JACOBS: Plugging the brain drain

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October 31, 2009

By Janet Jacobs The Corsicana Daily Sun Sat Oct 31, 2009, 05:52 PM CDT

A new book out talks about us. OK, not about us specifically, but we’re part of the issue they’re discussing. The book is “Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What it Means for America.”

What authors Patrick Carr and Maria J. Kefalas theorize is that there are four types of young people from rural America. “Achievers” are groomed for success, and they leave for bigger and better things. “Stayers” are those who don’t like school, but who don’t realize that the factory jobs are disappearing, so they end up in low-wage jobs without benefits. “Seekers” are average students who join the military, looking for a way to pay for higher education and to see the world. “Returners” left but came back. A few Returners are the well-educated achievers, but most are the “Boomerangs,” those with some education who came home to settle down.

Yeah, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve heard some of this before, although the nicknames are new.

In “The Chronicle of Higher Education” the authors write that stopping this brain drain is crucial not just to small towns but to America itself.

They write: “We believe that it would be a mistake to abandon the region, because hollowing out has repercussions far beyond the boundaries of the small towns it affects. The health of the heartland is vital to the country as a whole. This is the place where most of our food comes from; it can be ground zero for the green economy and sustainable agriculture; it is the place that helps elect our presidents, and it sends more than its fair share of young men and women to fight for this country.”

I’m not enchanted with this characterization of the heartland as only good for growing soldiers and voters, but I like some of what they’re saying, since we’re already doing some of it. The link between businesses and our community college is healthy and growing, while we already have some grass-roots efforts at environment-friendly ranching in the county.

The authors also recommend something that will be a tough sell in small towns — welcoming outsiders. By outsiders, they don’t mean the occasional Yankee who wanders into town and settles down because he’s confused about the exit.

The authors recommend that folks from other countries be welcomed with open arms, including illegal immigrants. They also recommend putting more educational emphasis on the Stayers, instead of the Achievers, who are going to leave anyway.

We’ve heard that “adapt or die” argument before, and some of it makes perfect sense. However, we aren’t like hundreds of small towns in Iowa or Kansas. Navarro County is only an hour away from so-called civilization. Surely we can use that to our advantage. For example, if we can’t get jobs here, then why not take the people to the jobs?

Let’s face it, people in the city talk about “the culture” of the cities, but the truth is that not that many people are really hanging out at the opera and modern dance performances anyway. What if there were transportation to take people to the Metroplex each day for work? How about high-speed Internet that would allow people to work from home, but wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg?

If it’s about adapting, we can do that. Corsicana was told it needed to wash its face or accept certain economic death, and the town has earnestly begun a clean-up, and taken it beyond that to an actual marketing plan. But maybe it’s not about turning everything on its ear. Maybe it’s just about making living here a little easier, a little nicer.

Start by taking a Yankee out to lunch. Call him “Neighbor.”

—————

Janet Jacobs is a Daily Sun staff writer. Her column appears on Sundays.

Click here to e-mail Janet Jacobs.

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