How did the south get to this point?? This is tragic.

You can order Ms. Wanda Green's book here!

https://www.wandagreenenterprises.com...

If you look at a list of the poorest states in America, you’ll see something quite noticeable: Many of our most economically challenged areas are in the deep south. Places like Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. And yes, I’m aware these all also happen to be some of our most staunchly republican states as well.

The general population here has never really had an opportunity for success. This area has relied on agriculture and manufacturing forever now, while all of the white collar and industrialized jobs were up north.

Today, farming has become modernized, and a lot of manufacturing jobs have gone overseas.

I spent some time in the poorest part of South Carolina an area here in the northeastern part of the state. Much of this part of this state has sure has fallen on hard times. In many areas like this in South Carolina, you’ll see communities where a third of the residents live in poverty. There’s a term for rural areas like this in the south that are very poor. They’re called dirt road democrats.

But that’s nothing compared to some of the more rural parts of South Carolina where we’ll spend most of our time. For example, this is McColl, South Carolina. Here, 28% of the population lives in poverty. McColl and another community we’ll visit are here in Marlborough County, which is a mostly rural, poverty stricken county right on the North Carolina state line.

McColl only has 2,100 people, and the population has dropped by more than 30% since the year 2000. 1 in 10 residents in McColl are part of the Pee Dee Native American Indian Tribe.

The average household here in McColl brings in around $22,000. Of course, inflation in the form of higher gas and food prices hits these people the hardest, so $22,000 for mom AND dad goes far less than it did even a year ago.

Just 10 miles down the road from McColl is a larger and even poorer community. This is Bennettsville, the county seat of Marlborough County. The downtown area of Bennettsville is actually kinda charming in it’s own way, although many of the businesses here left long ago, and there’s no sign they’re coming back. The population here is around 7,700 people, but 1 in 5 people left town within the last 10 years alone. There just aren’t a lot of opportunities in small town South Carolina. Kids no longer stick around and work the family business or on farms. A lot of kids who grow up here leave town as soon as they’re able to. An example of that is this guy who is a well known actor from Parks and Recreation. He got outta here when he was 18.

In Bennettsville, the poverty rate is even higher than in nearby McColl. Almost 1 out of every 3 members of the community lives below the poverty line. That’s almost triple the national average. The schools here are very much underfunded, even for South Carolina standards. There was a hospital in town years ago, but it closed its doors because patients didn’t have insurance.

Many of the homes we’ll see driving around Bennettsville are valued at $10,000. Can you imagine that?

Sure, it’s super cheap here, but there’s nothing to do for stimulation. You’d have to work from home. Many of the people along these streets do NOT have the ability to work from home because they don’t have those skills. Check this chart out this is a list of every county in South Carolina based on the number of college graduates. At the bottom is Marlborough County where less than 1 in 10 residents completed college. Of course, college can be a waste of time and is hugely overpriced. But the road out of poverty goes through a college education in many cases. There are also technology challenges here. Many of these homes don’t have updated computers or reliable internet.

If these rural communities in South Carolina don’t change their lives, it’s gonna get worse here. There aren’t any families lining up to move here to take advantage of the cheap housing. There aren’t a lot of companies working on plans to bring in jobs to the area. Can you imagine how this place will look with the next generation? Will much of rural South Carolina just be wiped off the map in 50 years? Because at the rate we’re going now, there won’t be anyone left here one day.

#southcarolina #moving

Email me: [email protected]

I have a Patreon if you love it so much! Here's the link to donate to the channel: https://www.patreon.com/NickJohnsonYo...

You can buy my music here:

iTunes:   / statesongsanalbum  

More places to get my music:
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/a...

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08D3...

This channel is about America!

The best video on this topic!