Private-sector investment needed to reverse rural decline

January 8, 2014

“As rural towns in Oklahoma and all over the country continue to die statistically and wither economically, paternalistic government programs replace what used to be thriving private-sector communities characterized by personal responsibility,” OCPA economist Wendy Warcholik observes in a recent article. “Where government thrives at the expense of economic growth, the people populating these communities suffer as they become addicted to government assistance. Without work to build skills and character, rural towns are breeding generational poverty and hopelessness.”

Dr. Warcholik says private-sector investment is needed to replace the manufacturing and farming enterprises that have dwindled in many rural areas. Her entire article, “Drug Abuse, Government Dependency, and Rural Decline,” is worth a read.