As someone who spent many happy months in Maine, thanks for the reminder.
I don't think it's fair to ask if Maine – or any other polity than China – could adopt its 'build it and they will come' approach, because no other polity can marshal the level of top-to-bottom support for a program like that.
Beijing has been hard-selling its village rejuvenation for some years, almost shaming city dwellers to support their country cousins by staying in their villages and visiting their waterfalls. The President and Prime Minister split up every year to visit exemplary (or pitiable) villages, and use their airtime to proselytize for country cousins. That support goes all the way down to the village Party Secretary, who has primary responsibility for getting with the program.
Very good piece, David, you even got me a bit emotional at the end... tabarnak...
But I think, as much as you want to compare rural China and rural Maine, the economical, social, historical backgrounds are so different... The rural decline in America was long in the making. We were already talking about it in the 70's. But it is not so much due to migration to the city as to de-industrialization. Much of these villages and small towns, in Maine or Québec, were born out of the industrial revolution, either with the lumber industry, or textile, or mining. They were never agricultural, the land is just not good enough (in Québec we call it "terre de roche", rock land). But lumber is dying, textile has long moved abroad, and mines eventually shut down. It's not a land that has been occupied for long, 100-150 years at most. America is such a young continent (for the white people at least...).
Whereas the Chinese countryside was occupied by farmers for 1000's of years, and never actually industrialized. And whichever way you want to look at it, the standard of living of villagers has still improved a lot over the past 40 years. The "decline" is a very recent phenomenon, and with adequate policies can be slowed down or reversed. I remember those women farmers we met in Yangshuo, who were still working in the field growing rice, and told us they were just doing it "for fun" and to keep busy, as there was just too little money to be made. The money came from their sons and daughters working in town in the tourism industry. But even in agriculture, there are still so many improvements and gains in productivity to be made. As in my previous comment about yak herding on the Ruoergai plateau, I think one goal is that farmers should make decent, basic income from the farm, and complement with revenues from tourism, or online sales of handicrafts etc. But not abandoning farming, just make it more efficient and profitable.
One other thing I found interesting is when you talk about the empty mall. It reminded me of that song by a famous Quebec band (les Colocs) from the early 90's, complaining about how main street in their small town was dead because everybody was now going to the shopping mall... well, now even the shopping mall is dead. What's left? Revive main street! The only hope is to get those small industries, which is possible, but as you said, they need proper infrastructure. Heck, I don't think I've been anywhere in China where there wasn't 5G, it's almost unbelievable that people would not even have 3G...
"I can see his eyes light up with that concept, as I could have guessed they would." I found this line to be quite poignant, you'd think that the "Cold War" mentality vs China would lead to US upping its gain on the people side, but afraid not.
coming to these two essays late, thanks to the recent boost by James Fallows. They're both excellent reads. I'm "from away," living in midcoast Maine. It's interesting to think about the parallels and differences between Ft. Kent and our little town. One worry here is to protect access to the working waterfront and the traditional livings people made on the water. We already face the loss of 4th/5th generation++ residents who can't afford to live here; they move inland and commute here to fish. Housing development takes a toll by gobbling up properties and potable water (we're 100% private water/sewage). There's no intuitive location for commercial growth on our long, narrow land necks and limited town services (low mill rate, too!), and our cafes struggle to keep staff to support predictable opening hours.
This all leads me to a parallel question that I'm trying to wrap my head around: How do you even think about what makes sense for small coastal towns when lobster+fish are moving north to find cooler waters? Maine's regional economic development and municipal associations do what they can to help, but it seems to me that they don't have the scalability or inter-networks to help think about these huge strategic issues. Whether we're talking about the county or the coast, I think Maine has opportunities despite these vulnerabilities.
As someone who spent many happy months in Maine, thanks for the reminder.
I don't think it's fair to ask if Maine – or any other polity than China – could adopt its 'build it and they will come' approach, because no other polity can marshal the level of top-to-bottom support for a program like that.
Beijing has been hard-selling its village rejuvenation for some years, almost shaming city dwellers to support their country cousins by staying in their villages and visiting their waterfalls. The President and Prime Minister split up every year to visit exemplary (or pitiable) villages, and use their airtime to proselytize for country cousins. That support goes all the way down to the village Party Secretary, who has primary responsibility for getting with the program.
We're not in that league.
Great read. You are an excellent storyteller. Like one reader commented, the situation is very similar in Eastern Canada.
I really like the last section of your article, your accurate observations and questions raised. Looks like you have put a lot of thoughts in it.
There must be something to be learn between the two systems, Chinese and American. But for sure there is no single such a mould, even within China.
Very good piece, David, you even got me a bit emotional at the end... tabarnak...
But I think, as much as you want to compare rural China and rural Maine, the economical, social, historical backgrounds are so different... The rural decline in America was long in the making. We were already talking about it in the 70's. But it is not so much due to migration to the city as to de-industrialization. Much of these villages and small towns, in Maine or Québec, were born out of the industrial revolution, either with the lumber industry, or textile, or mining. They were never agricultural, the land is just not good enough (in Québec we call it "terre de roche", rock land). But lumber is dying, textile has long moved abroad, and mines eventually shut down. It's not a land that has been occupied for long, 100-150 years at most. America is such a young continent (for the white people at least...).
Whereas the Chinese countryside was occupied by farmers for 1000's of years, and never actually industrialized. And whichever way you want to look at it, the standard of living of villagers has still improved a lot over the past 40 years. The "decline" is a very recent phenomenon, and with adequate policies can be slowed down or reversed. I remember those women farmers we met in Yangshuo, who were still working in the field growing rice, and told us they were just doing it "for fun" and to keep busy, as there was just too little money to be made. The money came from their sons and daughters working in town in the tourism industry. But even in agriculture, there are still so many improvements and gains in productivity to be made. As in my previous comment about yak herding on the Ruoergai plateau, I think one goal is that farmers should make decent, basic income from the farm, and complement with revenues from tourism, or online sales of handicrafts etc. But not abandoning farming, just make it more efficient and profitable.
One other thing I found interesting is when you talk about the empty mall. It reminded me of that song by a famous Quebec band (les Colocs) from the early 90's, complaining about how main street in their small town was dead because everybody was now going to the shopping mall... well, now even the shopping mall is dead. What's left? Revive main street! The only hope is to get those small industries, which is possible, but as you said, they need proper infrastructure. Heck, I don't think I've been anywhere in China where there wasn't 5G, it's almost unbelievable that people would not even have 3G...
"I can see his eyes light up with that concept, as I could have guessed they would." I found this line to be quite poignant, you'd think that the "Cold War" mentality vs China would lead to US upping its gain on the people side, but afraid not.
coming to these two essays late, thanks to the recent boost by James Fallows. They're both excellent reads. I'm "from away," living in midcoast Maine. It's interesting to think about the parallels and differences between Ft. Kent and our little town. One worry here is to protect access to the working waterfront and the traditional livings people made on the water. We already face the loss of 4th/5th generation++ residents who can't afford to live here; they move inland and commute here to fish. Housing development takes a toll by gobbling up properties and potable water (we're 100% private water/sewage). There's no intuitive location for commercial growth on our long, narrow land necks and limited town services (low mill rate, too!), and our cafes struggle to keep staff to support predictable opening hours.
This all leads me to a parallel question that I'm trying to wrap my head around: How do you even think about what makes sense for small coastal towns when lobster+fish are moving north to find cooler waters? Maine's regional economic development and municipal associations do what they can to help, but it seems to me that they don't have the scalability or inter-networks to help think about these huge strategic issues. Whether we're talking about the county or the coast, I think Maine has opportunities despite these vulnerabilities.