Essays from West of 98: What Is A Good Job? Part II
After the guns of World War II fell silent, America embarked on a major economic shift. American industrial strength had helped win the war. Now, it would transform America’s population. Rural people left in droves for the cities to find new jobs that were viewed more favorably than the rural opportunities left behind. These were often manufacturing jobs—“good jobs” that provided a strong foundation for prosperous communities of every size.
This phenomenon was so powerful that it produced some of the greatest country music ever written. Songs like “City Lights,” “Detroit City,” and “Streets of Baltimore” would tell of country boys leaving for economic opportunity in the city. The narrator of “Streets of Baltimore” made his way back home (albeit without his wife) but most did not. They found a city job, put down roots, and stayed there.
As this shift occurred, rural Texas communities would also pursue manufacturing opportunities to employ locals (including here in Stamford for many years). As we know, manufacturing has changed. Fewer goods are built in America. Factories require fewer people. Manufacturing is not the draw it once was, but people are still leaving rural communities anyway. Why is that? And how do we get them back?
Before I get there, let’s talk about the jobs that we *do* have. Years ago, I needed a single hour of course credit to fill out a semester at Texas A&M. I chose an independent study project with a longtime professor of community economics, Dr. Dennis Fisher. He taught me several tools of community economic analysis, but he also encouraged me to study a lot of varied economic research on rural communities. He said something has stuck with me ever since. Observing that rural communities spend far too much time and energy trying to lure new companies from other places, he asked: if you make a sweetheart deal to lure a company away from some other town, why wouldn’t they drop you like a hot potato when the next, better deal comes along? Dr. Fisher reiterated to me the importance of strengthening existing businesses before worrying too much about incentives to lure other businesses. This is something that should resonate with every community leader in every town.
What I am about to say is not a “Stamford problem” as much as a “rural America” problem. A few weeks ago, I discussed one inspiration for this series—conversations arising out of a tweet about a community’s high school graduates leaving town. Those conversations included a friend in Nebraska, Casey Schumacher (@cowbroker on Twitter) who has some strikingly similar thoughts.
If a large company (say Google or General Motors) announced tomorrow that they would build a massive campus in Stamford, how excited would we be? Would we celebrate those jobs and what they mean for our local community? Would we encourage our Stamford natives to pursue those jobs? Now I ask a hard question—do we treat our existing jobs the same way? When a local employer is hiring, do we celebrate the job opening like we would a Google job? Do we encourage young people to pursue those local jobs like a job from the “outside”? What if the local employer pays the same as that “outside” job? What makes a similar-paying job at Google’s Stamford campus more attractive than a job from an employer who has lived and worked here for decades?
As far as I know, Google and GM are not coming to Stamford (yet), but we have several existing businesses who are hiring. It is human nature to treat “different” as “better.” The grass is always greener, they say. I’m more interested in a movie that I haven’t seen in a year than one that I watched recently (unless the movie is “Road House,” I’m always interested in that). New and different is not always better. We know that, but we don’t always process it.
I have a lot more to say in the weeks to come. I might ask some hard questions of community leaders and employers. I leave you with this question: do you look at your community’s current jobs with the same favor that you look upon hypothetical future jobs? Why? Is there a legitimate difference between the current jobs and the hypothetical ones? If there is, how can we make those current jobs just as attractive?
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and podcast. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to West of 98 wherever podcasts are found.