A post today on The Daily Yonder, an excellent rural news blog that seems to be unrivaled in its scope, gives some meta-level analysis on one of rural America’s biggest concerns: the ‘brain drain’, or the emigration of young, educated citizens away from their hometowns and into bigger cities with more perceived opportunities.
“Stay Put and Start a Revolution”, penned by David Masciotra, outlines the repercussions of this “flight of human capital,” and the toll it takes on our society as a whole as well as small communities across our country. Some of Masciotra’s standout examples include: the drought of resources for our rural communities as people flee for the coasts; the loss of identity for small towns and the degradation of a sense of community amongst the citizens; the loss of our individual identity as we strive for a nomadic lifestyle— at the expense of our own history, memory and roots.
To be sure, this is happening in every American small town— not just the Midwest and Plains states— but the heartland is taking the biggest hit. Husband-and-wife sociologists Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas literally wrote the book on the plight of Middle America in their book Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means For America. In it, Carr and Kefalas highlight all of the same observations that Masciotra makes and more. But the million dollar question remains unanswered: How do we attract people back to the middle? Carr and Kefalas start to address that question towards the end of this piece published in the Chronicle for Higher Education, but no one really knows for sure.
As shown in the infographic included with the Daily Yonder piece, the drain has slowed in the past two years, mostly because of the sluggish economy. But when things get better, high school and college seniors alike are still going to aspire to move to far off places in search of success, when it could likely be hiding right under their noses.
One of the quotes from Masciotra’s article that resonated the most within me was this: “[The brain drain] has also engineered a sociological shift that fosters self-minded careerism at the expense of communal survival.” Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching regarding the next couple years of my life. As a recent college graduate with few job prospects in my field, graduate school had seemed to be a promising direction after my year as an AmeriCorps* VISTA member is through. But something’s happening here in Wilmington, which is not unlike any other small town in this country that is hurting from the brain drain. Young people are starting to move back. The DHL debacle has (unfortunately) put Wilmington on the nation’s radar, and with it has created opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have existed. Two of my best friends have started an economic development non-profit because of the turmoil. My job, as a PR Coordinator for a local food project, is a direct result of the tanking economy and the following Recovery Act. Another one of my best friends was recently named the director of a local youth non-profit, after spending a year doing similar work in Philadelphia. People are coming back, and frankly, it’s breathing some fresh air into our town.
I don’t want to seem condescending, or to seem like I think we’re the answer to all of the ills in this city; we’re still young and have a whole lot to learn from the amazing people in Wilmington. But if we can help re-brand Wilmington as a viable place to come back to after getting an education (or as a place to stay after getting one here), then we can do our part to replenish the middle. I think we’ve got a good start.
