West Virginia has seen faster income growth over the last 40 years than most states. Average personal income in WV is higher as a % of national average than at almost any point in WV’s entire history. https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1358112470154571777

One of the unfortunate side effects of people really internalizing the “white working class problems” narrative is they have grievously misunderstood that the places with the deepest pathologies are often the places with the *best* economic outcomes for the white working class.

The little secret about Appalachia nobody talks about is that on almost any basis of comparison it is richer in absolute and relative terms than ever before in its history.

The problem is that being high income still sucks if population is in terminal and irreversible decline.

You can buy a bigger TV than ever before to compensate for the fact that your home, community, and culture has no future and you have absolutely no place in any grand, meaning-making narrative.