I do think there is something to the hollowing out of rural areas due to the sorting mechanism of higher education and the shift of rewards to higher skilled people. NY and other major population centers tend to be more magnets of people with greater skills, and as those people leave the smaller towns the leftover residents are more of the… slag.
It sounds awful but I think that is part of the issue in terms of demographics.
This is why I think it should be on the agenda of every liberal to find a way to lift up the boats of all people, including the members of society that are less gifted. I have zero hope republicans are up to the challenge, Ryan is more of a randian than anything else, are his taxes low so he can keep more of his own money? Then problems solved.
I think the most straight forward solution until we have a way to engineer a solution into mankind is a universal basic income. But there the issue is that unlike more homogeneous societies, when there are large immigrant populations that do not look like the majority, the majority is increasingly hesitant to sign off on some of their own tax dollars potentially going to help “those” people. Even if it would boost up plenty of members of their own group as well.
It’s the black/latina welfare queens, meanwhile the rural areas are being increasingly hollowed out.