well there use them for eating, feeding the dogs are 2 things I know of.

Not everyone can have specific pieces of Farberware hanging artistically above their kitchen island.

Since the post I replied to was closed I will post this again.

I have an honest question. I mean no disrespect nor am I trying to be funny.

Why don't these people move? I have moved for employment and to increase my standard of living more than once in my life. I have also moved because I did not like the area I was living in. Again I ask, why not move?

Having lived in Eastern Kentucky most of my life, the answer is simple. It's expensive to move. You need first and last month's rent, a trailer to move all your stuff, and other expenses that most of these people don't have. People in this area tend to be very tied to their family and the idea of going some place where you have no support system is alien to them.

We used to fear college because people would go away and never come back. Later, I realized that they just didn't want to get stuck in the hollers and stayed away because they were lucky enough to get out.

This is what cutting food stamps looks like people. These are the people that the Republicans are going to cut services for while giving themselves a tax break. I don't care if adults starve but that means a good number of kids will starve too. Cutting school lunches is the biggest crime of all.

Jake the Duck

Why don't these people move? I have moved for employment and to increase my standard of living more than once in my life. I have also moved because I did not like the area I was living in. Again I ask, why not move?

Family ties, lack of education and portable skills, lack of funds to facilitate the move and to survive while hoping to find some source of income, and fear of the unknown.

Jake: Many, many people do move. Those that have some skills, foresight and parents that are mentally healthy enough to help get their children out of applachia do move and send their children to the universities. Like the rest of the population ( and my guess is the man with the pots in the kitchen) there is much mental illness and absolutely no mental health care and an overwhelming lack of preventative health care including birth control.

Some stay because they are depressed, some stay because their parents and siblings are there. Some figure that they might as well work as a waitress making $8 an hour BUT with freedom to fish, hunt, garden, craft, raise a family without watchful eyes of neighbors. There are no homeowner's associations breathing down ones neck. Others stay out of fear: they only get really conservative radio talk shows that tells them the rest of the world is going to hell in a hand-basket---so they are quite content staying where they are, at least they feel safe. ((Its like me trying to convince others to live in Iran for a year---it really is a lovely safe place with a large Christian population but the standard American only hears negatives about Iran))

The people featured in these pictures are NOT the average Appalachian families either. Many families do live in simple homes but they are very, VERY clean. Dishes are done, beds are made, the walls are filled with pictures of children, parent, grandparents and great-grandparents. Appalachian families are very close knit and if your car breaks down on the road, EVERYONE stops to help. There is not an Appalachian family I know that isn't good at some some folk craft or music. Children come home from school do chores, help get dinner on and homework is done before dinner.

The article didn't mention that most Appalachian families are decendents of cherokee ( some mixed with Lenape and Algonquin) Native Americans that escaped from the trail of tears and mixed with the French and English fur trappers and farmers were the great grandparents of Appalachia. There is a love of the land, respect of animals and the great creator that are still ingrained in the people.

Unfortunately, there is very little good education in this part of the world and meth/drugs run rampant which like the rest of the country breaks down families and causes violence. It is difficult to see what was once a really amazing little gem of American culture succumbing to drugs.

Maybe the writer of the piece should have been a little more thorough?????????????

My mom's family is from this area--she got out and went on to earn a PhD. I spent summers with my grandmother here. Big Dawg is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!

Some people do move away from there and make a good life for themselves. Our family lived in WV when I was a child, we moved to CA in 1963 and I'm very glad we did. While our family was not dirt poor, we were a long way from wealthy, yet we managed to make the move to a better place. Part of that equation is motivation, if you are motivated enough you can accomplish a lot. I visited WV after 38 years and talked to somebody that went to the same elementary school, she was still there, working at the dollar store. She said that she wished she would have left many times, but could not afford to.

Sally your view of a whole region is based on five pictures and you are accusing others of being ignorant. These pictures do not sum up the average Appalachian family. To others comments, many people use their dogs for hunting so the dog is a vital member of the family. Tobacco is grown each year in the back yard for cigarettes and then rolled ( illegal--- but no one cares) I wish people would do a little research before making such generalized comments based on five ( bad) pictures.

You should be ashamed of judging peoples character, education, demeanor based upon their looks.

They lack education. They marry too young. They have too many children they cannot support. If the democratics have done such a great job with their "great society" why are there still poor people?

My mother was born and raised in rural West Virginia. When she graduated from high school, she did what most kids her age did... got the Hell out of West Virginia. Most people at that time went one of three places (Ohio, Maryland or Pennsylvania). She wound up in Toledo where her sister already lived, met my father, and the rest was history, and I thank God every day that she made the right choice.

I spent most every summer of my youth in West Virginia. I was not born there, nor did I ever live there full-time, but I think I spent enough time there to qualify me to comment.

I don't agree that Appalachian people are lazy or in any way deserve to live in the conditions that exist there. Appalachian people are a very proud people. They are tied to the land and to their families. Most don't leave because they simply can't. Many that do leave eventually come back because family ties are just that strong in West Virginia (as well as the rest of Appalachia).

True, there are many problems associated with living in squalor: obesity, drug-addiction, infant mortality issues, unwanted pregnancies, etc. However, I think the main issue we, as a Nation, should be asking ourselves is not how do we convince these people to leave, but how can we attract jobs and industry to the region so they don't have to leave?

So far, the government hand-outs have not worked. Most Appalachian people are too proud to accept hand-outs and those that do accept them do not deserve them because they use them as crutch instead of as a ladder to success. We have to re-think the entire system from education to health care. There is not one simple solution to the problem of poverty anywhere - not in Appalachia nor in any other part of the country.

They look illiterate and probably can't hold a conversation worth peas.

Sally - please tell me exactly what someone who is illiterate looks like. What does someone who doesn't vote look like? You would be surprised at how much these people know that is pertinent to surviving in their neck of the woods, information to which you are probably totally ignorant yourself.

MSNBC has proved itself to be highly biased and prejudicial countless times. They skew stories to whichever side they choose by selecting just the right photos and words. Why would you be so ignorant as to judge people based on a few photos published by MSNBC? Maybe that is a good comment on your own intelligence and education.

pawoman, respectfully Kallie who came from the area made no mention of what you stated. She did say they get mostly conservative talk radio. A radio format that gives little hope beyond their own circumstances. Why would anyone in their right mind want to move from bad to worse with such a picture in mind? Big Dawg's post indicates that education and school lunches are extremely beneficial. They do have schools unlike what some would lead others to believe. If one really looks hard they can find areas near or within their own state that are similar. I wouldn't go so far as to say equaled but perhaps similar in some measure. Part of me would love to see opportunity knock so they could elevate their economic status. Yet I wonder the impact of such a change on their community.

this is stupid.. i do not know where you get pictures..i have lived here all my life. and the girl getting prom dress done. no one has a kitchen looks like that.. if noble live like that i would not know. have not been inside their home.. he has four or five childern. wonder who their picture was not posted..if the noble man is help lowell im sure lowell is paying him out of his own pocket. the apartment right in behind where they are working in grave yard is where i live.. it looks very nice as you can see... you people always go to worse places. and make this town look so bad. i did not see where picture was took of home worth 200,000. 300.000. the taylor family at prom. he is a school teacher. and she is a state social worker. people here can make it if they live like that its because they want to. if you check you will see some of smartest people in kentucky come from this county. dr. lawyers. booneville kentucky has some of the best people you will find..if people live like this its their own way of life they picked. my mom always told me. its not what you have it is what you do with it. and water is free. and elbo greese to work and clean some thing is free.... these old men can not clean house. some out and out do not care... but i find it very up setting we are show as this. resturant is full on friday and saturday night and sundays. family going to eat. why was picture not took then. and yes the men come out in morning and have coffee and read lexington herald newspaper. whats deal on that. was point to show only two men in there. or what.. listen i would pay you to try to take my picture and post it on here... you people are stupid.. wonder how you like it if i come to your house or town and start taking picture. why people lets trash like you all even come into their homes. and im sure the taylor family would not stood there and let you take their picture to be little this town...... why do you not come back. i will show you some really nice pictures to take. our schools. and some of them homes way back in the mountain hide away...

Mary-911256, I think an "impact" may be exactly what this community needs. Try an impact of education, nutrition, birth control and commerce, as well as a drug clinic, mental health facilities, child care facilities, public television and tourism.

sees thru glass--speaks thru a$$. Jerk

2.0 Crying Shame pots and pans. I guess it is easier to take the pots and pans to the creek once a week to wash them than it is to haul water every day. Pure speculation on my part.

2.4 Jake the Duck. Good Question. My computer is running slow, so I will refer to comments from others that reflect my opinion.

2.5 Big Dawg. Great Answer

2.6 Workingpoor. Very good answer

2.7 Kallie. Great Insight. After reading a number of your comments I must say "You're good people".

2.10 Sally, poor Sally.

2.18 Dottie 3354. Point taken. Judging by the cadence and structure of your comment, either your poking fun trying to get a charge out of people, or your an individual who is Very Proud of their community and has been offended by MSNBC (and many commenter's) by their slanted views. I prefer the latter.

A handful of photos and a few comments are not enough to convey the depth of a community.

Kentucky is beautiful State. It abounds with natural beauty, and is rich in diversity and culture.

Living in poverty, doing nothing about it, and then raising children to relive the cycle is no way to live. Mental, physical limitations, age, and health issues are certainly valid reasons, but past that, you can only put so much on it "costing money to move." Think back to the Great Depression. Many families with more to lose and less to gain moved to better lives. Same with the millions of immigrants that many of us descend from.

If you are able to work, you do whatever it takes to be able to support yourself and those who depend on you. If that means rolling a wheelbarrow with your belongings in it 200 miles, then so be it.

The worst part is that of the few that will vote, everyone of them will be for a Christian conservative. I doubt many will turn out for Mitt, but these folks are the perfect dramatization of what the new AFP is made of. These folks go to family reunions to pick up chicks. There have been several documentary's on hill folk and many, many, many of them have been molested by family members for most of their lives. It is what gives the term inbreeding it's name. This will probably be deleted by community, but it's worth saying, cause it's true. I've been there and seen with my own 2 eyes. Peace y'all.

I moved here, Eastern KY. 21 years ago from Maryland. What a HUGE mistake. The county I live in is at least 20 years behind time in the way things are done. The people who have lived here all their lives do NOT want any advancement. They want things to stay the way they are and always have and always will. My husband lived here and left when he was 15 to support his family. He joined the USAF, went into the communications field, working with different presidents, such as Presdent Kennedy, Pres. Johnson, etc. He did top secret work. My husband was raised dirt poor, not knowing where his next meal was coming from, a family full of alcholics and no support from his family. He stayed 22 years in the Air Force and then became a Communications Director for a county about 50 times bigger than our county and retired from that job. We moved to KY to help care for his sick mother who died before we completed our move. We have since had grandchildren, who we would hate to leave and have sunk all our money in a farm that would be very difficult to sell. So see, a person can make something of themselves if they want to. My husband, a very poor boy from the hills of Kentucky sure did and I am proud of him. My mother always said you can be poor but you do not have to be dirty. People need to help themselves and not wait for others to always help them. Show others that Eastern can be just as good as the rest of the state.

look people to each his own and theres nothing wrong with good old country living sure as hell beats the dirty city life full of drugs and crime and belive me i should know cause im from baltimore city. i find country people to be good god loving family people with a simpler way of life so stop with your pity they probably dont want it anyway and by the way you people could learn something from these people .

Yeah HELLABELLA, we can learn to stay the "F" out of Appalachia. You ever watch the movie Deliverance? Well my friend that was about hill folk and it might as well of been a documentary!

crying shame: To answer your question as to the pots and pans laying around in that kitchen -- the "caption" under the picture says he has no electricity or running water. Plus he's a old man which means he probably does well just getting himself something to eat most days.

I moved into the area and I grew up in the lower part of the Appalachian chain, (NC). Conditions are still much the same in all the nooks and crannies of the mountains. But you'll never meet nicer people who help each other out. Much more than what I've seen in the 'outside world'. Many people depend on what they can do than use government assistance.

I know places like that from up close and I have tremendous respect for people who live there. I would rather live in a poorest county in Appalachia than in an inner city ghetto. Would any reporter dare to publish up close and personal pictures from inside of urban ghetto houses? I don't think so...

Living in Appalachian Mountains is more than a zip code; it is a culture that dates back 300 years. We are a people who mistrust those who don't understand it. We mistrust those who come in with cameras and try to document an entire community with just a few pictures. We mistrust those who wish to exploit a stereotype. These snapshots are real, but they do not represent the entire region. That doesn't make a good story.

The people there are genuine, friendly, and loving. When a natural disaster hits, everybody works together to rebuild. I have experienced this first hand. Family. There is a strong sense of family and community that I took for granted. I moved, and even though I don't see me going back at the moment, it was a wonderful, safe place to raise my children. Why do people choose to stay? It is their home. It is their life. There is nothing like watching the mist rise from the mountains on an August morning, or watch it snow, on top of a mountain, back into a hollow. It is a land that God has blessed in many ways, without a dollar sign. We need to move past the stereotypes and see it for what it is.

That is great country there with deep roots. I always enjoy the hospitality when up in the mountains. But I would not suggest that people visit out of curiosity. They do not like strangers or people that look down on them. Beautiful mountains good people. Strong tough Americans. I admire them.

I worked as an RN in Lexington after graduating from EKU. When we'd get patients in from this area, we knew it. Most were too poor to afford a hotel room, so they lived in the waiting room when their family member was in ICU. You'd see many family members show up... all in brand new white "Keds". Even though they didn't have any money (it probably about broke them to get there) they DID show up and cared very much about their family member. We gave them vouchers for meals, pillows, blankets, etc. It was very sad to see. They didn't seem comfortable in talking to us, though. We tried to make the prognosis very clear, but there was a recurrent theme of "God will save them". I don't think they had much use for modern medicine. Living in this area for years, I can tell you that family is about all that matters. They live in their own little world where they are fiercely protective of each other and suspicious of outsiders. They won't ask for help, and are reluctant to take it. These are the same folks who have rampant heart disease and diabetes from their diet.. but even if treatment is offered they won't take it. You can't cure generations of suspicion overnight. LOTS of education needs to be done in these areas, but letting go of cultural things is very hard.

Is this Mitch McConnell's district? They probably don't realize that the politicians they keep voting for are the very reason that they have so little, including jobs. This reminds me of the people in that documentary from Mississippi who are keeping the same old pols in office with very little return for their loyalty. I grew up poor myself with eight siblings in a small house. We never knew we were poor and neither did anyone else because we kept ourselves clean and our house as well. I've been there too, where people are what we call PPP( piss-poor and proud). We all made it out with the help of a good mother, supportive grandparents and remarkable teachers. Some of these people will as well.

This is truly sad and disturbing. Our government sends billions to foreign countries to help them, but spend hardly nothing to help these people that are in need of real help and assistance.

There is a good book about the Appalachian people called "Life is Like That" by Glenn "Tex" Evans.

Appalachia Service Project founded by Rev. Glenn “Tex” Evans

web.mac.com/stmarcellineaspgroup/St...ASP.../ASPs_History.html

Glenn “Tex” Evans ... make homes warmer, safer and drier, while offering transformational experiences for volunteers and families alike. .... Their welcoming, uninhibited, caring, and loving nature has inspired me to be more like that in my life.

This is a "repost" since comment 1 was collapsed. I think the links here are worth a look.

I was fully expecting haters to be out and they were but I'm very thankful for those who have posted positive things here.

What some of you may not realize is that Appalachia is a real gem waiting to be discovered. The history, the beauty, the adventure...I've taken more than one vacation to West Virginia and would highly recommend Appalachia as a vacation destination. Skip the beach or the Rockies this year.

http://www.kentuckytourism.com/

http://www.snowshoemtn.com/index.htm

http://www.greenbrier.com/

http://www.oglebay-resort.com/

http://www.adventurewestvirginia.com/site/adventures.html

There's a lot more than just this and it's not hard to find the info on here.

Turtle, if you read the picture you would know the man who lives there has no running water or electricity. Kind of hard to vacuum or mop. Yes the place could be neater but think about how incredibly difficult it must be to live that way.

Pride: one of the seven deadly sins. Why do you see sin when you look at these folks? That's disrespectful to them!

Turtle, if you read the picture you would know the man who lives there has no running water or electricity. Kind of hard to vacuum or mop. Yes the place could be neater but think about how incredibly difficult it must be to live that way.

They live like people have for thousands of years. Use a broom, and get water from the well. I'd hate to think that if your electricity cut out for a week, River, that you'd use such an excuse not to clean.

boom!reason, are you kidding me? There's no way I would take a broom and water on my carpet and hardwood floors! Nope! I'd just wait for the water and electricity to come back on. My family is the type that takes off their shoes when they come in the door so my home doesn't actually get dirty in a week's time.

By the way, where does a person find a well to get water from when they live in the city? Just wondering. Hmmmmmm.

@Love it or Leave it,

Thank you for letting us all know that you are incapable of understanding the intricacies of what you read, and that you are completely ignorant to how people lived before electricity and running water. You may take a bow. We no longer need you to be our jester, so you are free to leave.

By the way, where does a person find a well to get water from when they live in the city? Just wondering. Hmmmmmm

Clearly you were unaware, but these people live in the country. Where did you leave your brain? Just wondering. Hmmmmmm.

WOW Love it or Leave it....... You sound so perfect.....Not.....Just really arrogant. Get over your perfect self.....I personally am glad I am not you and can be an unbiased person who sees beauty in diversity. I have swept my carpet when my vac was broken and it really did a great job, liked the way it brushed up the knap. And there you are using no electricity as an excuse and would sit on your ass instead of getting up and using all your god given sources ( like intelligence) NOT, like the self sufficient people in the Mountains do. Your just one of the HERD. And as for the well.... it's at your local store....you know the machine out front that gives you water for .25 and you fill your 5gl jugs, and I know for a fact that if a disaster hits (major power outages, earthquakes, fires, ect.) bottling company's stop production (Miller, Coke, Bud) and bottle water for needed areas. There are even people with hoses that would I'm sure give water to a person in need.

Love it or Leave it had this to say:

boom!reason, are you kidding me? There's no way I would take a broom and water on my carpet and hardwood floors! Nope! I'd just wait for the water and electricity to come back on. My family is the type that takes off their shoes when they come in the door so my home doesn't actually get dirty in a week's time.

By the way, where does a person find a well to get water from when they live in the city? Just wondering. Hmmmmmm.

I'm not quite sure what direction your satire is going in, but if look around a city area when the trash collectors stop picking up for a while, it gets fairly rank, my dear, and looks even worse than the gentleman's house with the pots and pans.

There is a strong possibility that the city you live in will, in fact, lose power and water some day. I'm not sure if it will happen due to a stray tornado or a hurricane or an earthquake--but if you look at New Orleans and how it looked with the power and water shut off . . . that's about how your city would look. Not a very pretty sight.

People with OCD are lucky when they live in city areas with electricity and running water--and might even go through their whole life without experiencing that 100-years flood, or whatever. But, if you should experience it, I think you are going to have a very hard time coping if your reaction to a person doing the best he can in a trailer is to talk about your pristine hardwood floors that you have no intention of using a broom on.

If you don't have a generator and a stock pile of bottled water, remember not to come whining here about how hard you had it when the power goes down for two weeks after an ice storm. Yes, I've been without power for a week or more--fortunately, we had a generator and the water kept running. Living like that is brutal, and I truly hope that sometime in the near future, you get an opportunity to find out first hand.

Actually, though cluttered, the Noble guy's house was fairly clean for no in house water...

Apparently, not from the majority of comments I am reading. It is truly sad that we have become a society that finds humor and self-worth from ridiculing those less fortunate. I would love to see the ones posting what I'm sure they think are clever (snarky) comments, fall on hard times themselves and have others look down upon them. I wonder how clever they would feel then?

Sad commentary on what we've become indeed.

Frightening. We are like jackals - only that would be an insult to the jackals.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother....

Someone made a comment about why don't these people move either to another home, or another area of the country where there were more jobs. I don't know what their reasons are, but I would guess that they don't have the means to move to another home, or, to another area where jobs may be more plentiful. This is all they've known their entire lives; their families and friends live there, going back several generations. My heart goes out to them, especially the young couple who are still in high school and already have a child. Poverty is generational, and until these people can find good paying jobs I'm afraid this cycle will never be broken. As for the people on here who are making fun of these poor souls, maybe we can arrange to move you to this area to see if you'd do any better. Have some passion for your fellow human beings.

Yes, all of us should be. Why are you selfish?

These are stories that do not need to be told because they are not true. There are a select few people that live the way they do in the pictures but that is true all over the world. Take a camera to some of the richest places in the world and you can make it look like the poorest by just showing certain things. Every time a camera crew comes to this town it makes me sick because I know that is going to be a bunch of people lying there asses off!!!!!!!!

Here's a thought - take those tax breaks and the millions of dollars going into "infrastructure improvements" for the Ark Park and, I dunno, do something useful with them? Pay for water system expansions in places like this, and electricity, etc.

Oh, and @!$%# Ken Ham and his greedy, superfluous stupidity.

Here's another thought: U.S. citizens spend billions of dollars going to the movies. Last year, "Harry Potter" made $381,011,219 domestically. Rather than give money to our fellow man, we'd rather cough up a ridiculous amount on a movie ticket (note that total doesn't include concession stand money, which is about 3-4x what a theater earns).

Actually Janstince, FDR did just that in the 1930s. His rural electrification programs brought power and phone to many Appalachian towns and homes. The CCC was also created to improve the local roads and bridges, waterways and national parks.

Indeed we do need these programs in our country again.

...we most certainly could be spending more here and manufacturing more products in these rural areas.

Yes, we could be manufacturing more in these rural areas IF (and that's a big IF) they had a skilled workforce and a suitable infrastructure. Unfortunately, both of these will require large public expenditures, so I'm not counting on that happening anytime. Especially not in Kentucky, whose citizens elected Rand Paul as one of their senators.

Maggie you need to talk to those who are left about fdr's ccc and tva programs.ask them how the government paid them pennies on the dollar or just plain evicted them for there big gov't projects i think you'll learn how well they were treated you may want to hurry up though we just buried another one today. i'm 15 mins from skyline drive by the way.

I take it you are referring to the hydroelectric dam projects, MG, that took land by eminent domain. A point of hard feelings for many land owners indeed.

My folks were in southern WV. Before that they spent several generations in western VA;very near where the skyline drive passes.

When many of my uncles were young men, they found work through the rural electric and the ccc programs. For them, it was a source of training and jobs. They were required to send the little money they made home to their widowed mother who had already lost her farm.

Life was always hard there. Very few old ones left.

Read the story. Many of these people do not have running water or modern untilities. Imagine all the water you use everyday. Having to bring it in by the bucket and then heating it ove wood stove - and don't forget you have to chop all that wood.

The only home that appeared dirty was the one where the guy had no electricity or running water. The other two shots inside folks houses look to me to simply be "worn." Stuff don't stay shiny forever, no matter how much you clean it.

My mother was a single mom who worked sooo hard her whole life, yet she still managed to keep me fed, clothed, clean and somewhat well adjusted, she was also able to keep our house clean and clutter free while working two jobs.

Often I am reminded of my mother saying "Being poor is no reason to be dirty." Now for me its "Being busy is no reason to be dirty."

With all that being said, good job turtlegirl3, and poor people clean up your act, literally, stop drinking, stop smoking, sell what you have that is extra or give it away.

Thank you Mom, for the life lessons !

halo-2764799

My mother was a single mom who worked sooo hard her whole life, yet she still managed to keep me fed, clothed, clean and somewhat well adjusted, she was also able to keep our house clean and clutter free while working two jobs.

________________________________________________

Congratulations to your mother for being able to provide for you in such dire conditions (and I sincerely mean that). I would have to ask in all fairness to the story though, where did you grow up? Unless you grew up in an area that has no jobs to be had, then you are simply comparing apples to oranges. If you have ever actually met some of the Appalachian people, they are a very simple but proud people. They make do with what they have. I do not expect everyone to understand that, and I realize that most of the posters making these comments are happy to do so from the relative safety of their warm homes and hiding behind their keyboards. But if there are NO JOBS, it is hard to boast of holding two jobs to provide for your family.

It is very easy to criticize or ridicule what you don't understand or never will, when comparing it to your very own (and completely different) circumstances.

Answering your question to be polite, I grew up in a rural logging community.

I must say at first I was taken aback by your comment of "it is hard to boast of holding two jobs to provide for your family." But after some thought you would be correct I am boasting a wee bit, my 5'2" mother in a 80% male community that was dieing due to the 1990s "tree hugger"movement. Was able to be resourceful work a minimum wage job and be a good steward of our resources even turning a pot of beans into profit. People always say comparing apples to oranges like its so different but to me they are both fruit; just crossing the principling bridge.

Poor can be clean even with well water and a wood stove, this much I know.

How many people who are complaining about the dirt in the ONE house that has no electricity or running water have actually had to heat their homes with ONLY a wood stove? How many of you have also only had a wood stove in order to cook ALL OF your meals and heat ALL OF your water? How many of you have had to PUMP at a well to get ANY water for cooking, cleaning and bathing? Even those of you whose single mothers had to work 2 jobs have NEVER lived in those conditions. I guarantee it.

We have a wood stove that supplements our heat. But we also have a well that requires electricity in order to get the water into our home. I have raised the idea with my husband about putting a hand pump on the other pipe to our "well" (actually an underground river) in case we lose power. It's MIGHTY hard to flush a toilet with no water. Come to think of it, the man who has no running water doesn't HAVE a toilet. He also probably doesn't have a lot of storage space for his pots, pans and dishes.

I guarantee you he does NOT have weekly trash pick-up and takes his trash to the dump when he can in the back of his truck.

Until you have lived in conditions where you you simply do NOT have the modern conveniences, you can't begin to understand what a person living in subsidence conditions lives with. You have NO ROOM to talk about how someone else lives when you don't understand the FIRST THING about their living conditions or life. So your mommy worked 2 jobs ... you still had electricity and running water. There were JOBS AVAILABLE in order for her to work them. You didn't have to run a wood stove in your house IN THE SUMMER so you could cook or bathe.

Something else you may not understand is that wells can bring up mud and silt with the water. If the well is a static well (meaning it's not connected to an underground river) and you get a heavy rain, your water in your well will be muddy or silty because of the seepage of the ground into the water. Well water is NOT like your tap water in cities and towns that have treatment plants or provide water. You MUST use a filter on well water before it enters your pipes inside your home or you will get silt or mud in EVERY DROP. Even with an underground river providing our water, I have to change the filters every 3 to 5 weeks. Filters COST MONEY - even if you're making your own out of string you have to buy the string.

...poor people clean up your act, literally, stop drinking, stop smoking, sell what you have that is extra or give it away.

Well, la-de-dah, halo! Aren't you something special? Ever hear the phrase "do not judge lest ye be judged"? You have no idea what each of these people is experiencing in life and you certainly have no right to judge them. It doesn't matter what your mother did or how you grew up. You still have no clue about the individual hardships each of these people has to conquer just to make it from day to day.

Cat is exactly right. Having lived without electricity and running water, I can attest to the fact that it is virtually impossible to be "clean" to the standards of modern lifestyles, ESPECIALLY if you have to work outside your home at all. It takes an almost mind-boggling amount of not only effort, but time, to haul and heat water... How much do you think five gallons of water weighs, halo?,,, How much of it do you realistically use on a daily basis. This is not an attack. I happen to know the weight of water... I'm not talking about the scientifically determinable mass, but the reality of hauling your own 20-25 gallons PER DAY. I guess it just never occurred to you that maybe this guy, Noble, has a day or two a week maybe he can't get out to haul water for the extras, much less what the implications of skipping that day or two might be. And, actually, in spite of the clutter (pots, pans, etc.) it wasn't even all that bad, considering the circumstances. I have seen FAR worse.

Thank you ! Those who never lived it, can't phathom it. I never lived it, but my mother did. There were a few times when I live on a farm with an electric pump and uphill pipes that the water would freeze in the winter and we would actually have to haul water to flush toilets, wash dishes, and for drinking water. Also, the reality of mud filled water when there was a flooding rain and the well would fill with silt. Temporary, but a lesson, still.

Why the Hell don't you go down there and ask them Harry?

Harry: Go down there and get in their face if you're so superior. Lotsa luck!

If people are completely self-supporting, then, yes, no one has the right to judge their lifestyle. But the moment that a person accepts public assistance, then, yes, a taxpayer has every right to question that persons spending priorities.

It galls me that I don't have cable TV in order to keep my bills down and save money (and therefore have created a decent little savings which now keeps down the amount of state/federal student grants to my two kids can get in order to help turn them into responsible, taxpaying citizens) and the kids I work with as a school aide get free lunches, yet they have cable or satellite TV....and the parents drink and smoke. The taxpayers in essence are paying for those cigarettes.

Homesick Yank... these folks are more than likely growing & drying their own tobacco to roll their own smokes. They're living a far more "self-sustaining" life than most people living in our urban cores.

Perhaps they would be affronted that you spend valuable money on purchasing meat & veggies at the grocery store! You should be growing & killing your own, right?

I understand your frustration, though... I am a smoker & it really ticks me off to be in front of my downtown building, standing 20 feet away from any door or window & constantly hounded by a parade of homeless people wanting to "bum a cig" (pardon the pun) out of my $10 pack of smokes!

My family is from the hills of WV, and it would astound people how creatively these "ignorant hillbillies" can solve problems & make things work with what they have. In my lifetime, I've visited family members that
still had outhouses in the yard & manually pump well water. My great grandfather had a 3rd grade education, but was one of the smartest people I've ever met. He made a good life for his 6 children & raised them (5 daughters & a son) to have more opportunities than he had. And many of his ancient
"inventions" to make his own world better... I now see being marketed as in home improvement stores revolutionary new gadgets. Go figure.

The perception of those mentioned in this article is that they do not want to help themselves to make a better life.

PJ - I think a more accurate statement would be that your prejudice leads you to assume that these people don't want to improve their lifestyles. There is nothing in this article that would cause anyone to infer that they don't want to improve their lives. There is next to no text and a few captions with the photos. How did you ever come to this conclusion from virtually no data?

PJ - One thing people who never lived in the hills don't know is that for generations most of these folks lived the same way their parents, grand parents, and great grandparents before them lived. They didn't have much money, but they didn't need much money. They raised their own vegetables and canned them to last the winter. They had a cow for milk, chickens for eggs, a hog to raise for pork. They worked together and helped each other, they had a barter system where they would trade things for work or just bargain and swap. There was a time to work to get the crops planted or harvested, get the hog butchered and in the smoke house. These people lived the same way they had for generations.

There was a story I heard about when Johnson declared the War On Poverty. Someone asked a man in the hills what he thought about the War on Poverty and he replied that he lived the same way his Daddy did and his Grandaddy before him and for many generations before that. He said we didn't even know we was poor til the government came and told us we was. They were just living life the same way it had been lived in those hills since they were settled. They don't trust outsiders because every time outsiders come in to "help" them they end up getting exploited. Many of these people just want to live their lives and be left alone. Many people from Eastern Kentucky did move to Ohio and Michigan during WWII and afterwards up into the '60s and a lot of them came back because it is home. Many there live on land that has been passed down for generations. The family for many generations are buried there and whether you're rich, dirt poor, or somewhere in the middle, those mountains are a very beautiful place. You should see them in the fall.

@Soldier's Dad

People forget that water and electricity cost money. In rural areas it cost's money to hook onto the rural water line, and modern wells use electricity. It costs money to have electricity run to your house. Used to be charged by the poles set (before underground lines) to reach your house from the main line. If you live up the holler from those main lines, you're out of luck if you have no money. Same with phone lines. Also, as you posted, many have lived on the same land for generations, many never bothering to re-deed and file at the courthouse, since often 2-3 generations co-exist for decades on the same property. That's another reason they don't move. This is common in rural areas, not just Appalachia. There are rural poverty pockets nation wide.

You make excellent points, Tammy. Appalachians have often been shamefully exploited by big business outsiders.

Even Mountain Dew was marketed toward the region and is addictively caffeinated and cheaper than milk.

My father lost two older brothers in mining accidents. My mother never realized she grew up poor till she moved north.

There were a few very important old tenets of the culture that is rarely present today.

1. There was no shame in being poor. There was deep shame in idleness or irresponsible debt.

2. Soap is cheap and water is free.

3. Childbearing outside of marriage was NOT an option until very recent decades. The shame and shunning was sometimes very severe. Very young marriages have long been a cultural norm.

On the subject of tobacco. It is still a cash crop in many parts of the region; though quickly fading out. Until very recently it could be bought very cheaply in KY. People there often began using tobacco very very young. The social pressures against smoking is only just beginning to be promoted.

This is absolutely true. The town I grew up in had a thriving steel mill at one time. It spewed out pollution like crazy, but it kept thousands of people employed. Now the closest jobs are in Pittsburg, one of the few towns in the area to survive and grow after the demise of the steel mills. People that moved there to work at the mill now have grandchildren there struggling to survive. If you have ever seen "The Deer Hunter" you have seen this town.

My family moved to the Owsley Co. area in the 1840s and my Dad moved us to Dayton, Ohio in the 1950s. He had no money but he had ambition and gumption. I was raised middle class and blue collar, but I went to night school college for 18 years and got 3 degrees while working full time. I've spent a lot of time in Owsley and Lee Counties working on genealogy and I know what goes on there. The same thing that goes on in urban settings. You have people who go to the hospital and won't pay their bill, but have money for cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, illegitimate children, TATTOOS, etc. because they know the "government" will pay for them or make the hospitals eat the cost which the taxpayers will eventually pay anyway. These people, and everyone else, need to be told to stand on their own 2 feet and provide for themselves. Yes, I vote Republican because the Democrats want to keep these people down forever.

102k in student loans and NO JOB, this the new reality. Debt slave out of collage your just working poor nowadays. Instead of just poor.

Another way out of poverty is to revolt. When people get hungry enough they will revolt, we have a way to go yet but it's coming. Its inevitable.

Debt slave out of collage your just working poor...

Well, Not, it's painfully apparent that you didn't go to "collage". If you did, then you just wasted 102K, and it's no surprise that you can't find a job. Most employers want people who can read and write.

The definition of collage is a. An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.b. A work, such as a literary piece, composed of both borrowed and original material. "Your" is a possessive pronoun. The correct word is you're or you are, Einstein.

Hey Einstein,

You are correcting someones grammar and spelling? Move on to the important issue here. These people were pretty much secluded from the rest of the world until TVA and the CC workers came to the mountains. I was raised in Appalachia and left early on by joining the Army. Basic, Airborne and Ranger schools was much like the Boy Scouts to me. It was nice to have three meals a day, every day. Don't get me wrong, we knew how to live and provide food for the table, but it was basic food all the same. The workday usually started well before dawn and lasted well after dark given your individual circumstances.

I grew up in Tennessee mountains and experienced the clash of culture from an early age. The cith kids that I went to school with often picked on the poorer kids. I wore one of my grandfather's suits until it became too small for me. If any of you even so much as try to put these folks down, I do hope that the rule of KARMA latches to the seat of your pants and drags you down to this level of poverty.

These folks are in many ways better than those "Civilized"folks who judge them as illiterate, dirty fools.

These people are what all of our frontiersman looked like. They still use the old ways as if it second nature to them because it is. They likely make their own soap, can and preserve food, make quilts, and a thousand other skills that should you ever go to the grocery store and find there is no bread because of a trucker strike, they will still eat. Their thoughts are likely pure and free of the poisons of society. You will not see a Crack dealer or prostitutes, but you might taste a little moonshine, aged about two weeks. (UM Good)

For them everything is about Family and in a secluded area moral values rule the land. You are much more likely to see child sexual abuse in any major city than there. Why, because everyone knows everyone, and should that happen, someone would act on the child's behalf. I did not see a badge or lawman until I went into the city. Folks were neighborly and took care of each other. Try that in a city. Should there be trouble between neighbors, they usually worked it out one way or another.

There is a state park south of Middlesboro, KY where in the gift shop you can buy photographic books published by a famous photographer from New York. The photos are amazing and shows a good picture of the people there.

The sad thing is that the children are now exposed to the world via the Internet, as the world grows smaller. People are cruel to one another when they are different from the "Normal Standards". The pictures of the prom remind me of my prom. I did not have a car so the girls that would have liked to go with me had better offers, so the girl that I did go with had her dad to drop her off. I walked 26 miles to and from the prom on largely gravel roads.

I went to college and got my BS from the university of Wisconsin later in life. I did it to show my nieces and nephews that if I could do it, they could follow.

The solution of poverty is to value each ones contribution to work fairly and to provide opportunities for growth where needed. Recycling and proper management of resources should bring the poverty line to within 0 percent. Invest in the arts highly and the government (our taxes) should support talent search within those regions. Teaching our children to appreciate each others efforts and work is the most important thing. The rich do get richer and the poor do get poorer. The middle class however can go either way. Go figure.

I don't think so. These people are proud of what they are; I am sure they would want to have more money, who wouldn't, but those photos weren't taken under duress: the subjects posed to have their pics takens.

I, also, don't think these photographs were meant to denigrate or poke fun at people. More likely, they were meant to shine a light on a problem, poverty in the USA, that many people think will go away if they turn away and refuse to look.

Gloria, read my other feed. This is not new. The people in the Appalachian Mountain range have lived in poverty since the first Scottish and Irish settlers came here to escape persecution from the English at the time of the French Indian War (1740).

The TVA Dams and the coal mines partially opened the mountains up. They have been self sufficient to the point of making their own gunpowder for the guns. Black smiths are still there plying their trade.

These people do not want charity, they want jobs. Bring so industry into the mountains and let them work. They do not want to leave because their relatives from many generations past are buried there and the children want to keep the Family Circle Unbroken.(Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)

Well, when big coal is done removing the mountaintops in West Virginia and poisoning the waterways, it will be a place body wants to live in anyway. And tragically too many of the people there have no choice but to go along with this horror because coal mining is how they survive…for now.