The Cyberactivist

I just got off the phone with pattrice, and she had a definitely good plan for at least some of the money that has been raised by this Blogathon and which I think would be a great idea for my community as well as hers.

It's called economic diversity. The idea is to invest money i more than one industry.

Here in my area as well as in hers, poultry seems to dominate the economy. When, or if, something should happen to this industry (and they have threatened to pull out and move more than once if things didn't go their way - in fact they are already talking about moving south of the border if regulations get too strict), the whole economy of the whole community would collapse.

A very good case in point was the ice storm here in Arkansas and several other states back in 2000. The economy became so bad that you couldn't even buy food or gasoline. What little there was was rationed while more was trucked in for days Many businesses have never recovered. They probably never will.

Economic diversity would have lessened the impact substantially. This is a great idea and should be implemented nationally. I hope she succeeds. Hearing about this ambitious and wonderful project just makes me want to help all the more. It may very well save many rural communities from complete devastation.

I sure wish that we had such a program implemented here. You go to the unemployment office to look for a job, and unless you are skilled, like a nurse or something, all there is for you to do is work for Tyson. That's certainly no option for me, even if I wanted to do that! Ha ha!

Seriously, though. We need more. I mean, this is literally putting all your eggs in one basket. Dumb idea, but what does Tyson care? There are always other communities, even countries, to move into. They can even convince the local officials to bid against each other for tax abatements to get them to locate in their area, promising all of these jobs. Sadly, what these communities don't realize is until it is too late and they are in debt and have sent all this money is that there is no more money coming into the area - there is just more leaving it and falling into the hands of the rich fat cats who run the company. It's really sad.

Look. No one, and I mean no one wans to catch chickens for a living any more than they want to hang or kill them. they do it because they are desperate and there is nothing else steady for them to do. But, if you come in and give them real choices, they will ultimately choose to flock to them in droves. It has been proven in communities where this has been implemented. It can be here and in pattrice's area, too. Someone just has to start it. People are willing to work and work hard. working at Tyson should prove that.