How Does Rural America Measure Up?

As the quote and link below indicate the researchers were surprised, they must have been overwhelmed by their own vast conventional education. People in rural America have been making due with far less than their urban counterparts since urban became a word.

For many people "rural" is synonymous with low incomes, limited economic opportunity, and poor schools. However, a recent study found that much of rural America is actually prosperous, particularly in the Midwest and Plains.

Researchers just had to look at things differently to see the prosperity.

The study - announced today and based on data from the year 2000 - analyzed unemployment rates, poverty rates, high school drop-out rates, and housing conditions to identify prospering communities. The result: One in five rural counties in the United States is prosperous, doing better than the nation as a whole on all these measures.
source: Rural America Surprisingly Prosperous, Study Finds

Sign of Things To Come?

Many people indicate the what happens in Europe in an indication what will be come to the U.S. in a generation. The exception I would make for the below linked article is that instead of the European Union we will continue down the path of the North American Union until we are full fledged members.

At midnight last night, the United Kingdom ceased to be a sovereign state