the waste(trash) to energy power plant. The roads were trashed and there were abandoned factories everywhere. I'm from a Maine town of 3k. It's the same here. The papper mill closed and the heroin/fentenyl moved in.
Recently been to Detroit & I’m from Baltimore man that city looks like a zombie apocalypse you could tell Detroit population was way bigger than what is it today
Its almost as if building a society where one's survival is tied to one's ability to contribute to corporate profits will create areas where a lack of economic viability ruins lives.
it also has to do with the fact that these coal miners had no ownership of the mine itself. They were basically indentured servants, and as soon as the bigwigs weren’t making gains on investments they get thrown to the wayside.
My grandfather was born in the late 1880's on a farm that raised plow horses for farming. Generations of his family had raised horses and farmed. By the time he was a young adult, tractors had taken over plowing and horses were no longer needed. All those companies that supported that style of farming, raising horses, manufacturing the bits and other leather pieces, the blacksmiths, everyone was no longer needed. I was raised in a house that had a furnace that was coal fired. I used to help shovel the coal before we got a gas fired furnace. As one industry dies, others replace it but its the people who have now been supplanted that I feel so bad for. I have no answers.
My entire family is from Harlan County. These are the forgotten hero’s of the American experience. You constantly hear about inner city problems and cities in decline; however, you never hear about the people of Appalachia. This is because they have an unfettering pride and determination like no other. They aren’t begging for help or asking for something for free. All they want is the American dream of a good job and a stable place to raise a family. The perils of Appalachia are a stain on the entire country. The nation has turned its back on the very people that fed the lifeblood of our expansion for generations. In the end it will be the faith and the sheer will of these people that will save Harlan. God bless everyone of them.
"They aren’t begging for help or asking for something for free. All they want is the American dream of a good job and a stable place to raise a family." You know what gave those coal miners the American Dream? FDR's New Deal and his many policies of modernizing America. Unions empowering workers to negotiate with companies for better wages and working conditions. Eisenhower connecting places with the Interstate Highway system, encouraging more trade and commerce. All multi-billion dollar assistance packages from the federal government. All "free" and "help" for an otherwise neglected community. Rural communities want to survive in a modern world? You'll need tax dollars from elsewhere. You need to be able to take on the companies exploiting you. Your government needs to step up, change the economy, and educate its populace with more skills conducive to jobs in demand. There's no shame in asking for government "help" to achieve the American Dream, because otherwise you will have far fewer opportunities to make your hard work worth something.
@D Major 🙃Not taking away your family’s pride and hard work or anything.. HOWEVER, pretty sure welfare, UEC, food pantry etc is in fact receiving handed out help. Don’t be ashamed about it ESPECIALLY when your chosen LAME leader lied and used you, instead be angry. THEN put that anger energy into the right direction towards knowledge, research, action! But please don’t imply that you seem better than other groups of people in urban communities- that what? Don’t want the same “American Dream” either? Or seemingly “ask for hand outs”. Big corporations, special interest groups and government f*ck over them on a daily basis as well. *Maybe it’s in this struggle EVERYONE will recognize the latter as the commonality between each other, unite and work TOGETHER now and for future generations. ☮️2U & yours.
The suffereing of Appalacia has long been a topic of conversation. And considering how many people there are also on welfare and food stamps (necessarily) there are in fact getting something for free by your definition. Quit the US vs. Them etc. Most people rural or urban want to have a decent life and be paid fairly for their work. Faith and sheer will are wonderful things. But what will save these people and others is opportunity and learning to adapt.
First of all I was in no way implying anything about urban areas not wanting the American dream or the people of Appalachia being better than anyone else. I was simply pointing out that many times in the National debate about poverty they are no represented. Secondly my statement about not wanting any for free was simply to empathize they don’t want welfare they want jobs. That’s it. They are willing to work if industry will hire them. I can assure you this issues has nothing to do with race, religion, creed or anything else. This is a direct result of big business raping the natural resources of the land these people hold dear and leaving them with nothing once the profit margins get thin. What Appalachia needs is an investment from industry. Businesses willing to make an investment in the community and put their skills to good use. Unless you’ve been there and seen it no one can understand the pride in these communities. The people of Harlan have literally fought and died in coal wars and poor mine conditions to put food on the table. The poverty that exists in these small mountain communities is like no where else in the USA. I can guarantee you these people would turn down food stamps, SSI benefits, and any other government assistance for an honest days wage.
That whole area depends on welfare, food stamp and the church. No need to put down other communities. This whole region needs to adapt and evolve. Coaling ain't it.
Other Vice reporters should watch this guy. He doesn't try to make it about himself. He gets good information and doesn't try to play to the camera like so many other Vice people do.
halla15 couldn’t agree more!!
THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING LOL
that's right, I stopped watching Vice's videos before. This and Isobel's video made me came back
He's a really good and honest host. His video on Black Conservatives has to be my favorite piece from him.
Unlike Shit Thomas!!!
I feel bad for the man who says his home is entirely paid off... because even if he wanted to leave Harlan County at one point, no one is ever going to buy his house.
If he was smart, he'd just take out as much of a loan against it as he could and bail
Solid point. This is part of the problem with the standard rhetoric. These folks have more voting power than anyone in the country but they’re stuck in a place that relies on 1920s industry.
@@mhamma6560 but would he get a loan larger than he could sell it for?
Ryan Goldade maybe... it wouldn’t be worth much with a dead industry and no infrastructure. As a pose to the same house in NYC or something it would be worth 5x as much
@Matt M Declare bankruptcy. The banks got bailed out in 2007 crisis, Hedge Fund managers got the lion's share of the GOP's trillion $ tax cut, which left ordinary people with the debt. He should play the system to have a future.
Respect to the son who picked up his brass after shooting, even though it was in the middle of nowhere
Probably reloads it
You can get between 5 and 10 reloads out of a brass case if you're not loading too hot or don't have to sloppy of a chamber
And it's been ammo than you'll ever find on a shelf in a store
Either reloads it or saves it to scrap for cash
Im from the area. You pick up your brass so your not littering. Well if your not a POS, you do.
Yeah when you shoot guns, you tend to have to buy ammo and when you shoot a lot of ammo , you reload brass and when you hunt or shoot somewhere there’s about a million reasons why you wouldn’t want to leave any evidence.
No judgment about lifestyle, just interviews and letting people speak. This is how stories should be told
The reporter was excellent in this one
Yes! This is unbiased journalism that I love. Just stories being told and we can make our own opinions about it
I tried explaining this to a college educated black woman. She just believed I was just got the EE I was working with because I was white. Well there were no grant programs for poor white single males. You just had to go where there was work and save up for it one semester at a time.
There are still a lot places in and around Harlan county in West Virginia and Northeast Tennessee that is no different than being from the projects. Actually for those that want there is more opportunity for those in the projects. If they want to continue working and apply the opportunities available..Absoulutly don't want to understand poverty does not have any color.
Vice has gotta do this more consistently
fox news should take note then.
My entire family has been coal miners, and I am the first to not follow in their footsteps. Thank you for shedding light on how forgotten southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky are.
I joined the army, besides college it was really the only way out of town. I don't like having debt in my name so armed forces was really all I had. Actually my graduating year we had a record set for most the most people enlisting at all. Out of a class of 200 or so we had 10 people, may not seem like alot, but these past two years more people have signed on from my class. there are about 20 of us in total that joined either the army, marines or, air force. One guy joined the merchant marines but they arent really the military its a weird grey area or something.
@@Joty295 My Great-Uncle was in the Merchant Marine in WWII. They're basically 'Pentagon civilians' who run transport ships. It's an OK gig as long as no-one's attacking our shipping, in which case they're screwed, and don't get medals or anything. Worked out for my uncle, though; he got in after the worst of the U-Boat menace, and worked with computers for AAA. After the war, he ended up starting an automation consulting firm and got rich. Too bad his clients never listened to him when he recommended they retrain the employees that were getting laid off.
Osco in Ohio is hiring according to a sign out front, it's an iron foundry, but all my neighbors work there and it pays pretty damn good. Might be worth a shot. It's in Portsmouth.
@@Joty295 thanks for your service. Hope the service is helping you prosper and a stepping stone to continue to do great after if and when you move on to other careers.
@@Joty295 that's why the Republicans and democrats have never done anything to help u people.. They see u people as their foot soldiers for their wars..
That line really stuck out to me when he said he'd have to move away from family, "Im a grown man i aint scared of that" but you can tell that's a super important element of his life.
Alot of people from these types of areas and towns won't move away from their situation simply because they're afraid of being away from family.
Exactly. Family is important if you've never been more than 2hr away from them. Was that the part where he said "I'm 24, I have time.."
😂 Doodly Dang! Sista Bang! 😂
Family Therapy by Alex Adams us inspired by fine people like these.. 😂
@@zacharysmith4787 Afraid isn't really the right word for not wanting to leave your family behind.
@@zacharysmith4787 I lived away from my family from 17 to 23 years old. Came back because of family's health problems, cant leave them by themselves out in the country...
I have a love/hate relationship with Vice.
They produce some amazing journalistic content and then end up wasting a lot of their mind-share on intentionally click-batey and salacious content.
Still, credit where it is due: well done on this piece.
@luuk Pollaerts I don't think they let just any one but I do know they hire people all across the world and that separation probably makes its easier for poorly or bias docs to slip through the cracks. I also believe that the separation of employees make them less crupt unlike other news outlets were there is clear fact manipulation.
I grew up with TV and I suppose you did too. Don't you remember the times when only shit was on? Not every content is made for you and nowadays we are so lucky, we can just not click on it if it looks like shit and move to something better.
That's the point there are no specific agendas at vice. People just believe there is because there were few people who uploaded their opinions on the channel. All people have different views on certain things. It's not like Fox News or MSNBC where all the news put out is sanitized, processed, and regurgitated to make you feel a certain way.
I think the clickbaity nature is more a sign of how hard it is to produce journalism online as it's all based on outrage and shock to get the revenue. I let them off the hook for this just because of how hard it is to maintain a constant income
How do you think they pay for these vids. The shity vids make money. They pay for these in depth vids
This is the journalism I love! No opinions from the interviewer. He asked questions and got answers from the people in the community. He let us, the viewers, make our own judgements on it. He didn’t tell us what we had to think like most mainstream media does. Journalists need to take notes from this guy.
Then it's not journalism. Do you know what journalism is? It's about the facts and truth. Those people he's interviewing barely recognize the issue at hand because they are focused on their own personal journey to survive.
You like stories, personal ones that is fine. It's not journalism though. If journalism was about you the reader "figuring it out or making your own decisions" then they are doing a horrible job. You're not educated or qualified to understand the issues and all that impacts the story here, that's why we need news.
That's the problem with the American right. They've dumbed Americans down and made their base think they are the brain surgeons and virologists. Like with COVID so they make decisions. And they die. Teen pregnancy and STDs was in the 80s and 90s mostly a blue state issue, today it is almost exclusively a problem is red states.
You're not qualified. You're not very smart. Just shut up and listen... Just sometimes okay?
@@americancrimejournal Hard to take anyone serious who says right and left lol. Especially when you probably voted for Biden
This is reporting, not journalism. Valuable too, but not on the same level.
@@thegeneral1955 u mad
@@americancrimejournal 💯
The main guy interviewed who he was shooting guns with seemed liked a great guy. Best of luck to him and I hope he finds stability. I have 2 college degrees, am older, and I don't have shit to show for it. Whoever is reading this, you will have a good life. Know you will.
Kissis:*
You too brother, I know you will.
Brother !
You don't need to create anything material to show to anybody. Let go of status anxiety. I had a successful career in hospitality, just quit it all to go back to school for a BSc... I'm 33. Do what feels right
@@shmooveyea true. I didnt even finish my bachelors degree even though i was at my last year. I just followed my dreams and never looked back. You do you.
They'll have to start something new if they want to revive their town. Hats off to the journalist, Lee Adams! He asked the right questions and appeared very genuine in how he interacted with the people of that town.
precisely, but it will take time. I'm from an ex-mining community in south wales uk. all the mines closed in the early 80's and mass unemployment still persists here today. but its changing. diversification and community-based projects are working..
@@scottyman78 really what's going on in the valleys? I'm from Barry and can't see much going on in Merthyr. People have to commute right down to Cardiff to get jobs unless they want to work at mickey D's or Tesco's/
Plus all the people from the Valleys who can't work or can only do very simple jobs due to low intelligence; due to all the cousin-cousin / foetal alcohol impacting a fair amount of people up there.
Hello concerned citizen, to say that I'm SICK of all the things being done in this country, would be a massive understatement, let me be clear, I could live my life on a day-to-day basis and never give this lack of control another thought, if it was only myself that no one else listen to. But I can no longer sit by, while Millions of my fellow citizen"s feel the same way on these same issues and are still ignored, while at the same time a small number of mostly greedy individuals can do whatever they want.
So, I have taken it upon myself to start a RUclips channel. It's a No-Frills Channel so if production value is your only concern, save yourself some time and stop reading the rest of my post.
But if you can remember that the channel is only a week old as well as the fact that I am new to all of this and need some time to get my bearings, then you might consider becoming a subscriber.
The objective of the Channel is to counteract the propaganda machine, that has been put in place with the intent to destroy the citizen"s of the United States with information overload.
If you would like to at least check out the channel keep in mind the videos that I posted are intended to give individuals like yourself a chance to get a rudimentary taste of what direction the channel is heading. I blatantly and shamelessly ask that if you check out the channel to please subscribe, give me a few weeks to get the channel on its feet before you judge weather the channel has any Merit.
You can get to the channel by
Clicking on the icon of the flag.
Then scroll to the bottom of the page.
Lastly click on view Channel.
I look forward to having your voice added to mine.
A Thousand Mile Journey starts with a single step.
No matter what you decide God bless stay safe.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely yours Citizen's Briefing.
@@citizensbriefing7335 I look forward to checking out your channel
If those of us whose people immigrated to the US look at our immigrant ancestors, they left their homes in other lands and came to the US because life was dying there. Did they want to leave? Hell no. They were scared as hell. They emigrated because there were economic realities in those places which were grim and they wanted better lives. Seems like the same tough realities face these people now. You got to make hard choices to make a better life for yourself and your people. Impermanence is a constant theme.
In northern Japan, Yubari a coal town declared bankruptcy after the mines closed. The rail service was discontinued, schools and other municipal services were closed, Building a community around a single business can be devastating when it closes down......
How about don't use politics to get rich via policies that destroy that industry?
@Geoffrey Harris Except there's plenty of coal and oil in the ground and it's just leftists who've decided workers aren't useful anymore passing policy that actively destroys those lives.
@@skogib4846 it's not blue v red. That fight is not relevant when you realize that both parties have screwed the working class over and over and over again. You are right to blame politicians, but it's not just the leftists. Those restrictions were only out in place after the downsizing and outsourcing of American jobs. That includes coal, factory jobs, and more. That was red and blue.
@@Ruby-pn8kv Bold of you to assume I didn't vote for Trump because the R establishment are scum too.
@@skogib4846 I don't mind on who you voted for. You have a right to vote for who you wish for and I wouldn't judge you for whoever you voted. The truth remains that both parties have not backed the working class for generations.
This story isn't really about the decline of coal. It's about the dangers of basing any towns income around a single major employer. Coal is just the most obvious example.
Yeah, this happened to Northern England decades ago and we're still feeling the impact of it
Imagine if this town had a typewriter factory... Why not learn how to make windmills, solar panels
Word
@@mwoods4608 they should learn how to farm and become self sustaining what if there are no jobs to go to
@@ujjalshill6442 we are a self sustaining people for hundreds of years before the coal companies came we can put food on the table the problem is paying the bank notes on our land and home I think you are right about farming crops to export to make money coal people in these small Appalachian towns are some of the best people on earth I love my people and it breaks my heart to see them hurt this way I pray things will get better
this is the best vice reporter I have seen in a long time. more of him please
^
This was probably the best vice video is a long time
Indeed everyone else suchs
It was surprising to see something other than the typical garbage and drivel they publish, something actually good and worth viewing.
This area is the graveyard of broken promises universally ppl sympathize with these ppl ( I am from a village in the middle east ) so reporters come here to get some journalistic cool points ( bringing you the stories of the underrepresented) and politicians come for votes.
But nothing changes, you'd think vice would give out some of the money they made of this video.
It doesn't take much if the government build 1 large university (they get a few 100 million as a budget ) it would create 1000s of jobs boost all businesses push up the price of real estate but for some reason it remains on life support.
I love how the reporter and the guy were just hanging out by the end. It made me happy
favorite part the genuine connection they had was some of the best VICE content in a while none of the fake smiles and self righteous reporting
Man, this is what journalism is all about. Building empathy, context, and understanding.
What about CNN
What the heck? I've just stumbled upon a genuine reporter! Yo, this reporter dude has raised the bar really, really high for the rest. Kudos.
I mean, most Vice reporters are garbage so the bar isn't very high in the first place.
I thought a lot of the questions he asked were far too obvious & formulaic, and could have been interpreted as insulting by some. However, at least he didn't try to make the interviews about himself, and the conclusion segment was well written; I think he has potential to improve as he gets more experience.
wow how are the other reporters? there seems to be a lot of praise on this guy
I ain't religious, like at all, but mad respect for that priest's dedication. If you choose to be religious, be like that dude
Ain't it! Dudes got my respect that's for sure, he's the type that'll definitely make you start considering his point of view lol
@@patsykoch6478 i wouldn't go that far. There are hundreds of religions all claiming they have the answers. If you choose to believe. More power to you. But if you ask me. Religion has killed more people than it has saved
@@klounpound6945 nah I agree, PEOPLE have slaughtered others in the name of religion till modern times still I ain't say he convinced me but he had enough charisma to convince me to look into it ya see what I'm saying? I'm on your side inna way but I gotta give props where it's due lol
@@patsykoch6478 you’ve got a point, if only people were more like this man and not zealots doing everything to get people to believe their own doctrine
Just like when the factories packed up and left middle America working for temp agencies and struggling to get re-trained for the information revolution.
I live in pike county ky, just a few counties over from harlan. My dad, grand dad, and great grandad was all coal miners. My dad was underground for 28 years and the one thing hes always told me is to get out of here and to not even think about going underground. People dont understand that this is all we know, we dont have any other training in anything and no one is coming to help and train us for anything else. Were trying to stray away from coal but their is just nothing else around here. Nothing, no opportunities but to leave here. I leave here in less than a month im moving to nashville for trade school for automotive.
Good for you man to take that step. Best wishes.
Speaking Truth yeah there’s schools in America
Good luck to you bud I hope you do great
Fellow Kentuckian here with roots in Leslie County - unfortunately I had to leave too. Leaving my family, friends, and community behind was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I'm still not sure if I made the right decision.
Good luck. All the best!
That was an excellent documentary. Having a Black man acknowledge White poverty through his choice of topic and interviewing style is especially important. And hat’s off to the people of Harlan KY for opening up their lives to him in such a neighborly yet poignant manner. This is top-notch journalism done on an extremely important topic. High praise to everyone in this piece.
Poor is poor no matter what color they are been to a lot of places that are poor and no matter the color of u come into the town with a open mind and not disrespecting them they’ll treat u like family
Poor don’t care what color you are.
@@TheBeefSlayer yes it absolutely does, intersectionality is present everywhere and poor bipoc people have to deal with way more
@@Nikita-vz5wj if you are poor you are poor. Your skin color will not make you less poor.
@@Nikita-vz5wj if you think poor people are in any way different because of the color of their skin then you are racist. It’s ok though... maybe nobody ever told you that you were racist. Now maybe you can fix it.
The vice guy is tight
Kentucky homeboy: you should come out here and deer hunt sometime(strong country accent)
Vice dude: yea dude im totally down(cali accent)
Not a Cali accent. That’s just a generic American accent he has.
Lol and next time don't out your eye flush with the scope - recoil will give you a black eye.
@@sstritmatter2158 I was getting real nervous about that haha
@@livelyupmyself1 there is no generic American accent
@@theUNEXPLAINABLEuap Yes, there definitely is. What kind’ve American accent does the black dude have? Cuz it definitely ain’t a Cali accent. Nevada’s an example of a generic American accent.
I can only imagine the amount of wealth produced by these people, and none of it went to them or the community.
Abolish capitalism. "Trickle down" is a bullshit lie
Sal J. Agree Trickle down economics isn’t in America 😂
@Sho Yu Weeni that could said the same for steel mills or detroit and cars, they didnt squander it. They spent it on housing in an area that now has no jobs to support it thats literally what the video is about. Everything most people end up working for in their life goes towards owning a house.
@Sho Yu Weeni
Those on wall street keep lieing to them - the town failed to deveresifiy into new source of income..
Sad - but like the last logger - some don't see the future until it hits them between the eyes
Sal J. Trickle down is made up by leftist economists the actual principle is called supply and demand
The biggest reason for the decline of "coal country" isn't renewable energy, nor is it environmental regulations, it is economics. The biggest competitor and threat to Appalachian Coal is Wyoming Coal. Wyoming coal isn't buried under mountains, so you don't need complex mine shafts and all the risks and costs associated with them. Wyoming coal can be mined in open pits, making it much cheaper than Appalachian Coal. To make matters worse, all the "easy" Appalachian coal has already been mined, making the remaining coal even more expensive to mine. The coal industry didn't die, it just moved west. No amount of government intervention is going to bring coal mining back to Appalachia, its just not profitable there anymore.
If they want to "save" these towns, they are going to need to find some new industries to take the place of coal mines. I think one way the government could help is to either revoke, or buy out the mineral rights from the mining companies. This would make the land available for other developments. That area looks like it could be a prime location for an outdoor recreation based economy. Commercial hunting lodges, ski areas, etc.
During the late 1970s early 80s lots small manufacturing moved into traditional coal county , the plan was for small scale manufacturing to replace the coal jobs everyone new where going away and it was working until NAFTA
@@harold42501 Yes thank you, NAFTA is a dirty word in my book
Didn’t some big mining operations shut down in Wyoming last year?
Your the reason the comment section is important. Had no idea that Wyoming has coal and is doing fine!
Natural gas is also cheaper now.
14:10 Joe casually and with out thought bends down to pick up his spent shell casings. Meanwhile the entire area has, at one time, been bulldozed and strip mined. He obviously cares deeply for his home.
Kinda broke my heart.
He probably has a reloading bench hes just recycling those lol
Yea he’s recycling the shells, not necessarily about respecting the land. Also, I doubt people that dig for coal and base their lives around it worry about their environment
@@ivanalvarez5511 fair point.
@@ivanalvarez5511 exactly what I was about to say
"i mean, i'm a grown man, i ain't scared of that." man, this is so tragic. it's not about fear. being pulled away from your family is like having your heart ripped from your chest. you can suffer the wound without fear, but it's still a debilitating wound.
Anonymous message ruclips.net/video/wSFnkVVU9Lg/видео.html
Yeah... time to feel like a Mexican domestic worker.
he was saying he doesnt fear it, not that it wouldnt crush him. use your brain
@@warrendourond7236 sucks for them too 🤷♂️
Like everyone who joins the military because it's the best economic option for them.
There is an incredible historic documentary about this town titled "Harlan County USA" (1976) The film depicts the tensions created between coal miners who sought to create a union, to better their labour condition and the mine Owners, who refuse to accept the labour contract. The inability of the two groups to reach an agreement results in a strike that lasts over a year and leads to violence in their community. I highly recommend giving it a watch, it is available on youtube and runs for about an hour and 45 minutes.
It’s such an insanely good documentary. Watching that doc and then watching videos like this really breaks your heart. It’s so incredibly tragic to even just think about what the miners of the past went through just to eek out a semblance of dignity working in coal mines. Striking for an entire year, being shot and beaten by brown shirts and cops, scabs crossing the line. It was one of the hardest fought battles for a union in the US I’d ever heard of. And even when they succeeded in creating a union, it doesn’t even take long for all the work to be for nothing with the discovery that coal is horrific for the environment. It’s so incredibly sad.
Thanks!
I'll be sure to watch it. Cheers
It’s one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long time on the subject, and as a Union miner I can tell you that our industry needs more protection for the workers. I also enjoyed the Doc. Blood on the Mountain that’s a really good movie as well.
It's on RUclips too. Thanks!!
This reporter was litterally amazing. Vice should definitely have him more for documentaries
For sure.
Definitely! i thought it was great that he took the shot when offered to him instead of chickening out.
Yeah I agree actually. He seems to ask the right questions without seeming like a dickhead... he's 👍
I thought he was figuratively amazing. Thanks for clarifying
My gaydar is goin off
Very well done. Those kids in coal country are going through what we went through in the Midwest 30+ years ago when the Farm Crisis changed farming forever and the consolidation of farms and the resulting changes in Agri-business and small towns all over the Midwest saw a huge unreported movement of young adults away from small towns in the late 80's into the 90's. I know how these kids feel and I hope the families are doing ok.
Yup, same with the steel mills
@@ivanalvarez5511 it’s still happening in rural WI. Pretty much every family farm is hanging on by threads. And the ones that still are hanging on abs have been thru generations won’t get passed down again. The land will but the younger gen won’t continue to use it as a farm. It’s all Mega farms now. None of these generational farmers can make it anymore and it’s so sad.
Agri-business is still hurting and that's up full running. The Government has been way to involved in just normal people's lives. The overview to me is we're starting to see what they have been trying to do for year's. Turning this nation into a Socialist Country. Our option's are becoming more limited in the workforce. Seems like the choice is being taken from us. This goes much deeper!
You drive up the prices so high it knock's the small man out. That's Agri-business, being from Bama you see all this with these counties.
@@packpock4369 no wonder the elite of the country can trick you folks so easily your over here blaming socialism when its quite literally the opposite. The reason youre getting fucked is because their is no human or societal factor that corporations take in when making decisions its all about a bottom line and their "shareholders".
They dont care if they poison people or leave towns hollowed out through vulture like monopolistic strategies.
But yea keep blaming socialism moron.
As an Englishman watching this, it's interesting to hear the similarities between the East Kentucky accent and the accent of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk).
A lot of Norwegian Immigrants ended up in the Appalachian range :)
You might also enjoy Tangier Island, Virginia.
The Southern American accent is the closest to traditional English - true story!
Does the accent of folks from Norfolk and Suffolk imply that they are ignorant? When the US government forced a migration of Appalachian families to the north industrial cites to fill the employment gap, the Appalachia were denied an education. Sent home under the government agreement that they were too ignorant to learn. The truth is that the language barrier was far too great and no will from government to help. At the time, the industries needed mass uneducated and the US government was all in on their scheme. $
Most people here are taught the false history of the US. In many parts of Appalachia, the dialect was derived from a mix of Scott/Irish, Native American/and African American. All of these 3 groups considered less than human by the elite and their government at one time. There was good reason for these folks to stay in the mountains generation after generation. They did not have a nation. It has not changed much today.
@@ltwig476 'Does the accent of folks from Norfolk and Suffolk imply that they are ignorant?' Only to the ignorant.
These are some of the most forgotten people in America. When you think poverty and having nothing most people don’t think about a random county in kentucky
I do! Rode my motorcycle across America (I’m canadian) and the Midwest and Deep South were the most depressing things I’ve ever seen.
There’s nicer places in Mexico (I also rode across that country).
I think the issue could be political representation. Poor people in cities tend to vote for people to implement programs to make them less poor, whereas these programs have a stigma in more conservative areas.
jacob f Neither do Republicans. Bernie was the only candidate who cared about poor whites and other oppressed groups but the media killed his campaign.
Kinda like black peepo
@jacob f At least democrats would support them with something.
Lee is best reporter 🙏 He went to a place that is probably scary for a lot of people and treated them with respect and kindness.
Finally a guy to do an honest real report he needs more Air Time. Also the young guy in video seems like a really good person I hope everyone The Best.
Indeed. Usually Vice reporters act like they come in with some agenda or aim to achieve and film to that effect. This guy did amazing and respectful journalism here.
I do not pray for the coal industry, but I do pray for these communities the ability to adapt. There are some good people there.
how you know?
:( it is unfair what happened to these families. These hardworking people of generations just breaks my heart.
I hope they can make something else instead of coal
@@mr.magnussen1289 you dont make coal you mine it.
That's what you get when you stand your ground against all evidence that your industry is in decline. They had the chance to get some people elected that were actively working for the end of coal yeah, but who had plans to help them. They chose the fleeing Trump administration and that's what they get. SAD
Love this dude look forward to seeing him doing more and important docs
watch the new Micheal Moore documentary “Planet of the Humans” we’d be better off going back to coal
Le doge
@@ricebowl3 go back and finish school, it will do you wonders
0
I really like this journalist. He's super chill and genuine, like when he and that guy were shooting, he's like "Yeah down for that dude!" When the guy said they should go hunting up there. 😂
He is much better than the vast majority of Vice reporters who just judge and shame everyone who doesn't think the way they do instead of just listening, truly trying to understand where people are coming from and let them be heard.
Keep this guy around Vice! ✌🏻✌🏻
Also, I know plenty of other people are saying basically the same thing, i just want Vice to see how many people agree this is one of, if not the best, reporter they have so they can not only keep him around but realize what their viewers actually want.
Can't agree more with you
yep, sadly Vice are slowly using their good reporters, they better keep him
Well no one really is disagreeing with the topic this guy was sent to cover.
Also remember the entire crew, his questions are provided
When we look at newer, renewable jobs, these are the folks that we need to be training and employing in the field.
I think the biggest issue with these small towns are that they can only survive by exporting a good. You can't train these people the become solar panel installers, unless there's a big enough market close enough nearby to commute to that will keep them busy. These towns die or they pivot and find ways to manufacture another good that can be exported and sold to a larger customer base. This could be a tangible good or a digitally delivered good or service.
Solar panels, nuclear power plants, and electric cars need copper. The Feds need to allow mining of copper in Alaska, that's where these people can move to.
ya but the older jobs employed more people the eco friendly employ less so the fight begins who gets the job and who starves?
@@xxxBradTxxx Would you want to move to Alaska? Where it's cold and dark for at least 6 months out of the year? A creative solution is needed, but I'm certain it isn't moving an entire community to Alaska!
@@xxxBradTxxx I don't think we watched the same video. The issue is some people lose a lot by moving, as they have built up what little equity they have in that tiny town. This may not seem like a big deal, but it matters.
A 55 year old who invested most of his money into real estate, his home--loses a tremendous amount by moving as his old house cannot be sold, or at best, will vastly undersell.
Don't say this isn't a big deal, as most Americans in history built up their minor piece of wealth on their home's value. This undercuts the traditional American dream (in a financial sense) right at the knees.
People need to understand there are A LOT of different types of "America" and there are a ton of different views due to the environment you lived in. It is not as simple as "Democrat" or "Republican".
Damn right, we need to make America the land of opportunity again
That's why you need more than two parties too
@@StrawberryLegacy that is beyond truth
It honestly should just be democrats, Republicans are literal facist nazis.
I agree. For example, I just a stamp on a product and it said made in America. I has an image of the entire continent of N. America. I believe this means it was made in Mexico, which in their minds is simply a different type of America.
This guy is vices best reporter by a mile
Way better than the one who basically told a real trans girl to stop talking as it was offending someone who thought they were trans.
@@reyzephlyn105 when did that happen? i want to see
@@Abqkqqpdbdb ruclips.net/video/utW1ItcMeJw/видео.html
@@reyzephlyn105 I watched the whole video and didn't catch that.
And the one blonde chick.
I remember teachers telling us in the 90's that there were no more life-time jobs at one company. They told us we needed to learn many skills. They specifically said. America is no longer a manufacturing base, most jobs will be in sales and services. That was 30 years ago. Like another comment said. Kentucky needs to start growing Marijuana. Talk about a family business.
If they would legalize weed, families could start farms that have actual 'tegridy.
Graduated in 95' Been a machinist since I graduated and never looked back. I work in a large Tool and Die shop in Wisconsin and make a very good living. Glad I proved some of those teachers wrong....
Believe me they do. The weed that comes in from Mexico never makes it to middle America. Middle America smokes weed from Kentucky and Tennessee.
THE GREENRUSH
Thats a business of privilege. In Appalachia large scale farming is not possible. It is one thing yhat separates us from the rest of the south.
"...our way is not blaming or cursing the darkness, but, lighting a candle."
That touched me deeply
"We are Christians we are followers of Jesus. Our way of working is not to blame or curse the darkness but to light a candle."
I'd love to visit that Church.
Please do come and visit this church. Holy Trinity Church in Harlan, Ky and St. Stephens Church in Cumberland, Kentucky. Fr. Terrence is a gift to our community
@@donellbusroe1887 Thank you so much. I will certainly try. We've got family in Dingess WV that we're going to visit on the first of the month and we can go right through Harlan.
@@donellbusroe1887 Do you know if they accept donations? Want to help their community.
Catholicism ❤
You can see how the Roman Empire used this kind of indoctrination to their benefit.
I’ll never understand why the working man would ever trust a company
Because the companies have eroded the people's trust in the government by buying politicians, then turn around with their arms open and proclaim "You can trust me i'm not the government."
That's kinda ignorant and privileged thing to say. It's not that they trust the company, its that there is no other choice because coal mining companies hold monopsonies over these towns. Not everywhere is a big city, where there's another 100 companies that have potential job openings. It costs a ridiculous amount of money to move to another city and even more to learn a new trade.
I'll never understand why a miner would vote republican
@MR merperls because most republican senators advocate for right to work states and the chasing out of unions. I work at an aluminum mill in washington and the only reason we are treated so well is because we are steel workers union. It's in spokane right on the border between idaho as well, and the work force is 1/2 from idaho. They dont want to get a job there because they know they will be taken advantage of by the right to work laws.
The poor working class white has been brainwashed by the ruling class LONG ago.
I'm a Hispanic, I've been around everywhere. Till this day the nicest people I've met in this country are people down in the Mississippi delta, and these people right here "coal country". They also happen to be the 2 poorest areas of our country yet most of the people I've met in both places would give you the shirt off their back even though they can barely afford their own. I hate how the media and politics skews our views on the people we have in this country. I'm not big on the whole "coal" industry but I do care about these communities and hope they find a way to prosper again
Same goes for all the rural areas of this country, this story can be told 1000 times all over this country
Not according to Hollywood....
@@jameswill175 Costal Elites hate these people and view them as subhuman, they are hard working people who want an opportunity. Yet who do they elevate to hero status, the criminal thug element in their own cities. Sad.
Couldn’t agree more, some of the nicest, sweetest people I’ve come across. It sickens me how many elitists just shit all over these people.
Not to bring race into things, but this is why I get upset about “white privilege”. Yes I agree that many suburban whites have a “privilege” but many rural communities are just as trapped as the inner cities. Schools are just as bad(if not worse depending how deep into the boonies you get), drugs are a problem, abuse and alcohol abuse is a big problem. But these people seem to always get forgotten.
Since I was a kid, I have been forced to watch my Appalachian community die a slow and painful death. Rampant drug use, higher and higher crime rates, infrastructure deterioration, poverty raising by the year.
I guess it’s the same everywhere, they don’t care about people from working towns or rural area. Greetings from the northern Mexican mountains to my applachian friends!
De qué parte eres carnal?
Por eso necesitamos apoyar a nuestros propios comunidades, los ricos siguen siendo rico y dejan a nosotros los pobres a sufrir y morir por ellos. La lucha no es solo de aqui ni de ella es universal
They don't care about people at all
Thanks! I live 45 minutes away from Harlan. My wife’s family lives and has lived in Harlan for generations but my father’s family is from Northern Mexico - Saltillo.
@@Mdel07304 Tienes razon pero esta as la misma gente que grita" Build the wall" contra los tuyos. Ni te creas que te ven igual por muy jodidos que esten ahora.
8:37 my dude is using a Maker's Mark bourbon bottle as his spray bottle. That's the one of the most Kentucky things I've ever seen and I live here
Oli
ruclips.net/video/re3TkYzJA6Q/видео.html
I've seen a lot of barbers use Jack Daniel's bottles
My mother is from there. I have one distinct memory of going to visit my mamaw in evarets ky which is near harlan, I remember going down the road and seeing a woman picking coal off the train tracks for fuel. My dad stopped and gave her a box of canned food that we had, food that she needed to feed her children. Looking back that seems crazy because that happened in the US, arguably one of the richest nations in the world, yet that is a reality.
I also think it is noteworthy to point out the medical condition that come from working in the mines and living around them. My grandfather had blacklung and my mother would always tell me about the creek that ran by her house turning colors and the fish dying. Many of the people on my mothers side of the family have cancer, such as my aunt with lukemia, etc. I blame that on a polluted water supply that they got from their well. The water can get polluted from the run off. And i sugest, if interested, look up the specifics.
They used to own a farm near barbourville aswell and it was taken by the coal companies as they owned the mineral rights.
Another point is the enviromental inpqct. In neighboring bell county when in middlesboro you can see where the moutains surrounding the town have been strip mined. It is a ugly scar on a once beautiful landscape.
The economic issues that they present in these videos is very much impactful. Drugs have become an epidemic as many turn to it as an escape and a way to illegaly make money.
I pray that things get better as it is in the Lords hands.
There needs to be a introduction of new industries and a diversifying market as to provide jobs in the region.
Textile manufacturing also left. There was an industrial base, but it has been offshored too.
I live in the next county over and you are right about everything. Now that the pain pills are gone, meth has taken over in the area. So sad.
Ain't no new industry sprouting up under Biden. The dude flew his son to China for private equity deals and has continued to be very cozy and compliant for them in office. We're getting reamed and leftists celebrate it because they don't need the working class anymore thanks to immigration
Yet trump claimed he would fix this stuff and he DIDNT.
@@turkey4957 cause the dude is a grifter and suckered millions of struggling and desperate Americans.
He stares into an unknown abyss, his way of life is lost, his family teeters on collapse but his love and respect for his home transcends everything as he meekly picks up his shells after shooting his rifle.
I'm From rural north Alabama, and its not a place with any real Industry to speak of, other than mobile homes that are essentially bought by the people that build them. I joined the military a month after graduating high school in 2006. I miss home, but the thought of ever going back frankly scares me. The fact is, things change, the world changes. And the idea of home, these days, is just that, an idea. And can be one that holds you back. So for places like this, it comes down to a decision, survive at home, or leave and live.
City living isn't for all of us
If I was in your shoes, I don't think I'd go back either unless to retire.
Pretty much. I'm from a small town in the midwest and most of the truly successful among the people I grew up with are those that moved away. Home is home, but a lot of these areas just can't compete with more populous places with more resources.
@@Tim85-y2q Just depends on what you think success is.
If you feel your station in life is not where you want it to be, its ultimately up to you to change that situation.
@@Tim85-y2q yeah, I saw my wages drop the longer I stayed in town, as businesses closed and I was forced to find new jobs. I had a degree, but what good was that in the wake of the financial crisis in small-town America? At one point, I was working three part-time jobs because that was the only way to pay rent.
Finally, my boyfriend and I packed up and moved to DFW and got jobs there. We were finally able to reverse the trend of declining wages at part-time gigs. We worked for a warehouse and worked our way up through ranks. Unfortunately, that kind of opportunity simply wasn't available in my small town. I now make more than triple what I did when I left my small town, and my now husband makes double what he previously made. We don't need a bunch of part time jobs just to put food on the table.
Going back home after seven years, the town looks like it's decaying, with payday loan places sprouting where other businesses have died. The mall that suffered a slow death has finally been officially closed, as they kicked out the last of the vendors there, leaving an empty husk. Small businesses are being supplanted by national chains. I only see more of the same to come.
their is an incredible comparison between Appalachia and the inner city.
Having actually been to both, I definitely agree with you
@JUST Cali but it's also more black, so I'd still take this.
@yap yap actually it's blacks and whites that convince themselves that they are different, you can tell by simply looking at poor blacks and comparing them to poor whites. The data is there.
yap yap yep! LBJ even told us all 60 years ago what the rulers strategy was and is around racism. Capitalism needs racism and the owners of this country nurture it and foster it to prevent a united front against them.
@Doom Do you actually know what white privilege means? White privilege means you don't suffer because of your race. White privilege does not mean white people do not suffer or experience poverty. It just means you are not systematically oppressed due to your race.
I live in a tech town in Canada, and am as far removed from Kentucky coal miners as you can get, but damn I wish I could reach out and give these fine people a hug right now. I can’t imagine how it feels to lose a living like that.
Parallels in every part of the world and in many industries. You'd only have to change the accents to make this film about the coal industry in England and Wales, or the ship building industry in England and Scotland, or the asbestos mines in South Africa. One day it'll apply to the towns that serve the North Sea oil industry, already it's happening to towns serving a dwindling fishing industry worldwide. It's the inevitable result of tying an entire regional economy to a single industry and then waiting until that industry is completely dead and the economy is on its arse before admitting there's a problem and contemplating the future. Trump did them no favours when he promised them a revival, he just cost them four more years of decline.
they seem like truly good people. humble and just want to work.
Give them a hug?? And light a candle too I suppose.
Plenty of coal mining communities who are experiencing the same in canada. Shut them down and then had to import power from us on a line that was supposed to take power down to us it really makes a lot of sense
@@hellenbeer8315 Give them a education.
Harlan County KY is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited, filled with kind people and natural wonders. While it's very sad to see the impact the closure of the mines has had on the area and her people, I believe there's a lot of potential to revitalize things by developing tourism there. The drives, hiking, history (particularly pertaining to coal), multi-cultural heritage, and stunning sunsets are just a few of the reasons I'll be going back to Harlan. It's truly a hidden gem of a leisure destination, and I hope that local folks will build their pride and love of place into a sustainable tourism industry.
Great point. There's a case to be made for making a lot of this old industrial heartland into a giant cycling vacation destination. Let people get some exercise and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
This is small towns all over America not just in Appalachia
The ones in rural midwest and the south specifically right?
Southeast as well...
In the pacific northwest the area was booming not long ago with timber and fishing. Regulations just about wiped that out and that created a couple generations of kids raised on welfare.
yup, same thing is happening in northern minnesota with the decline of taconite.
Trump lied and acted like he would revive all these industries when thats beyond any presidents ability.
Im so glad my father had the balls to leave behind everything he knew and start over in a new line of work instead of staying put and waiting for a savior.
People are asking "What am i gonna do? What are we gonna do" but even though its hard that is the right answer. What we need is to help and support these communities while they take the time to learn new skills.
Coal companies and the families that own(ed) these mines have never cared for the miners or their families.
But but they were our job creators! Protect your CEOs!
Where does this sentiment even coming from? No one cared for anybody through out the whole history. What's the point of expecting it to be different?
Will Snyder Protect our citizens from a nefarious government as neither the Democrats or GOP give a crap.
Paul, Does things. Lmao that’s not funny
Same as the absolute vast majority of any other companies.
Watching this report makes Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul's negative position on transitioning Kentucky to a leading entity in America's pursuit for the future of clean sustainable energy more upsetting. These are their constituaints and they are simply looking for a means to save their town and their families from oblivion.
MM has to be one of the worst people on earth
That still doesn't mean much. Trying to save a dying industry is noble, but if you know (as the coal mining companies knew) that an industry will die out, no matter what--you should be coming up with solutions for the future that's coming, not trying too keep the old industry alive under false pretenses.
If the politicians you speak of really cared about their communities, they would have gone in there and started talking about 10 year, and 15 year plans, telling everyone how things were changing and how their children would need new options. We weren't gonna rely on coal forever, so to tell these people that we would continue to do so was a flat out lie.
Conversion to new technologies was going to happen anyway, and it was going to have consequences; Mitch and Rand don't care about their communities like they pretend to, they just pander to them with "easy" solutions, which they knew were unsustainable.
"No amount of EPA restrictions being lifted are going to reopen their mines."
True that. We must embrace and move forward, has difficult as that may be.
How are they supposed to?
Now more than ever these coal towns being left for dead need to be seen by company's of all types and find ways to bring the people work, they got rails, they got roads, be a manufacturing wet dream. And you got a community already there and people who want to work and will work for their family's.
Any small town with a central buissness faces this problem, military towns are the exact same, base goes, town dies.
It sucks but it's been happening for the last 100 years, my mother's town of birth didn't even exist any more, it's a hole in the ground, a mine, she can never go back.
Times change, change with them or be left behind, don't mean to be harsh, I worry about my current town now, I get it, you need to move though, or be self sustaining, farm, energy, water, don't rely on this country, the USA has never had the backs of it's people, ever.
@@jr540123 the logistics side is already there, for the most part. like you said, the roads and rails are already there. its most definitely usable land.
@@jr540123 The problem is the coal industry holding all the land like he said. They'll hold onto that land for years to come in case coal makes a come back. The owners don't care because they don't live there and they are making money with their other investments.
I grew up the next county over. The coal industry has been in decline since at least the early 90s. I left after high school out of necessity.
i lived in cumberland till i was 10 and my dad always told me we had to move before it was too late and now i understand. i’m now 17 in knoxville and feel bad for those who didn’t move
@@plzkill_krill You're dad is a smart dude. Glad he could see the future for you.
I'm glad you did. I hope you and yours who still live there are doing well
@@plzkill_krill What are your plans moving forward?
What did you do once you left?
That catholic priest actually seemed like a genuine Christian.
I had the exact same thought. The gospel must be lived through action!
He doesn't seem like one of the pedophiles
by genuine chrisitan do you mean he murders all non-believers and such?
There's a lot of those.
@@PettyClipper you're confusing him with a Muslim
really chill interview style. I like it. he isn't interrupting them. his questions aren't leading or judgemental. a real interviewer
Growing up poor I feel for them. Please consider becoming Welders. There are plenty of jobs for welders if you are willing, the money is decent and best of all with the knowledge you will acquire from your peers and industry, you can go back home and create new jobs for yourselves and other people. Good luck! Welding career advice: ruclips.net/video/9L1CfvQyfQA/видео.html
Good comment mane
how about you just grow your own food. collect rainwater/tap groundwater. Perform a local service people need for money. Get by and live your life, I cut trees for a living in rural wisconsin and hunt, garden, play music, and go to church every saturday and sunday. Not hard!
@@gickygackers yes, but you are probably used to that, these people were COMPLETELY based off of coal mining, it isnt that easy for many to just switch
Electricians and plumbers also make lots of money if they have the right licenses, and you can get a paid apprenticeship. I'm apprenticing right now, and there are people looking for apprentices all over the place, and like welding, you can work anywhere with those jobs.
beter i think if that were an option they would be doing that, the entire local economy depended on the mine and when it died out so did everybody’s income. The people who weren’t directly working for the coal industry still rely on the workers as their customers. It’s a cascading economic impact that can only be solved by leaving unfortunately
"And if your only choices have been voting on an empty promise to protect the lifeline of your town and voting for someone who's promised to do away with it completely, i wouldn't trust the government either."
This dude knows what's up and I love it.
@Independent Thinker did you not listen?? Its not as easy to leave as it is to just say you should. The younger people are planning on leaving if they can/when they can. And the older generations will if they have the ability.
Hell yeah! This guy is awesome. I really like that ending line.
Also the last time the coal miners tried to strike for better pay and working conditions the US government sent federal troops in to protect the private thugs hired by the coal companies to beat down and in some instances just shoot the striking miners.
@@madmanszalinski I believe it.
@Independent Thinker not a problem...gonna use Wikipedia as a starting point, if there are credible alternate sources of information that contradict what's written in this article I am not aware of them and I would love to hear about them.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain
Edit: I'm from the other side of West Virginia, a century later and a lot of the people in the hills still don't trust the government.
I work in Wisconsin at a large Tool and Die shop, we are dying for hard working skilled labor! Perhaps these lads need to move on and take there hard work ethic and apply it to another trade.
I was reading Modern Machine Shop talking about the "skills gap". I chuckled to myself when I read that the wages of CNC operators and tool makers was in the teens. Degreed engineers seem to doing OK. You can make money in tool and die, but you need to have a stable base of clients and credit to run that business. www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/blog/shopmanagement/manufacturing-is-facing-a-wage-gap-not-a-skills-gap
Wait where? We can’t find a machinist job here in Los Angeles :( I have an AA and can’t find a job.
Tumdéaux they made 16-25 here depending on experience yeah. My dad says it’s cause a lot of children come into the trade and quit so they pay a little. He had 7 guys come in and quit in 2018 cause it was “hard.”
@@SmokeyRoseWolf was it hard or the pay didnt match the work?
Wisconsin has tons of manufacturing/labor jobs open right now that all pay very well. Lots of opportunities there at the moment
For someone who I'm gonna assume comes from a more urban area, to come out to a place like that and truly meet the people, no judging, no arrogance, just a pure will to understand... We need more people like you dude
It's crazy to me how hard-working people put there trust in someone how's never earned a hard days dollar in his life, Has never falling asleep in their car just sitting in the parking lot after work, has never been so tired to take bend over and take your boots off so you just sit on the edge of your bed and stare at your feet.
I felt that last one. Get your shirt off then just stare at your shoes not wanting to fight with the knots.
Most people, much less politicians, haven’t been in that situation. People vote for who they think can deliver what they want, not just on people’s life stories. Trump got the votes of the poor whites because they thought he’d deliver for them
@@mydietisfruitsnuttandseed9817 and for most of us he did. not just poor whites but blacks and latinos as well.
sweed Trump did not win the popular vote. Most people voted for Hilary and yes, the majority of those who actually voted for Trump were poor whites. Let’s not try to rewrite history to save face. Trump was given the presidency by the Electoral College.
Being so covered in mud you can’t touch anything without getting it dirty even after a shower, having dirt and rocks stick up your nose from inhaling the stone dust all day, forcing yourself to make dinner because you know you have to eat for tomorrow morning.
Some people just won’t understand but those who do are proud of it.
“we are going to piss into the wind, and we are not going to get wet” - Donald Trump 2020
It’s quite simple, renewable is the inevitable future, if the government are to help coal country, incentivise the renewable industry to establish, train and employ in these towns
Nah, that would be a clever idea to deal with the coal miners and widen the renewable energy labor sector.
Instead we will promise
Instead we promise to support this unprofitable energy sector and do nothing at the end.
@watercup123456 i seen it and he never discussed nuclear energy. Mostly solar and wind
@watercup123456 You're just wrong, but too stupid and have too much of a victim complex to ever learn.
Right now natural gas is reigning supreme
@@michaelzemke9381 nuclear energy is actually the best solution to our energy problems ruclips.net/video/lL6uB1z95gA/видео.html
One political party never ran on the platform of leaving Appalacia behind. They specifically ran on phasing out coal, training workers (mining to coding, etc), and getting them ready for steady work in a new industry. Their opponents twisted this message by saying "They hate you, we will save you. Believe in us. Coal will be here forever." This was in the face of overwhelming evidence that coal was on a 30 year decline, and it was never coming back.
While I don't blame them, they focused on their own immediate needs and not the end of the road they were on. Anyone paying attention knew this was inevitable. Many politicians advocated for investing in programs to help make the transition easier, but we had to prepare earlier, even though there were clear skies above.
Instead, we chose the hard way. We increased our investments, but that still wasn't enough. No one should be surprised. Now, the damage is much more severe, and too fast to expect a reasonable person to adapt to.
If only we saw this coming.
yeah this whole video is ironic...
One party told coal miners to learn to code. Exactly how was the Democratic Party showing any indication that they were prepping coal miners for a new illustrious career?
They’re not interested in anything progressive. Even though everything moves forward. Get on board or get left behind. We can’t stop change and we can’t just wish and hope. Coal is dying and it’s not coming back. They should have voted for someone who at least was interested in getting them retrained for a new job with a future. Instead they voted for a con man and now they have no future. The definition of shooting yourself in the foot.
Jon Smith so they should have voted for a party whose top priorities were making sure guys who like to dress up as women have the ability to use whichever bathroom they want and stripping citizens of firearms? Really, training 50 year old coal miners who have never turned a computer on before to code is a realistic practice?
@@jimprestigious863 This video focuses on the young people of a town that died, leaving them no prospects unless they leave. Education and jobs programs could have given the town a chance, but instead they hung on to coal until the bitter end. Now, families who lived there for generations are having their houses foreclosed.
Learning new skills is hard, but so is losing your house and relying on churches for food just to stay alive.
He said the interviewer should come up and hunt with him sometime. Good people, I see a friendship beginning
This guy did an excellent job presenting the story of these peoples lives.
Yi
As someone from HC, this is a very accurate, yet shocking portrayal of what is happening to my community. Thank you VICE for bringing awareness to what is going on in coal country and for painting us in an honest light, instead of just hee haw people😂
You could “ Hee Haw” dis D - - K...
This is why all cities need to diversify. When you have a specific industry or corporation that controls most of the labor force and politics it can actually work against you. This is similar to the auto plants in Chicago, or manufacturing plants throughout the suburbs that have been shipped overseas.
Anonymous message ruclips.net/video/wSFnkVVU9Lg/видео.html
Easier said then done. When an industry starts up, especially something geographically based like mining, the town builds itself around it because people have to live there. People living there means they need services. Services means more people needed to operate them. All of it stems from the source- ie. Mining. You can't just expect communities not to form
@benzo ??? Thats not what causes this. You can't blame the government for everything. In the case of where these communities Do form: mining and factory towns. It makes sense that they exist and lobbying doesn't cause it. Companies being accountable for screwing over workers thru depleting job opportunities =/= them causing it.
@benzo and ur right. Its.not the communities fault. Never claimed it
So what happened to too big to fail? The airline gets billions but coal miners get how much?
I was a former coal miner in Texas. My career ended in 2018. Its hard work but it gets in your blood. Meaning you grow to love it. I was fortunate enough to be in an area where I could find employment elsewhere. It wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to work the mines till i retired But I didn't have much choice. I miss it and the men and women I worked with.
I hope you find another job you are passionate about man
The entire of rural America has been raised for a future that no longer exists.
And if you were a business owner in many of the US cities you’re seeing the betrayal of your hard work and property rights by your own government / community.
Move to Portland, Oregon.
@@TheDustysix what's out there?
@@guardiandogoargentinos1385 antifa
@@guardiandogoargentinos1385 Communists and people who hate you.
I love the journalist in this one. He seemed to really become a friend of the main guy, and that let the guy really open up.
Im a second generation coal miner. I work as a heavy equipment mechanic. There are jobs out there . Keep your heads high union brothers.
@trifectors the God Also industrial electrician, instrumentation tech, industrial networks tech, etc...not more than 2-3 years of training and there you go..!
Welding is the best, but not everyone is naturally fit to perform professionally...
Vote for Trump. Democrats hate you.
Where I'm still looking seriously
@@newuser7986 trump did nothing for these people while promising everything
@@clintonyoung6205 if your a experienced miner with a current MSHA. You might look into haul truck driver.
This does a good job of showing, people form attachments to their home and can't just up and leave based on "markets" or some bullshit. These people deserve a dignified living.
Imagine working entire life and finally paying off your home which is worth nothing since no-one will buy it. Majority of these people get by on food stamps and social security. For older folks only option is to live out their days in a dying town since paying rent elsewhere is not an option. Younger generation will have to move in search of jobs.
I started watching very judgmental and ended this feeling bad for them. They were promised one thing, and the company and government screwed them over. I'm proud of them for standing in the way of the train and screwing the company out of millions of bonus dollars. I hope that they'll be able to recover.
I'm glad to hear you say that. I'm from central Kentucky and it breaks my heart watching my fellow Kentuckians suffer from poverty.
@@dylangregory9855 unfortunately it's sad but like the conservatives say they're going to have to pick themselves up by the boot straps and find a new trade.
VLMIGKHTY THREESIXOWE you talk about it like it’s a full blown conclusion that coal is dead when new coal fired power stations are been built all across China and even in developed countries such as Germany.
Max Power II that’s simply because china has to create energy for over 1.4 billion people and germany is slowly closing its nuclear power plants so they need coal power plants not because somehow it’s still efficient or good. In germany too there is a massive lobby for coal germany has always produced more than 30% of their energy from coal and therefore it’s more difficult for them to kinda switch and slowly closing it like they are doing with nuclear. In reality energy produced from coal already cost more than the one produced by renewable energies like solar or wind at least in europe. In fact coal power plants are becoming too expensive especially to maintain that’s why even right now with lower energy demand worldwide they are still opened because it cost a lot to just close and then reopen again. Coal is becoming less and less efficient and considering taht there are more efficient and clean solutions it’s a matter of years that this industry will fail
Carosello Show that makes no sense. If renewables can provide energy for 1.4bn more effectively and efficiently than coal then it makes economic sense to go with renewables which obviously isn’t what is happening.
The size of population does not matter when comparing efficiency of energy generation sources as it is scaled up or down to suit.
China has invested in a new generation of coal fired power stations because (as long as you don’t care about emissions) it is cheap, fairly abundant and the technology is robust and matured.
It isn't "renewable energy" that is killing coal. It's natural gas and fracking. Other words innovation and technology in markets.
Otherwise good documentary.
Renewable energy is growing too,but you're right about fracking.
Anyway,both sectors need far fewer workers to produce the same amount of energy,and that's why they are cheaper
Dumitru Daniel yeah they need re-education for the renewable energy industry
I think it'd be more appropriate to say both have a hand but I agree that natural gas is also a big part. It has it's place but it has its own major problems and renewables are where we need to go.
We can't forget about the people who will lose their jobs like the people of Harlan. Efforts should be made to help them find replacement jobs that fit their skillset. The government left them high and dry.
Actually in a lot of places renewable energy, specifically wind turbines, are also responsible.
They could transition them to Uranium mining for nuclear, cleaner and definantly worth investing in
"People don't care about us" and mitch mcconell has been reeelected how many times??
What about Democrat California? The most homelessness in america
@@gordonconlogue5686 in the end, it's not about Republicans or Democrats, but about rich profiteering bastards being in power.
You could easily bet a West Virginia Democrat will be far different than a California Neoliberal.
Gordon Conlogue the homeless in CA is high because the homeless migrate there for the weather and pan handling
Gordon Conlogue homeless people go to California because it’s the easiest place to grift money because it’s where all the rich people are. These cities are dying because their industries are dying because of republicans
@@user-em4wh5ji3w industries are dying because of republicans, citation needed buddy
I have the greatest respect for these hard working men and women. All they want is a chance. I hate that Pres. Trump lied to them and said coal was coming back in exchange for their votes. I further hate that the company in this report had every intention of selling loaded coal and had dismissed the workers. It was courageous of the few to blockade the train for 3-4 months after. God bless them.
It's difficult to help coal country when the Dems did nothing but oppose everything he did.
And yet in the 2020 general election more than 85% of the county voted for Donald Trump. Despite his opposition to the welfare that kept them alive for months/years. Despite his lying to them about doing anything substantial for coal. Despite his ignorance around what these people actually needed for a better life. They still voted for him. Take that as you will.
I see people in a desperate situation and a con man who took advantage of that. It's a great piece that helps to bridge the divide and tell their story.
The coal companies knew they had a limited time in the traditional business. They've known for a long time, and all they ever did since then was try to squeeze as much out of their employees without setting them up for an alternative future.
That's the truly sickening part, all of this could have been avoided, but corporations love treating people like things to be used.
Never trust a company far beyond an employer, given the chance to make more money or help you, they will choose to make more money 99.9% of the time.
@@iam1smiley1 he never cared about coal country, he cared about coal business executives.
please vice, focus on pieces of content & journalism like these. that was just great, insightful and well made. thanks, Lee Adams!
"In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky, that's the place where I traced my bloodline. And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone, you'll never leave Harlan alive."
I was singing that to myself throughout the entire video!
"You spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave"
One of the most powerful lines in any song ever written
Which song and which artist is it?
@ you'll never leave harlan alive by Darrel Scott, patty loveless, or Brad paisley
“We dug coal together “
Perfect timing to post this! Urban vs Rural... there's no easy answers. Thank you for shining a light on this region of the world that needs to be seen.
I feel like these types of people opening there eyes to the empty promises will really unite blacks and white a little more..
Yea there is an easy answer. It's a capitalist mode of production that causes this. Workers are commodities to be bought by business to produce more commodities and therefore more capital (in money form). Therefore, when industries, such as coal, are longer are able to make profit, production ceases and the workforce is disposed off. To mate matters worse, when you have a system built on the division of labour, workers are only able to do one type of job and consequently, in the event that their industry tanks, they become employed and unskilled. That's really the issue we are dealing with here. Ultimately, it's the fact that humans as nothing more than commodities in our mode of production. The hard part is fighting those who seek to keep conditions as they are.
I'm a Harlan county native and this video hits the nail on the head of what it's really like to be young in the mountains. Most kids don't want to leave after graduation but we're forced to move away, at least for higher education and oftentimes for a lifetime just to make a living. I'm a junior in college, I've lived in the Nashville area for close to three years now, and there's not a single day where I don't miss the hills. There's something about Appalachia that sticks with you forever. I hope my community continues to heal so I can come back home one day.
It's hard seeing people and communities in this kind of situation.
TheMagnificentPony the white privilege would show if they just brought a bus ticket and left they’re jobless city😭😭
@TheMagnificentPony White privilege means you don't suffer due to your race. White privilege does not mean white people do not suffer poverty. It just means you are not oppressed due to your race. Google is free.
Thatcher de-industrialised Scotland, Northern England and Wales in the 80's, leading to the collapse of the coal industry there too. I've seen first-hand the socio-economic problems that have been caused in these disenfranchised areas and how a lot of them have never recovered. I've got a lot of love for these hard-working people and hope they are able to find an alternative livelihood.
Anonymous message ruclips.net/video/wSFnkVVU9Lg/видео.html
It probably would have eventually collapsed either way, just how these towns basically collapsed twice. But yeah, problems in disenfranchised communities run deep and usually outlast their root cause. My dad's home country comes to mind: It's got roughly the same GDP/capita and basically the same cultures as the countries bordering it, but it is leagues safer because it wasn't overrun by cartels in the 80s.
The dude wearing the "GetAutomated" shirt really stuck out to me
Ya I noticed that too
Learn to code
@@JonnyBezzy I did. I'm unemployed.
Andrew Yang vibes
We need more of this right now in 2021. Just hanging out with each other and finding common ground
It always strikes me when I see that people from miner families look like germans since back in the days germans sailed to the USA to work in the mines. Best wishes from germany, hope you guys will get the good chances you deserve.
Germans and scottsirish. Imma mix of both lol
They are a really good looking family
German are very good looking people. I'm a German man and I hear this from all woman, all who I was. ;)
damn, they really look german. Wouldn’t have noticed it but they look like they should be speaking german somehow
As a descendant of one of those Germans you're exactly right, makes sense why many stick around the industry (my family got out and started farming when land was essentially free)
It’s so cute when he said he has to come up and hunt with him. Man, this is sad. I’m not from the US, but I don’t want the destruction of it. I do want y’all to be healthy and happy.
YAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
please don't say y'all if you aren't from the south/ebonics speaking region.
Johnathan Manning please don’t use the word region unless you’re from the northwest
Johnathan Manning 🙄 It must be hard being the word police. You have no idea where I’m from or what slang or dialect is used here. Go find something productive to do.
Are you actually calling someone out for using y’all? Are you serious😂, what a god damn joke. Say what you want, how you want. It’s literally our first amendment YALL are assholes.
I relate to this so much, but with retail. My dad spent his whole life in retail, thirty years with one company and even pre-COVID, the industry was struggling. Stores like J.C. Penney's, Sears, etc. that had been around for centuries in some cases, just up and gone overnight.
I wish there was a doc for it like this one
Same w my step family. everything is just so uncertain. has it always been like this?
@@lanietalk There definitely have been many instances of reorganization of industries due to technological improvements over time. The thing we're seeing now is manual labor and the like(ie lower level skilled and unskilled) isn't valuable anymore. The real issue is the outsourcing of labor overseas which is an irreconcilable situation. The rise of online shopping and the like is where the retail industry is being killed. I really do feel for these coal miners, my family settled central Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1700s and only left in the 1960's and 70's. My grandfather ended up running his stepdad's tobacco farm operation at 17 because his stepdad had to work in the mill to make enough money to keep the farm profitable. The death of the family farm is particularly painful for me to see, but it's incredibly similar. American coal mine operations just aren't profitable anymore, especially considering overseas coal sources that are significantly cheaper.
A thing we did in my home town to deal with banks sitting on foreclosed properties after the recession was to enact an ordinance requiring property owners who live more than 50 miles from the property to have someone check the property each month and to upkeep the property, board it up if broken into or squatted in, and generally provide for the security of their property. That ordinance came with a provision that, for landowners not meeting these requirements, the city would provide the service and bill the owner for it. Second ordinance we passed allowed us to take first position on liens resulting from the first ordinance for the purposes of reclaiming property. I'd wonder if a similar ordinance could be passed in those towns or by their county to pressure the mine land holders into doing something meaningful or selling the land.
Ironic the one guy is wearing a shirt that says...
“Get automated”
A F reported for racism.
ChaffyCaesar80 in what way is that racist buddy
@@chaffycaesar8026 lol what are you talking about, idiot? Automation is partly why these jobs are going; and the progress in automation and AI in the past few years is insane and is only speeding up.
@@chaffycaesar8026 What you said had literally no correlation with the original comment.
@@mikesully110 yeaa...but mining is something that is still largely done by miners...sure once the mined coal enters the factory for processing...it might go thru a system that's largely automated..but we still need miners to mine the coal
Glad I watched this. I'm in the renewable energy business and the last 15 minutes has shed an important light on the true cost of the demise of coal. I wish we could prioritize new renewables-manufacturing jobs for workers who come from these circumstances.
Not renewables - more accurately described as "Replaceables"
So sad man, Im from Detroit. I remember when the automotive industry slowed down. I had over 12 relatives get laid off in a few days. It killed me that I couldn't do anything. From Detroit God bless you guys.
God bless the motor city
I was in Detroit welding in the waste(trash) to energy power plant. The roads were trashed and there were abandoned factories everywhere. I'm from a Maine town of 3k. It's the same here. The papper mill closed and the heroin/fentenyl moved in.
Recently been to Detroit & I’m from Baltimore man that city looks like a zombie apocalypse you could tell Detroit population was way bigger than what is it today
Its almost as if building a society where one's survival is tied to one's ability to contribute to corporate profits will create areas where a lack of economic viability ruins lives.
it also has to do with the fact that these coal miners had no ownership of the mine itself. They were basically indentured servants, and as soon as the bigwigs weren’t making gains on investments they get thrown to the wayside.
I heard there was work up in Harlin, I'm going tomorrow and hope that there is.
-Tyler Childers
Anonymous message ruclips.net/video/wSFnkVVU9Lg/видео.html
Let’s us know 🍻
Good try, but it's Hindman.
*Harlan
My cuz knows it, so he sang it
Some of the best people out there you can meet are in these small rural towns. Best of luck to all.
"We do not blame or cuss the darkness, we light the candle" Damn thaz deep😳
My grandfather was born in the late 1880's on a farm that raised plow horses for farming. Generations of his family had raised horses and farmed. By the time he was a young adult, tractors had taken over plowing and horses were no longer needed. All those companies that supported that style of farming, raising horses, manufacturing the bits and other leather pieces, the blacksmiths, everyone was no longer needed. I was raised in a house that had a furnace that was coal fired. I used to help shovel the coal before we got a gas fired furnace. As one industry dies, others replace it but its the people who have now been supplanted that I feel so bad for. I have no answers.
Good to see the Church doing what churches should be doing.
@Vergilius Brutus that's true
My entire family is from Harlan County. These are the forgotten hero’s of the American experience. You constantly hear about inner city problems and cities in decline; however, you never hear about the people of Appalachia. This is because they have an unfettering pride and determination like no other. They aren’t begging for help or asking for something for free. All they want is the American dream of a good job and a stable place to raise a family. The perils of Appalachia are a stain on the entire country. The nation has turned its back on the very people that fed the lifeblood of our expansion for generations. In the end it will be the faith and the sheer will of these people that will save Harlan. God bless everyone of them.
"They aren’t begging for help or asking for something for free. All they want is the American dream of a good job and a stable place to raise a family."
You know what gave those coal miners the American Dream? FDR's New Deal and his many policies of modernizing America. Unions empowering workers to negotiate with companies for better wages and working conditions. Eisenhower connecting places with the Interstate Highway system, encouraging more trade and commerce. All multi-billion dollar assistance packages from the federal government. All "free" and "help" for an otherwise neglected community. Rural communities want to survive in a modern world? You'll need tax dollars from elsewhere. You need to be able to take on the companies exploiting you. Your government needs to step up, change the economy, and educate its populace with more skills conducive to jobs in demand. There's no shame in asking for government "help" to achieve the American Dream, because otherwise you will have far fewer opportunities to make your hard work worth something.
@D Major 🙃Not taking away your family’s pride and hard work or anything.. HOWEVER, pretty sure welfare, UEC, food pantry etc is in fact receiving handed out help. Don’t be ashamed about it ESPECIALLY when your chosen LAME leader lied and used you, instead be angry. THEN put that anger energy into the right direction towards knowledge, research, action!
But please don’t imply that you seem better than other groups of people in urban communities- that what? Don’t want the same “American Dream” either? Or seemingly “ask for hand outs”. Big corporations, special interest groups and government f*ck over them on a daily basis as well.
*Maybe it’s in this struggle EVERYONE will recognize the latter as the commonality between each other, unite and work TOGETHER now and for future generations. ☮️2U & yours.
The suffereing of Appalacia has long been a topic of conversation. And considering how many people there are also on welfare and food stamps (necessarily) there are in fact getting something for free by your definition. Quit the US vs. Them etc. Most people rural or urban want to have a decent life and be paid fairly for their work. Faith and sheer will are wonderful things. But what will save these people and others is opportunity and learning to adapt.
First of all I was in no way implying anything about urban areas not wanting the American dream or the people of Appalachia being better than anyone else. I was simply pointing out that many times in the National debate about poverty they are no represented. Secondly my statement about not wanting any for free was simply to empathize they don’t want welfare they want jobs. That’s it. They are willing to work if industry will hire them. I can assure you this issues has nothing to do with race, religion, creed or anything else. This is a direct result of big business raping the natural resources of the land these people hold dear and leaving them with nothing once the profit margins get thin. What Appalachia needs is an investment from industry. Businesses willing to make an investment in the community and put their skills to good use. Unless you’ve been there and seen it no one can understand the pride in these communities. The people of Harlan have literally fought and died in coal wars and poor mine conditions to put food on the table. The poverty that exists in these small mountain communities is like no where else in the USA. I can guarantee you these people would turn down food stamps, SSI benefits, and any other government assistance for an honest days wage.
That whole area depends on welfare, food stamp and the church. No need to put down other communities. This whole region needs to adapt and evolve. Coaling ain't it.