Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Astamari's avatar

Here's the thing: I live most of the time in the Metro DC area but we have a farm in the Shenandoah Valley, mostly but certainly not all Trump Country. And the thing is that there are a lot of small businesses that fail there all the time. Part of this is definitely Wallmartization and the Loews and Home Depots displacing the Mom and Pops. But a big part is just that many of them are shitty little joints that survive mainly by really low rents or owner-occupied places but have little appeal. And while you don't see homeless people in rural areas, that's because they wouldn't survive for obvious reasons but you have plenty of really poor people living in double-wides or shacks that would otherwise be homeless. If Libertarians had their way, everyone - rural or urban would be desperately poor.

Expand full comment
Mark Gisleson's avatar

You can't get objective coverage of the restaurant industry. Restaurants rely on the media to steer business their way, and the media desperately needs hospitality advertising dollars. This creates an unholy synergy and a ridiculous amount of faux coverage.

Expand full comment
15 more comments...

No posts