Like the Arms of God
Appalachia is a former powerhouse of manufacturing, extractive industries and steel production. Beginning in the 1960’s and accelerating in the early 1990’s, in the wake of NAFTA, much of the region has been in a state of steady perpetual decline. While some cities have found success and a greater chance at recovery than their rural counterparts, socioeconomic factors often limit the opportunity for many. Coinciding with the fallout of manufacturing, the expansion of white collar work and concentration of wealth on the eastern and western coasts of the United States has fostered greater immobility to those living in the interior, which is to say that it is difficult for people born into low-income environments to acquire the tools necessary to succeed in today’s world.