Susquehanna County as part of Appalachia
During the Vision 2020 process a local
Methodist minister presented to the group a report from 1985 titled “How Appalachia
Resembles the Third World” written by Harold W. McSwain of the Center for Town and
Rural
Ministries of Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. McSwain’s report draws similarities
between developing Third World countries and the Appalachian Regionof the United
States.
The report proved to be of interest to the County's Vision 2020 efforts since many
of thecharacteristics outlined in the report mirrored those of Susquehanna County.
Some
of the major points made in the report are:
§ In Appalachia there was a shift in
the traditional subsistence-oriented economy based largely on farming,
a strong
sense of community and mutual aid, to an economy based on earning a living by means
of
wages, controlled by others generally living outside of the region.
§ Coinciding
with that shift was a belief that money and wealth, rather than land and family,
defined a
“better way” and the belief that life could be better by purchasing
market goods and services rather than
doing it themselves. In other words, a shift
from self-reliance to reliance on others.
§ Those clinging to the “old” beliefs
of self -reliance, community and mutual aid were seen as “backwards
or old fashioned”.
§
Certain levels of poverty and hunger continue to exist. The existence of hunger,
defined in one way as
the need for nutritional foods, clean water, and the lack
of understanding of the benefits of a balanced
diet, is directly related to the
level of poverty that exists.
§ Health problems can be directly related to the
distance from and lack of access to basic as well as
specialized health care.
§
A concentration of substandard housing due to a variety of influences, including
large amounts of
absentee land ownership and disproportionate land prices, is
contrasted by new, expensive housing
developments within the same region.
§
Money for education is tied directly to land ownership. Low expenditures per pupil
are most prevalent
in areas with a high concentration of large parcels of land
owned by a small group of owners.
§ Large land owners contribute less to the tax
base relative to what they own than do the smaller owners.
The larger owners have
their land taxed at a lower rate per acre than the smaller owners.
§ A feeling
of helplessness exists, one that allows people to feel unworthy, or to say “it’s
good enough for me” rather than striving for the best.
The report focused on
very rural areas of southern Appalachia and offers a more harsh assessment than is appropriate
to Susquehanna County. However, one cannot help but notice some similarities. Susquehanna
County
was once a stable agricultural or at least natural resource-based community. This
has changed due to
many factors, and we are now reliant mainly on employment outside
of the county.
Our farms continue to be divided into housing lots. Absentee ownership
of the land remains high. People from
“away” purchase land for their eventual
retirement. Others escape the city and suburbs to return to a more
peaceful and
safe environment. Our development is based on an influx of new residents, many of
whom do not
work in the county and therefore may not have the tie to the county
as those who were raised here and remained
here to work.