Interesting article. What I found most interesting is that most of those locations listed all had low unemployment rates – less than 4%. So, people are working… but at low-paying jobs. Some important issues that could be impacting the results here are not discussed or seemed to have been studied. I hate assuming things, but in this case I assume that the less education the less is the standard of living. I doubt more money will fix that since peer pressure, home life, local culture impacts educational achievement more. Cost of living in those areas isn’t addressed and its plain that some locations allow residents to get by on much less $$ than do others. The economic poverty level isn’t functionally the same everywhere. It would be a lot different in NYC or San Francisco than in Baton Rouge, La. or Roanoke, Va. Regardless of what the socialists insist everyone believe and strive towards, we are not all equal as individuals in what we each have the innate capability to achieve. One has to be able to recognize opportunity and then be motivated enough to capitalize on it. There will never be a time when there is equality in outcome… never.
Here’s an alarming article I read recently. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-10/world-faces-uphill-battle-average-iq-just-82 I would wager that if the average IQ within those 50 counties listed was known, IQs would also be very low with few exceptions. There is no program, law, or regulation that will ever equalize outcome between an IQ of 82 with that of 100 or better that would not be unfair and penalize the higher achievers. If all the wealth in this country was taken and equally divided between all citizens, I would feel comfortable predicting that within ten years the bulk of that total wealth would be back in the hands of those who held most of it at the time it was divided.