ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.พ. 2020
- Nowhere in America can the coal industry’s hurt be seen and felt more than in Appalachia. The region’s economy revolves around coal, and more miners are losing their jobs each year. The controversial industry became a focal point of the 2016 election when President Trump made the return of coal jobs a central campaign promise, but the economics behind this suffering industry extend beyond policy and regulations.
VICE’s Isobel Yeung goes to the heart of coal country to see what it will take to save Appalachia.
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VICE’s Isobel Yeung goes to the heart of coal country to see what it will take to save Appalachia.
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VOTE FOR TRUMP
@@americansforhire5378 do you have a TIA 😂
@@ohne279 of course I maybe
@@americansforhire5378 They are being hit like "DETROIT" , and " STEEL" did in the seventies and 80s !
That shit caaaaaaaan't be good for your lungs... Isobel, why aren't you wearing a mask???
Not a trump supporter. But the people like this and others from the midwest have been ignored for years and as jobs leave and people lose ways to support their family, they will vote for whoever gives them the time of day
It's been that way for 50 years. I can't believe that the people in this country actually believe what a candidate says while they are campaigning, then expect them to keep their word. I cannot name 1 candidate in the past 40 years (that's how long I've observed) that kept their campaign promises when they made it to the Oval Office, NONE!! So when people's remark is, "He/She said they were going to do that once they were President." Really??? I wanted to be a Rock Star when I was younger, my Mom told me I could. I can't sing well, but Mom told me I could do it, and I expect her to keep her word........................Give me a break.......
Sad thing is Trump lied (big surprise); he's cutting funding for Appalachia AND Coal despite what he said. So these poor people voted for a man that immediately went against his promise and were left with no representation.
@@Mekose Unfortunately, it's been that way for 40 years. ALL people campaigning for President tell people what they want to hear, then don't do what they said they were going to do. I'm 53, every Presidential candidate since I was 13 (that's when I started to pay attention) has lied, ALL OF THEM. It REALLY surprises me that anyone believes anything a candidate says.............
They tried government programs to retrain coal workers but they hate big gubament
That´s populism. Is always the same in poor places.
I was born in Logan, WV grew up in a coal mining family and lived in Belfry, KY for a couple of years before returning back to WV. I was taught at a young age that it was either mining or college. No in between. And that if I chose college, I'd have to leave my home to find work. Seeing all the towns and communities I grew up around, dying, boarded up, half empty because their only economy is being closed has given me a goal and purpose that I will work tirelessly to fill. I went to college and obtained a cybersecurity degree and currently, I am working with state officials and programs to help establish a tech industry in Southern WV. Tired of seeing my people desperate for change and everyone in DC pretending like we don't exist until elections come up. We know coal isn't the future, but when it's all you have you'll do what you can to keep it. A coal miner makes anywhere from $40k-$80k a year and even more when you get into specialist roles like roof bolting or fireboss. There's nothing else in these communities to replace that kind of salary and when you have a bunch of people making that kind of money, feeding it into the local economy, when those jobs are gone, the stores and businesses in town start to close. This has got to change and I, along with many other Appalachians are leading that change.
You're doing holy work! Keep it up!
Good for you. Keep it up
That’s very encouraging to hear. Keep it up.
great job!
It's sad to hear, really! Coal is the past, West-Virginia needs to find other sources of economic activity, I hope your plan succeeds! It's really encouraging seeing someone return to a struggling state instead of leaving it for good!
Coming from a Liberal and acknowledging that Vice tends to be more left leaning, I'm really happy they ran this episode. The idea that all Trump supporters are uneducated, insulated and racist is quite a classist outlook, and silences the voice of millions of Americans who really do (and understandably so) feel forgotten. Props to Isobel for another great segment!
As a left-winger, neolibs like Reagan and Clinton and you are the reason we have these problems.
Wow, those kids doing the 3d printing are remarkable and bright-I really hope that they are able to modernize the communities and lift them and their families out of poverty.
Jesus.... were are modernized. Pull your head out of your ass. It’s not like we’re living here with horse drawn carriages.
Kenpachu no one is saying you guys aren’t caught up with the rest of the country in terms of technological advancements. Where you aren’t modernized is in your work culture. Coal mines stopped being a viable source of income for workers years ago, but instead of trying to move on to something else, the vast majority of you cling to the words of business moguls and the politicians in their pockets that your jobs are magically coming back somehow, dispute all evidence pointing to the contrary.
They will have to move to bigger centers. We will have more and more ghost towns near coal mines. The decline of communities.
Chris Healey yess! I’m so proud of them. The new generation is so much better at embracing change. I pray that they become a technology hub in their region. Those kids will hit the ground running!
I'm not sure how much they actually did, since I don't know what is contained in a prescription. If the prescription contain a 3d model all they had to do was use something like blender to convert it to an .stl, and then hit print (with a suitable material, like PTU). If they had to code an interpreter for the prescription then they're actually bright.
At least they're on the right track, and just getting familiar with tech is a huge step. Doing things you don't really understand is sometimes the hardest part in learning. So hats off to them.
"Rusty Justice". Please take a moment to admire that name.
Exactly the most hillbilly name ever but I rate him creating jobs for people in his community
@Richard Ainsworth Hahahah..........you made me sad
Sounds like a Robocop spin-off set post retirement.
Sounds like a blues band
there's also a baseball player named Rusty Kuntz, admire that..
Coal is a dying industry. It’s sad though that these people have to be in the middle of it-even if we may disagree politically
Even if coal was a viable energy option, automation would still do away with the vast majority of those jobs. That part seems to fly over the heads of many who dream of the good old days.
Coals gonna be viable till it's gone. Frankly I'm waiting for steam to return and destroy the new electric locomotive.
@@General_Eisenhower1945 the jobs will still be gone due to automation. Not coming back.
@@bjxxx some will be, but you can still have a job in the industry maintaining/ managing the machines
I live in a coal state and I agree. There are a lot of impoverished people in wyoming. Most of the rich people move in from out of state, like the Cheney's. The only good thing we have is new roads... thankfully were catching on quickly with wind farms and we sell the majority of our power to large cities that may not be capable of having a windfarm. I'm happy to say 100% of our electricity is from the windfarm up the road. Now we still have gas, and sometimes it can suck because 1 raccoon is capable of leaving 10,000+ people without power for a day.
Man, I really feel for those people. They all just seem like honest, hardworking folks.
Not quite. Most miners are not the good hard working people that propaganda makes them out to be. Don't get me wrong, there are some good ones you will work with that keep things real and will do the work... but they're few and far between
That town should look at inventing some sort of year round tourism like hiking, mountain biking and something to do with the natural beauty of the mountains and surrounding land.
Those jobs dont pay 30$ an hr and the big $ coal mine owners dont care about them
its what southern Appalachia does, but it still shrouded in poverty, because tourist jobs don't pay that well but much better off than the coal towns
Underrated comment, seriously we should be brainstorming new industries.
They do that’s not going to cut it. Tech companies should invest in that area. Lots of cheap land and cheap buildings to use.
@@jrsmith2696 well they need the money for it but not now and they're focusing on the rich cities
Who else is having trouble breathing, just watching this video!?
Not me ,,me
Me. I know its her job but every time VICE sends Isobel to these dangerous places I can't breath.
I wonder how many people got lung cancer after watching this video
i want to see the inside of the guys lungs that was wearing the doom shirt. bet their black
"The only constant in life is change". It kind of baffles me that even in this day and age where we have so much information at our disposal people don't realize this truth, things always change. Just because the job was available and was very profitable for your grandfather and father doesn't mean it will be there waiting for you and will provide you your whole life, you have to observe your environment and realize the changes that come, and of course act accordingly to them.
So true. Its the same not with coal but with oil. Look at what happened to Venezuela.
I say "Change alone is permanent"
When something is provided and seemingly guaranteed for generations, it warps your sense of the world around you. The lack of education and resources in the areas where coal is the strongest keeps these people insulated. It's sad.
Alright, and I'm sure you'll say the same thing to the black kid in the ghetto that joined a gang just so he could get some food. White rural kids are in the same exact position. Money doesn't pop up out of nowhere and there aren't any 'white rural kid' scholarships going around.
What lol? You’ve worked in a coal mine for 40 years and you got laid off!? Just learn how to code dude. SO easy bro.
I think there’s been a significant improvement in vice documentaries in the last year
Yes they’re
Yes! It's really good to see.
They’re at least covering stuff like this and the uyghurs.
Because it’s their livelihood. You try switching careers when you’re 40.
Nobody hardly wants to hire you when you get past 40. Ageism is a very real issue of employment discrimination. If you limp or have some flaw, then you are perpetually at great disadvantage. While we don't have pensions coming our way like older generations, we also mostly don't enjoy solid full time stable career opportunity with employment security. It's a crapanomic system...
Yea but, since this industry has been slowly dying for 50 years. Maybe just maybe they should look for something else as how to make money. It’s not like they couldn’t see this coming. They didn’t want to believe it. They stuck their heads in the sand and now they’re in trouble. Go figure.
@@nmarrs8539
While I detested HRC's crude comments, I agree with you. Not saying fossil fuels are "evil", I can see a strong future for natural gas, but coal is so damned dirty a fuel, it's use should be phased out.
I switched careers at 40. 57 now. Worked out great. Just have to pick well and work at it. I'm going to be able to retire at 65 now. It can be done.
Boo hoo you can switch careers when you're 90.
Let me guess before watching the video. These people had hopes that their jobs would come back and they would thrive but either nothing happened or things got worse....
After watching the video. Damn I was in point.
well... the economy is great and unemployment is a the lowest level in 50 years. Doesn't that count for something?
Nutsilica: Renaissance moving comix The economy is only good for the rich. If you are in the bottom 50% things have gotten worse, not better.
Nutsilica: Renaissance moving comix the Dow is down 2000 points this week, the biggest loss in American history
Not really, they are trying to move on bro, those kids.... at least....
8:08 "That's the dream?" "That's the goal." This kid is going places.
Kid made a brilliant response at 8:08. These kids have a couple good teachers batting for them probably teaching and coaching them very well.
This is Wales in the 80's with the added problem that kids have to pay for higher education and everyone pays if they get sick. Difficult times.
6:34 can we just admire that doom t shirt
somebody call GQ
Hanger theme intensifies
A man of culture
and have NO PITY for someone that has 6 fuckin children! and then complain your poor...... pppfft
Brian Williams, He had a good job when he had the kids. I’ll bet he knows the difference in your, and you’re, as well. That’s more than I can say about you.
Those are some very sharp high-schoolers. Even they know they're relying on a dying industry. We should try to find ways to establish industry related to power and infrastructure in towns like this too, instead of holding onto a dying industry. Seems like they're more dynamic and open to changing with the times than the media and public want to frame them out as.
Given those kids free education and watch what they will accomplish. Burden them with debts from day 1 after graduating, and watch the cycle repeat itself.
If they were smart they'd be looking at colleges or trade schools that can give lead them to a better future and if they choose to stay in the energy sector they can go into natural gas or renewable energy. If they choose to stay in a dying industry then they are as stupid as their parents.
Be a welder or electrical lineman. You’ll make more than nurses, and likely more than your coal town family together
Pack up and leave everything you ever loved or cared for, tell me how easy it is for you.....
@@randyeddington4405 people have done that since the beginning of people. If there’s nothing there, move and make things better for your family
You have to live where the jobs are these days. Living in rural America limits the amount job opportunities that are available.
Or move to where they are.
No. We have remote work now.
Ah so we’ll all just move to the cities
Oh wow why didn’t they think of that let’s just move this entire family of 10 300 miles while they have no money or applicable skills
@@Blank-km4qr that would be socialism, they hate socialism. They should pick up themselves by their bootstraps
im going to probably be the first non coal miner out of all my family.
What career are you pursuing?
Desperate people do desperate things.
Sammael Azrael
Voting for trump the first time was a desperate choice. Realize he lied and let’s get a strong blue collar economy back in America again. Shift these coal jobs to green energy.
CheezusCrust like electing someone who isn’t corrupt and cares about average people
Sammael Azrael I would rather suck sausages than work in a coal mine
Except go to school to learn a new trade, because "it's a scary transition". When you have the idea of my grandpa did it, my daddy did it, so I do it and that is what this state was founded on, then you are never going to advance. California was founded on gold, how many gold miners are there still in California?
They should get condoms and stop having 6 kids (comparable to third world nations) to stop this desperation.
The truest statement about coal that has ever been stated: “ Appalachia’s aren’t in love with coal, they are in love with the American dream”! This was the most touching thing I have ever heard finally someone understands.
Let’s hope that’s not true.... even the smallest pea sized amount of hope can move mountains.
You talk of education but all I hear is ignorance and racism towards a group of individuals that came to America poor and took jobs in the mines to provide for their families the only way they could at the time... those individuals were wage slaves so are their grand children and great grand children due to a flawed and corrupt system that feeds off the weak and just keeps making the rich and elite richer.
The problem with America isn’t what people grasp at .... The media and the one percent want Americans against one another they use race and gender to divide because if we all came together and broke the chains of this wage slave system and realized everyone deserves better we would turn on them and forge a better America that literally scares the Hell out of the masters they would lose control and have to go into hiding do yourselves a favor and wake up from the sheep mentality and enlighten yourself enough to see groups of people from different races aren’t the enemy it’s this system that we keep making excuses for and acting like everything is fine when it’s not we all deserve better (all lives matter)!
People act like education is free and the student loan debt system is not flawed.. that paying for your way of life while drowning in student loans while never getting ahead as the housing market and ways of living dramatically increase are normal and healthy as the wages stay the same ..what a gilded life you must live not see the toxicity right in front of your eyes....either you live off the government and take advantage of others or your are a slave to your debt and can never make ends meet literally dying from the struggle barely enjoying a so called life as it passes.
I hope you read this ebony panther and “Wake Up” more Americans need to band together and throw racism aside so we all can make America great again doesn’t have anything to do with ole trump to want patriotism and love back in America and a better way of life.
“That’s the dream?”
“That the goal.” 8:01
Fantastic answer, the future is bright.
I love how impartial this was delivered. Well done!
Their local govt should have taken advantage of the decades of influx of people and business and invested other industries there instead of just coal.
too stupid for that
KAS, it has nothing to do with how intelligent these people are. The people around here with the money to bring other industry into the area are the same ones making a profit off of the monopolization coal has. A great example would be the airport that was supposed to be built in pike county. The project was shut down by coal barons, because it could have lead to competition from other industries.
KAS thats what happens when you get the wrong people in office.
Other industries such as?
Pocko213 so the way good mayors and congressmen/women work is they manage cities according to their needs. If you’ve sat in you local town meetings or watched hearings, that’s where you will have people who rally for the expansions of education, commerce, farming, creating exports of goods with businesses who negotiate to expand into profiting towns and cities. Historically there have been opportunities for WV towns and cities to expand their realm of industry and commerce, but they seemed to believe that coal was more than sufficient and would only invite competition. That’s why WV is known only as coal country and nothing else. At this rate it will probably fade off.
Dying industry. These people need job training programs so that they can learn new skills
foy22chris22
They don’t want to evolve or better themselves by learning new skills or a new trade.
You can’t force these dumbasses to advance themselves in the job market. 🤣
What they need is a paid migration where the whole population is moved to a place experiencing labor shortages. No amount of training is going to help these isolated communities, there just isn't enough reason for money to flow into them.
@@jayripper7272 and what you you do when programs will overtake your office job dumbass?
@@jayripper7272 www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/05/japanese-company-replaces-office-workers-artificial-intelligence-ai-fukoku-mutual-life-insurance
a "Green new deal" if you will
Isobel, Your docu-segments are brilliant: informative, entertaining and visceral - bravo!
Breaking news: the horse-and-buggy industry is dying
That's the attitude that cost Dems the election.
Yes it really did. The Amish don't use those so much anymore like 20 or more years ago. They pay people milk and homemade candy to drive them. Why? They were getting hit too much by cars not paying attention going too fast and then it's quicker and more practical to ride in a vehicle to pick up supplies in town such as molasses, oats, etc.
@@playstationer7321 That's debatable. What isn't debatable is that Trump made promises for coal workers and never came through. Coal workers can laugh all they want at the "other" party, but when I wake up on Monday, I'll still have a good paying job in tech: they'll still be waiting for the Orange Messiah to save them.
@@addanametocontinue
Insensitive
@@playstationer7321 That' the *honesty* that cost the Dems those voters. Trump lied to them and said he could bring Big Coal back. Even after cutting safety regulations, the industry hasn't recovered because the major consumers like power companies are moving to natural gas and renewables.
Ah yes. Because nothing says “Mercia” and “capitalism” like seeing dozens of men contracting and slowly die from black lung
Well the green energy just isn't good enough yet for it to be obtainable
@@reedw.5477 Only if actions are made. Denmark produced 47% of electricity from wind 2019.
Reed W. What? There are many operating solar and wind farms, hydro plants, geothermal plants, nuclear
plants, natural gas plants etc... and there have been for decades. Coal is uncompetitive, dirty, unhealthy, and dangerous for miners. Appalachia needs to move on gradually from coal.
@@Moka66 there population is 5.6 million. That's no where near the amount of people we have..
@@theactivecoconut6077 yeah, and how much fields would be taken up by turbines to supply 1/100 of the US power supply?
This is just like Detroit and the car industry
Except the community understand the problem and know what need to be done
Nope Obumber bailed them out
@@Youngsavge-or2ro So what is Trump when he gives billions to farmers hurt by his stupid trade war? Maybe Mexico will pay the farmers for Trump's incompetence.
@@markg.7865 he is keeping Merica great again
Why wouldnt u want your food here if u live in the USA
@@Youngsavge-or2ro if farmers want their bailouts that makes them socialists. No different than a welfare queen.
vice is on fire with the new content. Keep it coming
6:55 "... left holding on to hope that coal jobs will *return*" Oh my gosh, how is it possible that these hard working people haven't understood 15 years ago that coal is dead.
Well, they did not think about the future or keep up with the times and where America is going with renewables, but their children are thinking of that and moving on
Because they’re too busy surviving and trying to make it
As a liberal, I am rooting for these (mostly conservative) coal miners and their communities. It will take time to transition from coal, but a bigger focus on education will diversify their economies and bring new industries.
We don’t need to transition from coal. The only reason the democrats are promoting that idea is cause they have huge stakes in renewable energy companies. They promote anything they can make a laws and regulations around that will benefit their investments. They know climate change is BS. It’s another way to control you and for them to make money.
A good alternative for these coal miners is to find jobs in silicon mining.
gamer4vr
Nah just let natural selection take its course and kill these guys off.
I think they are all in China
Jay Ripper wtf
These people outbreed the academic types like a ratio of 10 to 1, they aren't going anywhere soon.
Josh Graybill you heard me pal
Greatest economy is about to face the greatest depression
I have said it before. Anybody who thinks that Trump has whipped the economy into shape is the kind of person who is impressed when a neighbour parks a shiny new car in the driveway.
Adrian Nel Welp 5 months later Trump did nothing about COVID and we went through a recession lmao
@@silly1885 almost the whole world is in recession.
Wow two years later and the recession has just started! Who’s to blame now?
Legalize weed and make the state government grow it. Jobs, tourists, less opioids, additional tax income, less poverty!
Honestly government would never do it and if they did, knowing how they spend money it would never get to help people.
"It's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it" ~ George Carlin
Are you American, or even European (American taxpayers paid for wwIIs aftermath)? Do you have the computer or phone to post that message. Well you, my friend, are living the American dream.
@@user-yq5ky9ub2b I don't think that was the American dream, but its different each person.
4 0 Google American Dream bro
wrong era...
If you live in America you're already the richest 2 percent on the planet. Sick and tired of reading this shit from people that have heated homes, 3 good meals a day, internet access, police protection, the right to criticise the Govt, a free press, welfare and make more than $2 a day etc. Be grateful for what you have
as a great republican man once said, "if life sucks where you live, just sell your house and move" - ben sapiro
No one will buy a house in any of those towns right now
Wait wait this one is better and my favorite. "Just stop being poor idiot" - Ben the reeee
@@Skallado that's exactly the point, the stupidity behind Ben sapiro and his stupid solutions for people, and yet somehow, the right wing eats his shit up like Sunday morning with the gospel
Ben Soypiro
rickiex
MAGA voters look at right wing leaders like if they were GODS and KINGS.
They are quite pathetic. They ain’t wired right and have severe mental illness. 🤣😂
Former mining region in Europe that I come from took the same route from mining and heavy industry towards IT. It works, and I hope it will work for these folks as well. For anyone from a mining town that wants hope - you ought to have a lot of it. It will take some hard work, but it will bear fruit for you. We now have a supercomputer in town, and slowly start to challenge the country capital for IT workforce.
Great reporting. Puts things much more into perpective.
“Daddy work like a mule mining pike county coal” tyler Childers
Keep your nose on the grindstone and outta the pills
sabine riley he fucked up his back he couldn’t work anymore...
The Bearded Voice he said one of these days you’ll get out of these hills
I'm from pikeville ky all we no is coal
So much winning, folks
Yeah,you're going to get tired of all the winning! Puhleazze
This is great and relevant journalism! Great job Vice!
This is a great piece. I hope STEM finds a way to help regions like this as coal continues to phase out. These regions need help and if they're ignored for much longer, there will be a much more serious issue that can have larger ramifications
Coal isn't coming back, these people are being lied to and used. I feel kinda bad, but at the same time, they need to stop holding on to the past.
@jacob f they dont realise there is a coal to liquid fuels plant currently being built, coal to carbon fiber plant proposed and also right now theres grants for coal to be processed for rare earth minerals, peoples minds are narrow and dont understand the logistics and needs of the modern world.
I got black lung from this video
But in all seriousness Coal is not coming back to that region and will continue to get phased out.
Looks like u still have some light residue on your face
Wow. Those kids are great. The fact that their invention was a business idea that helps others really warmed my heart.
9:23 "we intend to make a business out of this.". Hell yeah, these kids are not messing around.
That boy Yang was right. It's a shame he won't be leading us through this decade as President. #yanggang
2024 bby
@@leoszilard7542 Dammit you beat me to it.
DaProdigy
He would have done nothing my friend, and worse off, he would likely have made the situation worse because of isolating the black vote...
#HumanityFirst baby. Money, weed and robots ✌️
Move to hhgher ground gay boys
6:41 dudes a DOOM fan awesome, wish the slayer could deal with the mining CEOs that leave workers behind with nothing.
and he has 8 kids, takes a strong man to raise that many while losing your job
This will be detrimental to Santa’s supply chain!
It's nice seeing them interview the kids. I always see videos like these only focusing on bringing back coal and nothing about how to move on from coal. I hope they're able to create new jobs in appalachia that bring back prosperity to the region.
7:26 so truthfully chilling...
It's amazing how many people in the comments are just saying "just adapt!" I'll bet any amount of money you want that they wouldn't be saying the same if this was a video about black kids trapped in the ghetto. These rural white kids are in the same exact position of hopelessness except they have even less of an opportunity to get out (no 'white rural kid' scholarships). They need to adapt to the times, and these kids are obviously trying, but don't act like they just have to 'do it' like they're parents have even enough spare cash to send a kid to college. The only privilege in this world is for the rich. Poor people will always be at the bottom of the ladder of opportunity, no matter what skin color they have.
They have access to a 3-D printer. Their families may be poor but they are being presented with opportunities (whether 3-D printing is going to be their savior is an open question). But I agree with you: Poor people will always be at the bottom of the ladder of opportunity, no matter what skin color they have. Which of the presidential candidates do we think could change that (policies = free education and healthcare for all in the USA)? It's not a tough question.
Oh so now white rural folk want to go to college. I thought college was stupid and worthless.
That’s what I hear from a lot of right wing propaganda and right wing politicians are always trying to defund higher education.
Well well. I think they should just stay in their dying coal mines.
This is just an example of what's to come for everyone unless the current economic model is overhauled and UBI implemented. Adaption works on sensible timescales. Technology develops exponentially. In 10-20 years time it will no longer make any financial sense to become qualified in x because your job wil be at risk of becoming obsolete too soon. The secondary pressure will come from an influx of laid-off people fighting for highly-skilled jobs or in fact any jobs, which will push the wages down for everyone.
I'm black and tell the blacks in the ghetto the same. ..
Immigrants come into this country with nothing, but the cloths on their back and a few bucks, but with hard work and determination and God's will, they make it in the great U.S of A.. ,
First, I want to say that change is NOT easy, for anyone. I grew up as a "white rural kid". I had a job when I was 16 at a pharmacy, not good wages. 2 years later, I became a floral designer, loved the job, shitty pay then and now. I borrowed $1k and moved to a larger city so I could get a job. A high school diploma could still get me $5.35 hr in 1986. After that I worked at a meat pckg. plant, $17K annual, then they closed the plant, and I had to move again. Then times changed, and they changed fast!! I had 2 yrs to update my skills, and I was a single Mom with NO child support. Things suck all over in every direction. I told my daughter 50K times that she had to go to college if she didn't want to live like we did. By the time she started college, I was physically disabled and couldn't help her with even a place to live. She worked as a bartender thru college, applied for grants and student loans and got both. Now, she's continuing work, and receive student loans, as she gets her Phd. Parents have to instill the moral fiber of children, and love them unconditionally, if you do, they will do the best they can. Yes, there are a few who don't, I'm not ignorant nor nieve, but most do well. I wish nothing but the best for you, your children, and your grandchildren.
RUSTY JUSTICE - best name ever!
Big iron has aged
That's life many times I thought of Quitting but my heart wouldn't buy it
My mother's family is from Hazard Kentucky. Still have family living there today
That First Lady sounds like stinky off of “Hey Arnold”
But she is Definitely a Trophy Wife.
@@chico305SIGMA lol
@@rs6109 The First Lady in American History to have Breast Implants and Nude pictures on the Internet. Lol I'm in Love with Her. Lol
5:51 what a cool shopping cart! Damn coal you be flexin
Those kids are very intelligent and analytical. They're actually thinking about how to change things, fix them and make them better.
The reason I was an Andrew Yang fan had nothing to do with getting a thousand dollars. It had to do with growing up in Appalachia and knowing how much his policies would have helped good hard working people in areas being hit the hardest with the changing economy.
Yo YangGang homie!!
"We're having a hard time. Let's take money from other people and make it harder on them." Good policy. Spread the misery.
It’s the leaders of West Virginia fault.
For decades they have been against other industries moving to their state.
They only wanted to be a coal country.
Will now coal is dead and that’s all they relied on. So they will all suffer now.
@@kcor4 as a person who works in technology as a business consultant, I insure you there's enough money being made in technology advancement to help those hit the hardest. Those currently succeeding don't see this as a punishment, they see it as an opportunity to invest back into the people of their country that gave them all they had. Which in turn will profit them more, since a comfortable happy demographic are much more willing to purchase and invest.
Bernie has a more concrete plan than Yang when it comes to fixing the economy and beating back climate change:
1. Bring non coal jobs to appalachia (and non lead jobs to the lead belt)
2. Assistance for those who worked in fossil fuels
3. Modernize the electricity grid to create jobs
4. Expand high speed broadband in rural areas
5. Break up Big Ag and give farmers back their opportunities
The saddest part and it’s kinda of funny is these guys still in denial they got scammed by a Billionaire scam artist from New York. 🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂🤣
Clean coal 🤣🤣 maybe he can have them clean rocks on the ocean like on the Simpsons 🤣🤣🤣
That's an act of a thug
Not funny at all. This is a desperate region. Appalachia is deeply impoverished.
West Virginia used to be one of the most reliably Democrat states in the country, with a strong organized labor presence. It wasn't that Trump scammed them, the Democrats scammed them by abandoning them and leaving the people to die of heroin and meth in rundown towns with no opportunity except the coal mines.
@@computercrazies maybe you are 🤷. My family makes enough to provide for our family because we didn't choose jobs in dying fields and we got an education.
3:58 hahaha! Isobel rocking one sock :D
That’s why me and my family left eastern Kentucky my dad got laid off and now we reside in northern you don’t understand how it’s changed my family so much...
All the employees at Vice News are gonna get coal for Christmas next year.
If the mines are still open by then
@@doujinflip unless they invent coal powered sex robots I'm pretty sure it's over for coal
Do you remember ever going on a field trip to a ghost town back when you were in grade school? Back in the day when the industry left that town, so did the people.
Here we go
Swear i've seen this before on vice, is this a reupload?
Those high school boys and their plan to create a business together. Well articulated. I wish them the best.
When i see older folks struggling, talking about the hope of coal returning and the necessity of it, im saddened. Idk what id do if i were there, but the writing is on the wall.
A lot of folks went North from Pike County back in the day. I know someone whose Mom's Family came into Ohio 60 years ago. Dwight Yoakam has a song about it called "Readin',Writin', and Route 23". JD Vance's book "Hillbilly Elegy" speaks about it. I know many others whose Grandparents came from WV coal country also. As the manufacturing sector has died, a lot of Blue collar jobs are going away. These folks came up from KY and WV to work in supply chain industries for Auto industry. The fallout from Detroit rippled into other rust belts cities across the midwest. Coal towns are no different.
they need to move on coal is bad for environment we don't wanna end up like china with air quality they need to learn to adapt like many other Americans the fact there fighting so hard is sad..also that guy prob wouldn't be struggling so much if he didn't have 8 fuckin kids lol
This was a great documentary with honest and open people.
Its unfortunate that they were mislead and abandoned by their leaders.
I could not imagine the grief that comes from not being able to provide for your family
yet we see that the newer generations are determined to move into this new economy.
I come from a very long line of coal miners in West Virginia. My family has been mining coal for at least 200 years, and the downfall of the coal industry hit my family very hard. I also come from a long line of Irish and Italian immigrants, which happen to be a large demographic of coal miners in the Appalachian region. I have family members who are still currently in the coal mines, or what is left of them, but they constantly have to worry about when they are going to be laid off. My family didn’t have to worry much about money until the fall of coal mining, and now they all live under or near the poverty line. My grandfathers, great grandfathers, 2nd great grandfathers, and so on were all miners. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to advance technologically and start moving towards clean energy, but it is going to hurt this region even more than it is now once coal mining becomes completely eradicated. We are truly at a standstill. We have no money to put towards drastic technological/industrial changes because all of the money we had left when coal mining left. West Virginia, up until recently, was a democratic voting state and it’s all because we were able to keep our coal. Now, our state constantly gets ridiculed for voting strictly republican, but republicans are the only people who have showed interest or promised to keep the coal industry running! You can’t blame any of them. We are nothing without coal. Unless some miraculous funding to introduce new tech and industry into the region appears, Appalachians are going to try and keep coal for as long as possible so that our families don’t suffer further than they already are. It is so sad.
When people say “just introduce technology and education” it comes off as out of touch. They act like a 45 year old man with 3 kids can just snap his fingers and become a tech bro. I can kinda understand where your coming from because The same thing happened in my area with the steel industry. My county used to be a Democrat stronghold but voted for trump by double digits. While he was president he was able reopen the steel mill. It was the first good thing to happen to this area in a long time. Democrats abandoned this area and trump was able to save it.
This is journalism at its best, Thank you Vice news! I’m also Relieved to see Isobel back in America 🥵. I constantly worry about her.
10:08 "Rusty Justice", what a name. Legendary.
We should never have let politics get into coal look what’s happened to it.
Thats exactly what it is , what about gov chem clouds , china , russia , india burning coal ?
When the industrial revolution came. 70% of farmers in Europe lost their jobs. Sad but future is allwas hard
The exact same thing happened here in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in the mid to late '90s. The CBC even interviewed us about the future and we said technology was the way. That was 21 years ago. Amazing how history repeats itself.
The difference is that, you guys prob didn't have such an arrogance sense of entitlement like this people do.
It's a glitch in the Matrix Dude. Groundhog Decade.
11:14 Trump cutting programs to help Appalachia. Yup.
they will still vote for him 100%
@@montiro8999 It honestly depends, these are not dumb folk. If the Democratic candidate can really make the case that they will fight for programs that mean a better future for their kids and their communities, that candidate has a real chance of reaching these people. Make the case that these places can have a future beyond coal, that the community that was built by coal is worth saving for a future after it.
It wouldn't hurt to also point out that Trump would like to cut those same programs.
@@mojojojoplus2 The democratic Congress is pushing all these changes against the programs. The president had to give things up to get the military funding. Please start reading the crap coming out of Congress the bills are loaded with pork on purpose
@@floridaarmyvet3613 The cuts were in the president's proposed budget, as the video states. That is independent of Congress, it is a statement of the president's priorities, which Congress may or may not follow. President Trump indicated in that budget that these programs trying to bring new skills to Appalachia are not part of his priorities.
mojojojoplus2 they live on Fox News man. You could show trump laughing saying that coal is dead and they’d still believe that he wants to help
At least the kids are smart and they understand the need and value of changing...smart kids😀
Wishing them all the best. It's great to see they are exploring innovative ideas. That's how they will move forward.
At least the kids get it. I bet they wish their parents would “wake up”
If their parents were awake, at least 6 of them wouldn't exist.
Michael Stovall Why would you even have 8 kids if you can't support them?
The people there are not aware of there own product . Whether there's a market for it ..or not. Especially an industry like that. Even the oil industry is not going to stay the same. There are already other options. That's the way of live. Things change you have to change whit it. But this community never have and dont want to. They want to keep things the same. That's not possible.
While I'm all for teaching coal miners to code the problem is the tech sector has a huge problem with age discrimination. The median employee age at Apple and Amazon is 31, 30 at Google and 28 at Facebook. Out of the top 20 tech employers HP comes in at the highest at 39.¹ A few of these men and women might turn out to be excellent code jockeys but in the end it's doubtful with their untraditional past and higher age will ever get a chance at meaningful employment as a programmer. I don't know what the answer is but repeating the mantra "teach everyone to code" as the solution to all of our employment problems isn't it.
It should be noted that finding a coding gig is getting harder with more and more colleges pushing more CS degrees than we need and offshore shops. While you might pay a programmer here in the States $40 to $60 per hour I can find a programmer in Viet Nam, Malaysia or the Philippines for about $10 per hour. A cross platform app that would cost $200k to develop in the States will cost you ~$50k in many places in Asia. Will it be just as good? No but for most companies cost trumps quality.
1. businessinsider.com/median-tech-employee-age-chart-2017-8
Brian Beeler God damn. You hit the nail on the head.
Brian Beeler I completely agree with your statement.
Best response I’ve seen on this video.
2023 has arrived and the numbers are just getting even worse
Most companies now just use cheap labor from India or china now, but there are companies that still use labor in the us for coding
6:35 Working in a mine and playing Doom at home - good outcomes
Song in the introduction is Anima by Vessel
Gil Scott heron was taken for granted
Get Andrew Yang.
how hard is it to pivot to oil drilling or natural gas? they keep saying "coal is here, so we only have coal to work with"
Listen, it sucks to lose a job, but its not the end of the world. These people who work in fossil fuel industry for generations need to get their head together. Fossil fuel was never a permanent solution for anyone and they will have to move on sooner or later.
what a stuck-up liberal mindset. No wonder they voted Trump, and will vote Trump again in 2020.
@@serpentphoenix Once the oil runs out, whos fault will it be? Who will they vote for then? I honestly couldn't care less who votes for who, thats not my point. My point is if they keep teaching their kids that there is nothing else to do but fossil fuel jobs then they are just digging themselves further in. Nor am I saying they should all quit their jobs now, people need to bring food on the table, I am just being realistic that in the long term for their own well being they need to look for some other source of income. Thats my only point.
@@Mico605 Oil won't run out for another 400 years. You must be living in the 1970s
This is why we needed Yang in office
Jeff Ramzy unfortunately, A lot of people just saw him as a huge socialist who wanted to just give money to people who didn’t deserve it. 😔 It was obvious he wasn’t going to win when they gave him less and less time at the debates. Sad.
Yeah bro free money would have solved everything hahahah
Uneducated hicks would never vote for an Asian
@Sorrious Sad He was proposing giving a $1000 to every american...his policy never mentioned your tax money. What he actually proposed was to instate a new type of sales tax on things you purchase - please educate yourself if you're going to support someone for POTUS, or else YOU'RE the one one whom looks "stupid". LOL
Jeff Ramzy he’s working for cnn now. Sorry $ellout
8:05 kids got the idea.
Conversion in making power there or tech. Good.
I had to leave home because I lost my job in the mines, breaks my heart to watch those mountains go down
Great mini doc
Reminds me of a South Park episode “HEY DARYL. HEY DARYL. Truck driving and coal mining are not exactly jobs of the future. Now add add torque wrench and blinds to my F^CKING shopping list.” - Randy Marsh
No joke, I pray these people find work ASAP. I know what it feels like to need a job and not have one.
The miners were con, by the con-man
Those kids working on the shoe inserts give me hope. They're faced with a tough reality, and they're embracing the tools they have to make it better, jumping at the chance to succeed without packing up and leaving. I just hope it's more than just those four we saw, because if there's a whole class of kids like that, places like these may yet survive.
My great grandfather came from Scranton Wilkesboro Pennslvania. It is sad to see the the jobs go somewhere else but that is progress.
8:08 perfect. We don’t want this city to fall - just give them another option!
JL
Yea except they don’t want to evolve and advance themselves and learn new skills or a new trade.
There’s old saying you can lead a thirsty horse to a river but can’t make it drink.
Pretty much you can’t force these dumbasses to better themselves LOL
Jay Ripper you're an idiot.
Bernie has to potential to do well here.
nah we don't need 85 socialism lad who had heart attack
Stephan Bruno yeah the potential to destroy US with Socialism he just informs he is a socialist an he hasn’t even experienced it. And he says he wants Socialism in the US.
By the way where will he find the money for free college? The answer to that which I hope you know it’s gonna be coming from our taxes... including yours!
Better dead than red
Stephan Bruno by the way he wants to spend at least 35 trillion dollars on using save energy I’m sure you heard him say that. Do you know we don’t even have 35 trillion dollars? Cause that’s how much he said it will cost.
By the way let’s not for get he won’t give you that so called free health care that was only for illegal immigrants who aren’t born in the US.
@@matthewxd5063
Sources? Pretty sure he never said that
I work as an Engineer aboard a Tow boat that pushes barges of coal up and down the Ohio River and the business has definitely took a major blow the past 10+ years and it’s just a matter of time before it dies out almost completely... just hope it’s not until after I retire.
The sons are so bright! I hope they find a good career path!