Yep. That piece is a little left-leaning in that it pretty much assumes Trump is lying. I mean, I'm pretty sure he is, but they should have some facts to back that up.
But it's accurate in its description. The coal mines are kaput. They're not (IMO) ever coming back. Like the one woman said, the land is "timbered out." So, they have nothing left. The people in that area who maybe had a bit more money, or saw this coming and sent their kids to college, or had relatives in nearby counties have all moved out. These are the people that are left. Immigrants are not taking their jobs, there simply are no jobs.
They are mad at Democrats because many of them have voted Democrat their whole lives. But this was not based on Democrats promising great things for coal miners or for West Virginia. It's because they were union. And unions have always endorsed Democrats. And tbf, the Democrats have to some extent been pro-labor in the sense of supporting unions and minimum wage and the like. When there was a coal industry, Democrats were on their side. But now that the coal mines are shut down, there is no union.
I mean, let's be real here. No President is going to do anything for those people, because 1) politics, but also 2) there is not a solution there. At least not one that can be tackled on a national level.
But you can see that Clinton is echoing the general liberal stance of wanting to help the poor, trying to transition them to some other economy that will work. Which isn't to say she will actually do it, but that is IMO the right solution.
But it's not what they want. They want the coal mines back. They don't want to live on what they see as government handouts. They want to work the mines and feed their families like they have for generations.
Walmart really screwed those people over, because they came and swallowed up a lot of the local businesses, became a major employer and shopping center... and then left. But no one in that clip is blaming Walmart. They are blaming the loss of the coal mines, and that loss is blamed on Democrats.
So yes, these people are desperate for jobs without a doubt. But they are also really fighting for their culture. So when you promise them specifically coal mining jobs AND no immigrants moving in and introducing foreign stuff, then they are suckers for it. Even though no immigrant in their right mind would move to West Virginia.
One other thing that they don't tackle in that clip. These places and people tend to be very religious. So a lot of them don't fully accept that coal or timber will ever run out. God has granted humans this land to be used and he won't let them down. That's one strong reason it's hard to convince them coal is dead.
I've tried to work with people in coal mining towns. Not as bad as that one, but pretty bad. Also, I used to work with fisherman. It's the same attitude. Fisherman believe in pollution and keeping the water clean, because that is humans being wasteful and humans are capable of sin and wasting God's gifts and that is wrong. They also have to make money, and they don't always agree that what they are doing pollutes the water (and they may be right). But I mean, they are at least on board with that concept. That's a conversation you can have.
OTOH it is almost impossible to convince them that an area can be overfished. They just think God will put more fish in the water for them.
