I was awoken at 8:45am this morning by a call from someone who stated that Hal Row was addressing the article on this blog entitled WOW!!! - Greater Hickory Rated as the 6th Saddest Metro Area in the United States. I only was able to listen to the last few minutes of the show, so I didn't have a full understanding of the context of the discussion and I wasn't going to race in to the last few minutes of the show to explain what the article was about, what my mission is about, the trends of our area, and what needs to be done to address the challenges that we face.
I won't be picking apart what people said, but I will address the context of this morning's discussion. I do believe that Hal is a cheerleader for the area and I have no problem with that. People need to understand his job is more than just to be a presenter or entertainer on his radio program. He has to sell advertising for the spots that run on his program and other WHKY programs. So Hal is a salesman and from what I have heard he is a very good salesman. Salesmen are inherently optimistic. That comes with the job.
Most people look to me as being a concerned citizen. I am definitely not just complaining. There are things that can be done to move the area forward and I want to address those issues. Some are being done and some aren't being done. We don't need to focus on the positives. We need to focus on what needs to be done and do it!
I disagree with Hal on the point that what I am doing is not Journalism. It is what Journalism used to be. It is what Gerald Celente calls Journalism 2.0. Old School Journalism is not working, because of the marriage of these resources with the Government and those conflicts of interest. The media now acts as partners with the Government, instead of asking critical questions that need to be asked, investigating what needs to be investigated, and researching what needs to be researched. I am one person. I don't have multiple departments to cover this and that. I have to do it all myself, but I am asking and addressing tough questions that need to be asked.
I was born and raised here. I know this area very well. I don't know or understand every perspective of every individual in the area. I associate with many people who have a completely different perspective than Hal. They are positive complainers. They aren't stewing in their mess. They are addressing it.
I had lunch with a very prominent person in our area, the other day, who stated to me that when they moved here a decade ago that they cried every day the first year that they were here. They said that they decided one day that it was time to stop being depressed and make the best of the situation and move forward. This person stated that even if they wanted to move (locate out of the area), that with the real estate depression we are in, that it would be nearly impossible to sell their house and they couldn't afford to take a bath on it. This person stated that their spouse and themself would have difficulty if they lost their job and they would not be able to make close to the kind of income that they were presently making. This person stated that they come home a lot of days and speak with their spouse and are like, "Whew, I've still got a job as of today -- hahaha..."
I know people from every demographic of this community. I have had long conversations and deep dialogue with people that work for the City of Hickory, Catawba County, people that have worked in Washington and Raleigh, Elected Officials, people from Downtown, people from every quadrant of Hickory, people from Ridgeview, people from other parts of the area who are movers and shakers and people who are just your Average Joe (or Jill). I believe I represent most everyone. Not when I express an opinion, but when I address the issues facing our area.
One lady called in to Hal's show and spoke about God and Family vs Money and Prestige. I completely understand what she is saying and is that not what I talk about on this Blog, is it not? I am certainly not talking about attainment of materialistic needs. I am talking about the quality of people's lives. We can get the most bang for the buck by investing in areas that might not be fruitful today, but they will yield benefits tomorrow. That is what I see when it comes to the aquatic recreation issue or building an amphitheater or revitalizing the economic deadzones in our city. There is no magic bullet to solve these issues. It will take a lot of hard work. There will be a lot of losses to go along with wins, but not doing anything or waiting for some easy solution is not going to solve the problems and will guarantee failure. And the longer we don't address these issues, the worse the problems will be, and the harder it will be to solve them.
We have good things going on in this area. I have never said that we didn't. Look at the increased educational attainment options with L-R growing, the Appalachian State University Partnership, and Catawba Valley Community College. Look at the economic opportunities involving the Manufacturing Solutions Center and the Conover Station. Anyone can see that there are some good things happening in our area, but we need to see a lot more of this and we need our local elected officials to be proactive about making things happen.
What people need to get in their noggin is that our community's health depends upon the welfare of all of its citizens. Marketplaces are about people. It is all about people. Economics depend upon the marketplace and the marketplace is about people. When people are doing well, then you have a positive, dynamic marketplace and when they aren't doing well, then you have a lackluster, ineffective marketplace. Attitude is but a small part of market forces and there are way too many people trying to push the notion that all we need is a good attitude and the marketplace will correct itself.
No, what we need are people who are intellectually proactive and critical thinkers who can help to create an environment in our area that is more resilient to economic cycles. That means that when times get bad, we don't fall off the cliff like we have in the last decade. There are people putting efforts forward that are making a difference here, but there are also people just resting on their laurels and standing in the way of progress, because they are shortsighted and they can only see how issues will effect their personal finances today. We have to look at trends and think about how we fit into the future in order to keep from being blindsided.
Hal did not address the dynamics of the survey and you really need to in order to understand the big picture of what this survey is detailing. This survey was not my opinion and the other surveys that have ranked us so poorly have not been my opinion. And can somebody tell me why they think that these surveys would be picking on poor ole Hickory. Does that even make sense?
I had nothing to do with the statistical input of all of these surveys. As far as the dynamics of the "Happiness Survey," Life Evaluation is based upon how you feel about your life today and where you see yourself being 5 years from now. Physical health deals with such factors as whether they had any health issues that prevented them from doing any age-appropriate stuff. Healthy Behavior deals with smoking, drinking, working out properly, and eating right. Emotional Questions included such factors as "Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?" Work questions include, "Are you satisfied/dissatisfied with your job?" Basic Access includes Medical-related questions such as had you been to a dentist in the past year, do you have a personal doctor, and/or have health insurance. It also included questions about the general satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the region.
When it comes down to discussing the relevant issues and the status of the general welfare of this community, I know that there are a lot of fine individuals associated with the City of Hickory. I have had several that have personally expressed to me an appreciation for what I do. You might think wow or that is a load of bull, but I have had several people tell me that they could not get their message out, if it weren't for the Hickory Hound. People have expressly told me that my newsletters about the City Council are so thorough that it is the only way that they can keep up with what is going on in the City of Hickory. They don't always agree with my analysis, but they appreciate the point of view. I do understand that this is not true of everyone though. There are some people who literally hate this blog and constantly try to diminish its relevance.
The people who are angry about the existence of this blog try and limit the participation of those that they have control over. I can assure you that if the workers speak out in a manner that their bosses disagree with, then they will lose their job. And I am not talking about anyone going maverick. I am talking about a employees taking a different viewpoint that does not toe the company line. I have been expressly told this by some people; that they agree with what I am presenting, but they fear reprisal, if they publicly support the Hound's viewpoint. Couple that with how much income some of these people earn and you can see where the silence come from. They have a lot to lose!
When it comes to my life, my glass is completely full of everything except income and material possessions and although I would like to be financially secure, it is not my top priority at the moment. I want to have a better Economic and Quality of Life Environment in my community. My glass is running over with things to do. That is the reason why I was asleep this AM. I was up late last night dealing with tasks. I know that one of my top priorities is getting the message out about the goings on in this area. Occasionally that means that I must say things that I really don't want to say about the leaders of this community, but it is necessary to address these critical issues and to get this community moving forward again.
To summarize, Hal basically stated that the community has a lot to offer, but outside forces are playing a dominant role in these negative feelings that people have in the area. What about the ambivalence of the overwhelming majority of the people in our area? The people who only care about the ball game on their big screen... the comfort of their recliner... the cheapness, availability, and speed of service of their fast food... and the case of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the fridge. When those things aren't available is when they will be ready to revolt. Then they will lose it and we will all be living in Holy Hell, because they will be ready to aim and fire.
Why did only 2,300 people vote in that last City Council election? If the people were happy with those members of City Council and the Mayor, then why didn't they stand up and roundly and robustly reaffirm their support? 8.5% of the people in Hickory voted. In my book that is not
much support for what the City of Hickory is doing.
What will it take to wake people up and get them to participate in their governance? I have tried to use Hal's show as a platform before to wake people up. In general, if we look at the demographic of Hal's audience, it is mostly people that are older and settled. I bet most of them are seniors. Most of them have money in the bank, a pension coming in, a small part time job, and a Social Security check. They aren't hurting like the people who are in the middle of life, but they are probably having to help subsidize the income of their kids and/or their grandkids. They understand that the economy is bad, but they have a cushion to fall back on and that gives them a different perspective.
You know, this is the kind of compartmentalizing that I address. These people are making ends meet, so they don't have much to complain about, but what about the future? Think 5, 10, 20 years... Like most of us in the middle of life and younger are looking at. What is this going to mean to us and what do the trends show? It does not look good and that is what this survey is addressing.
Will the people, who listen to Hal's show that seem to be content, continue to make ends meet if inflation continues to surge? Their kids are going to continue to need money, because they aren't going to be able to have gainful long term employment under current economic conditions and realities. Times will continue to get worse if we don't assess the reality of the challenges we face and address those issues head on.
I am here to try to wake people up before the freight train hits, so that we don't have to deal with the chaos of the aftermath. We keep getting punched over and over and over again. We need to start punching back. We have to endure and I think that we have done that, but we also have to take productive, proactive measures to move forward. Yes, their are some of us doing that, but there are others standing in the way of this needed progress.
