Study: Kansas' population to drop more. By 2040, four counties will have fewer than 1,000 residents

[RKP5637]

DUH! With all respect to DU'ers in Kansas, it's hard to imagine anyone getting really excited to move to Brownbackistan. The image TPTB project to the rest of the world is horrible. Just about anytime Kansas is in the national headlines it's about the latest F'ed up thing the leaders of Brownbackistan have done, then, or some other misfits. There are some bright spots in Kansas like Lawrence, but pockets of blue and sanity are far and few between IMO.

http://cjonline.com/news/2012-05-29/study-kansas-population-drop-more

A decades-long decline in population is likely to continue in Kansas, particularly in the west of the state, and four counties could have fewer than 1,000 residents by 2040, according to a study by Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research.

Census figures have detailed the decline for years, most recently showing that 77 of Kansas’ 105 counties lost population in the last decade. The population of 41 Kansas counties peaked in 1910 or earlier and 28 counties haven’t recorded a population increase from one census to the next since 1940, not even during the post-World War II baby boom, The Hutchinson News reported.

“In some of these communities, we’re getting down to a very small population,” Hill said. “People who want to move probably already have left. People who are there are there for one reason or another. They’re attached to the land or they’re there for work and they've probably already gone through the agricultural productivity (gains that reduced farm employment). They’re not likely to decline any further.”

[uponit7771]

1. Yeap, poor people move and there's no romance without finance. What's going on in Japan is scary!!!

There's a generation or two who aren't into "loving" each other because of getting married and having children are too expensive so the whole beginning of the the affair isn't there..

Good logic though

[RKP5637]

4. Wow, I hadn't heard that about Japan. I was just mentioning to someone the other day I just

don't see how many people are going to be able to raise a family in the future if the economic structure of the US continues. Just the price of food is outrageous. Just a few items in the grocery store exceeds what many people make per hour.

Then, with the cost of housing, utilities, transportation, medical, and on and on, IMO, raising a family with any standard of living is going to be unsustainable for many ... I think. And, politicians don't want to touch this third rail, many are riding by the seat of their pants, because they are so beholding to the monied interests in the US, waiting for handouts for their next election.

Many economists know full well the failing financial structure of the US for the majority into the future, but they are silenced from the general public one way or another.

[uponit7771]

12. Guardian "Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex?"

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex

[RKP5637]

13. Thanks for the link!!! n/t

[valerief]

2. In a few years, it'll be a handful of multi-billionaire farm owners and

millions of undocumented workers.

Cuz that's how the U.S. rolls.

[RKP5637]

9. Yep, for the majority, these days, the US rolls downhill. n/t

[warrant46]

10. A Feudal System like Europe From A.D. 800 to A.D. 1300 is on the Horizon

Broadly defined, it was a system for structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor.

[FoxNewsSucks]

3. There's really only one 'pocket of blue',

and that's Lawrence. I can't think of any others.

I lived in Wichita for 25 years, and travel the state for work. There are good liberals everywhere, but the media's endless pushing of rightwing propaganda is overwhelming. From the slant of most town's newspapers to the fact that you can hear drug-addled gasbag Rush Limpbaugh on 2-4 different stations anywhere in the state, to the endless pushing of republicanism in every church. Made worse by the fact that there is no readily-available alternative.

I have always had anti-Bush/anti-war/anti-republicon bumper stickers, and often wear political T-shirts. One thing that surprised me was how often in some small town someone would comment positively, then claim they were the only person in town who would agree. Then later on another person would say the same thing, apparently they all think they're the only liberal in town.

As far as the population goes, I remember reading an article about the 2000 census which said that of the 20 counties with the highest average age in the US, most of them are in Kansas. Smith County has the highest average age in the entire country. People who haven't been to places like Smith Center, Sharon Springs, Hoxie, etc don't really get how desolate it is. In those small towns and counties, young people leave to get jobs or go to college, and don't return.

[RKP5637]

7. It's sad, because as a state KS projects such a negative image, yet at the same

time wants people to stay or move to KS. There are quite a few nice people in KS and as you say, they think they are the only ones not republican.

MSM in KS seldom says much critical of TPTB. KS seems often void of investigative reporting on politics that might disrupt the political machinery. And many seem to use Fox as their main news source.

I just think so many in KS are absolutely brainwashed. Many seem to have a mindset of brainwashed politics, that, and a combination of what their church last told them to think.

One positive for Kansas would be if they dumped the butt that's their current governor in the next election.

To me, it just seems difficult to believe that most young people would see Kansas as their ultimate goal in life as a place to live and raise a family. There are just too many opportunities in other states and countries.

Kansas could start by reshaping their tea bagger image and provide a more welcoming environment, but from what I've read TPTB and the Koch Brothers think most of the US wants to be just like Kansas and Texas.

[theHandpuppet]

5. Haven't a lot of the old family farms been swallowed up by corporate farming?

Just wondering. That seems to have happened in quite a few states.

[RKP5637]

11. I've heard that some in KS make a fair amount of

money from just holding the land and raking in farm subsidies. "Farm subsidies: A welfare program for agribusiness," http://theweek.com/article/index/248078/farm-subsidies-a-welfare-program-for-agribusiness

[JNelson6563]

6. You would think Rethugs would be flocking there in droves!

A veritable right-wing utopia!

Julie

[RKP5637]

8. I've wondered the same, that it would be a huge magnet as it seems to project what

every Rethug seems to want. The Kansas City metro area of Kansas is very prosperous, but I don't know the political mix of newcomers. Some have called the most eastern part of Kansas all republican country club people. I have heard the butt that's the governor say it's not republican enough. To me, Kansas makes a nice flyover state. I use to fly over it all of the time wondering WTF was down there.