Struggle In Appalachian Mountains Essay

After watching the videos on the struggle in Appalachian Mountains, all I could think about is how can I do my part to break the cycle. Now that I have a small idea of what I could be anticipating once my company opens an office in the Appalachians, I need to figure out how will be able a tackle and improve upon these challenges. My major concern is the living conditions, the individual’s health and their education. I realize that living conditions and personal health can be related but I think they should be tackled separately and to not rely on one fixing the other. We can see in the documentary that there is this cycle that starts from an every young age and is reinforced from ongoing insecurities. I found the readings to be educational and eye opening, however extremely frustrating. We obviously have identified the issues and have identified why things are they way they are, but what are we going to do about it. I understand that the owner of the coal company thinks he is setting an example by building a monstrosity of a home when everyone around him is struggling. That man should be living a little more …show more content…
We need to establish programs and policies to break the cycle. The only way that we are going to bridge the gap is by building “coalitions with people who are like us and people who are different from us.” (p. 21) If we expect individuals to invest their time and energy into our company, we need to provide them with the same common courtesy. We may not be able to affect the beginning and the first stage of the cycle of socialization currently, however we can be the leaders in the institutional and cultural socialization stages. You may be thinking that this is a big issue to tackle, although how can we expect our company to be successful or grow here if we do not focus on providing positive