Hollowing out the Middle
Q1.
According to the movie ‘The Farm Crisis,' the decline of the American Farmer was caused by the bankruptcy. The 1980s farm crisis was rooted from earlier decades when farmers encountered debts. In 1929, American people including the farmers, the urban people and the poor in the rural areas suffered and lost massively (lowa Public Television, 1). For example, farmers sold their product at low prices, business and workers declined as a result of the stock market crash, families could not purchase products and demand for manufactured goods was low. During the First World War, farmers produced crops and livestock, but they ended up in bankruptcy since the price dropped at a higher rate (lowa Public Television, 1).
Q2
High tech jobs is an indication of a healthy local economy. Today, highly-skilled and highly-educated people in America have high-tech talent, and these talents are acting as a driver to wealthy. However, high-tech jobs in the U.S are concentrated in places, and this is a sign of geographic inequality which leads to economic and political inequality (LIU, 1). High-tech jobs are located in the metropolitan areas, and the top cities are; San Jose, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and more. These areas are characterized by highly-skilled people with bachelor's degree, the share of knowledge, the share of tech workers and high capital investment (LIU, 1).
Q3
People leave rural areas for four reasons, first, there are people known as the Achievers-these people move from rural to urban areas to seek further education and after school, they never return. Second are stayers-these people get employment opportunities during high school, and they become town dwellers throughout their lives (LIU, 1). Third are seekers-these people are underprivileged in that they lack the necessary education needed in the modern economy. Thus, they end up in the military and related jobs. Finally, some returners experience and meet challenges in the external world and return to their small communities. Overall, people leave rural areas since there are not enough resources and training which assist young adult to succeed in life (LIU, 1).
Q4
In comparing the map of the location of high tech jobs and the map of church attendance, there are connections. First, the areas where there are many high-tech jobs have more religious groups and higher attendance (ChurchPOP, 1). On the other hand, areas with fewer high-tech jobs have less attendance. Cities such as San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and big cities have higher attendance. Rapid growth will continue in that there is a higher population concentration in urban areas which is leading to the growth of religious communities (ChurchPOP, 1).
Q5
When religious people move from rural areas to metropolitan areas, they form communities of faith and build a house of worship which define their identities. Metropolitan areas become characterized by diverse and social forms of religion where people present different practices as a way of worshiping God (The Real Truth, 1).
Q6
A megachurch is a non-Catholic church with massive attendance of more than 2,000 attendees. These churches have various centers such as divorce centers, computer centers, halls, gymnasiums and other centers where people find different things (The Real Truth, 1). Also, megachurches are entertaining, focus on traditional religious ideas, bible reading is non-compulsory, there are motivational speeches and attendees are encouraged to think positive and to have a good attitude. People attend mega church since the church hold multi-ethnic population, use technology in worshipping, high level of interpersonal relationship, opportunity to choose ministries and the availability of resources and facilities such as preschools and licensed counselors (The Real Truth, 1). The mega church is located in the metropolitan areas where they are a high population, technology, highly educated populations, relatively wealthy people, good infrastructure and areas with the dramatic growth of population. Example of these areas includes; Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Los Angeles and more (The Real Truth, 1).
Work cited
lowa Public Television. ‘The Farm Crisis’. 2018. Retrieved from: http://www.iptv.org/video/story/2388/the-farm-crisis
LIU H. JONATHAN. HOW DO WE STOP HOLLOWING OUT THE MIDDLE OF AMERICA? WIRED,2010. Retrieved from: https://www.wired.com/2010/02/how-do-we-stop-hollowing-out-the-middle-of-america/
ChurchPOP. 12 Insightful Maps of U.S Religion. 2017. Retrieved from: https://churchpop.com/2014/09/25/11-insightful-maps-of-us-religion/
The Real Truth. The Rise of the “Megachurch”. 2018. Retrieved from: https://rcg.org/realtruth/articles/418-trotm.html
