Conservative and libertarian policies:
Tax cuts = less government revenue, literally defunding the state.
Privatization = less revenue going to the government, more to the private market, and due to tax cuts, that money isn't coming back to government.
Conclusion, the right wing are conducting anti-patriotic economic attacks on the state... Often doing so in a targeted way, funded by billionaire think tanks.
It's a major issue that needs to be named, and discussed more openly.
It is discussed openly - how to do it again and again and again, discussed over and over ad nauseum, like Kansas going bankrupt repeatedly, or how other states hear how Florida is doing and say "wowie, lemme try that too!" (while expecting the exact opposite outcome, bc "this time will be different") If you don't want to take my words at face value alone, check out the YouTube channel Innuendo Studios that has some amazing content especially The Alt Right Playbook.
The problem is that collectively, as a society, we are very dumb. In fact it is entirely possible that we are too stupid to survive, but I guess we'll see. We cannot control others though, and it remains to be seen whether we will bother to control ourselves to do what is correct, i.e. to git sum edumacashun ourselves and make a better alternative.
We are far too stupid individually.
And we think communism and socialism are bad.
So corporations and oligarchs take everything.
Communism and socialism are bad, it's just that so is everything else, but not equally so.
Democracy and capitalism bear the cost of remaining eternally vigilant, which we have failed refused to do.
We're talking local here, not national.
Even if they started taxing the rich, there wouldn't be many to tax in the area.
The median household income in Cumberland was $47,235 in 2021, which marked an an increase of 903(1.95%) from $46,332 in 2020. This income is 63.31% of the U.S. median household income of $74,606 (all incomes in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars).
Top 5%: The mean household income for the wealthiest population (top 5%) is 302,286, which is 173.49% higher compared to the highest quintile, and 3113.14% higher compared to the lowest quintile.
https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/cumberland-md-median-household-income/#income-by-quintile
$300,000 is upper middle class, just barely enough to maybe call "rich". Even so, it's likely the only reason they live there is low taxes. We're not talking national taxes here, this is local, and they can be absolutely sure if they locally tax those wealthier people any more than they are, they'll move away.
They absolutely should do that, and give a firm middle finger to the back of the wealthy assholes as they move to their new mansion in whatever backwater they're moving to next, but it doesn't solve the inherent problem: the tax base is too small and too poor.
This is just a mountain town that has died slowly after the death of industry there post World War II, and frankly there is no good way to save it because there's no way to convince anybody to take their industries up there. The state can subsidize it but it's not going to grow.
What they're doing here is trying to use the new changes in remote work to potentially trigger a revitalization and expand the tax base. Even then, they're only giving it to 10 individuals, not anybody that moves there as the meme is implying. It may work, but I have my doubts.
They also doing anything about the conservative culture that likely caused their brain drain in the first place?
It's actually much less conservative than the surrounding areas. Though admittedly it only takes a stone's throw to get into some pretty gruesome backwoods. The real issue is that there aren't any jobs in the area. It's too out of the way for tourism, all the factories have closed down, and the railroad just isn't what it used to be.
So functionally they hand you money, you can't find a job that pays your bills, so you leave and they've gained nothing. Or is the subsidy ongoing as long as they're short on people (haha until the end of time!) Or is there something else in place to help keep people there?
Yeah. Seems pointless, but I bet they're trying to attract folks with work-from-home jobs.
There's a big migration of work-from-home folks out to areas where they can have bigger homes, gardens and such.
I think the theory is that whichever towns or cities attract these folks first will grow into long term preferred work-from-home destinations, using the tax revenue and voting habits of the first folks to move in.
It's a gamble, but an interesting one.
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Start with bringing in the fiber. I can deal without overnight delivery, a good sushi place or a brewpub, but I draw the line at fiber
WFH jobs may not require fiber to the home, but if there's no fiber infrastructure to support the overall traffic of the area then it's just not going to work. Particularly when we're talking about getting internet out to rural areas - fiber carries signal much further than copper, and can thus reach more communities.
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Maybe I’m spoiled with fiber but I know I’d never want to go back, even just for video calls. Give how over-provisioned and glitchy most internet connections are, you do need a huge margin of overcapacity to get a reliable call in.
But yeah, as the other guy said, you’re going to need fiber to the town for more than a couple people. Even cable internet needs fiber to the neighborhood.
For WFH crows the town needs fiber, and in another post he stated the town doesn't have that.
I can see your point and that's what I figured they were trying to attract
There's Starlink, now. But somehow, relying on a Musk product to be able to do your job seems... risky.
Y’all are describing me with astounding accuracy, hah!
Moved from big city to small nearby city for the garden, work from home, no cable or fiber internet, so gotta rely on Starlon Lusk
For WFH crows the town needs fiber, and in another post he stated the town doesn’t have that.
Did I? I don't know if Cumberland has fiber options nowadays.
This is explicitly for full-time remote workers.
As part of a broader effort to recapture some of the city’s former vitality, Cumberland is hoping to take advantage of the pandemic shift to remote work by giving $20,000 to 10 home buyers who promise to invest in those properties and become part of the community.
[...]
It’s really to attract people who will benefit your community,” said Cumberland City Council member Laurie Marchini. “It’s not a social services program; it’s to bring people in who are employed.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/08/30/cumberland-maryland-revival/
You can only get the subsidy if:
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You become a homeowner.
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You have a job or self-employment in the area.
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You stay there for 3 years. Or was it 5 years? Something like that.
I think they count that as in the area, trying not to get megacommuters is the thing. I think.
I think they're hoping to attract remote workers from the cities. It's a historic town in a scenic area, so it has that going for it at least.
At least it’s something different from the disappointing status quo of dying towns in America. Still sad. Pictures of the town make it look like it’s a charming little place. Hopefully things can turn around for it.
Lord. Stone's throw from the city limits and you can hear dueling banjos. No grocery stores for miles, but multiple churches. Yards filled with scrap metal. Animals either roaming free or chained up inside a small area all day long. Casual usage of the n-bomb.
It was the lose of jobs as industry moved away, a trend started after WW2.
The culture probably helped but it's a much larger trend than people simply not wanting to live in a conservative town.
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Basically how building new houses in suburbia works. Every new house is subsidized by the local government in the hopes that they'll pay back enough taxes in the next 50 years before the pipes have to be replaced again.
Where I live you have to pay a set amount for local infrastructure before you’re allowed to build.
Greetings from suburban Calgary, where we are currently both sprawling, and under a stage 4 water advisory for the month as our water feed main ruptured in June.
Why pay People when OBVIOUSLY they should be paying CORPORATIONS to SAY they will move in and then not! THAT'S FREEDOM! But THIS reeks of SOCIALISM!
I can’t get over how I’m learning about small town economic policies via a meme. Thanks for spreading awareness!
This Washington Post article talks about the policy and how other small cities are trying the same thing https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/08/30/cumberland-maryland-revival/
This is a new thing that smaller towns are trying to do to take advantage of an increase in remote work.
The meme is also misleading because it's implying that this is something they're giving to everyone that moves there for a limited time, when it is only 10 people. It's also implying that there's not enough people there to pay taxes, which doesn't actually make sense because that's not how taxes work. There would definitely be enough tax income if they didn't care about the future of the town. What they're trying to do is revitalize the area and trigger growth, and they need more income to fund that revitalization.
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Retirees. There are millions of workers in the DC/Baltimore area, looking for a cheaper place to retire. This is sort of in the area and much cheaper.
My ex-SIL frequently spoke about looking over the border into West Virginia as a place to buy cheap land for retirement, however her priority was access to breweries and being able to visit the city, but Cumberland is awfully far out for that
No, it's to attract people with jobs. Explicitly.
I'm not sure why there's all this guessing and pontificating going on in here, you can just look the story up.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/08/30/cumberland-maryland-revival/
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Thanks for finding the link and posting it.
I see they do want employed people, but I still say investing community fiber would be a better draw for people who can work from home
Friendly reminder that you can have a libertarian communist commune. Libertarianism is not a left-right political ideology.
I read the book "A Libertarian Walked into a Bear" and I found the range of Libertarian attitudes interesting — there was at least one Libertarian in the book who explicitly identified as communist.
In my personal opinion, the core defining trait that makes someone libertarian is adherence to the non aggression policy. If they are capable of that then they are libertarian in my book. Even if I disagree on other aspects of their ideology.
I don't understand where you're getting a debate from. It's pretty easy to summarize as. Don't shit in the Common well don't pollute the common air. Don't trespass on your neighbor's property. Don't touch your neighbor's things. Never resort to violence unless for self-defense.
I fucking miss MD..taxes are no worse than other places. Plus Deep Creek lake and Accident MD!
I'm a school bus driver (in PA) and one of my colleagues is leaving to live and work in rural MD. The coolest thing about the gig there is that you get to take your school bus home at the end of your run, which generally picks up and drops off kids from the area you live in. In fact you have to take your bus home since they don't have parking spaces for them at the schools.
The uncool part is that the pay is shit with no benefits, but at least that keeps you in line with all the other residents.
Maryland is also crazy beautiful. Had to take a detour on the way to DC because traffic. Ended up on local, winding roads and drove past beautiful creeks with ancient oaks and old houses. It's the only time I've thought, "damn this is a really awesome suburb". And going out on the Chesapeake was a great birthday, it lives up to the hype.
