In celebration of West Virginia Day and in support of the statewide social media collaboration to “identify obstacles and solutions” for our state by abetterwestvirginia.com, this post offers up a philosophical challenge for consideration.
I won’t rehash the state’s problems that have been so well documented in every “best states/worst states” lists. We know what the rankings in education, health, income, business, et al, tell us about ourselves.
I also won’t review West Virginia’s history. You can enjoy the spanking new West Virginia Culture and History museum for that.
West Virginia Culture and History
Suffice it to say, our state started out with early challenges, and it has yet to overcome those challenges at least in terms of our internal and external perception. We’ve yet to come out from behind the eight ball. And the abuse we’ve taken from “outside influences” has been well-documented. We’ve been hoodwinked, abused, exploited, mocked and then blamed for our problems. Talk about blaming the victim.
It’s not difficult to understand why West Virginians, by broad stroke, are a bit defensive and, yes, cynical. Yes, that shows up in state rankings, too. Jokes at our expense from the national and nearby media wear on you after awhile. Words aren’t harmless. Even more harmful are careless business practices that have treated West Virginia like a colony, leaving little wealth or advancement in our communities.
The question is, is there any realistic way up and out of the situation?
Folks, it’s a different time. I offer a counter-intuitive suggestion. The solution to our problems is…
Outside influences.
It’s a different time because the world has shrunk, or flattened if you prefer. Everything is connected by roads, media and Internet. Just as we can’t hide comfortably behind our hills anymore, exploiters of our state can’t expect to not have their destructive tendencies go unreported. The cost of isolation are even greater now than they were in the past.
With a new spirit of openness, I encourage West Virginia to open up. To embrace partnerships with other states, leading universities, researchers, entrepreneurs and creative thinkers. It’s time to put the chip on our shoulder on the shelf, take ownership of the fact that not all of our answers will come from within the borders from those we deem more trusthworthy just because of where they were born (aren’t most of the political leaders who have contributed to our situation “one of us”?).
Even our efforts to draw talent into our state are almost exclusively safe and nurturing to our desire to live among “our own”. Yes, we’d love for talented natives to “come home”, but do we seriously think that state natives alone will fill our talent gap? That only those willing to reverse the brain drain from the hills of West Virginia to North Carolina and other surrounding states are able to reverse West Virginia’s status?
What about Ph.D.’s from India? What about engineers from China? What about idealistic and committed graduates from MIT or Harvard? What about artists from South America? What about entrepreneurial immigrants from Africa, Mexico, Eastern Europe or South Korea?
Yes, I know I’m stepping on some land mines here. Some will point out that those idealistic college grads from the Ivy League schools can come here with a bit of a paternalistic approach, not respecting the existing culture and people as much as they are stroking a guilt complex that motivates them to “help the poor and disadvantaged.” It pricks our pride. I know it does mine sometimes.
And surely a call for immigrants to “come home” to West Virginia can inflame many to anger when they themselves can’t find a decent paying job.
But folks, it’s time to embrace an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality. We tend to forget: we’re all here as a result of “outside influences.” West Virginia, like all of the United States, is a product of risk-taking, idealistic immigrants flowing through the frontier to chart a better life. It’s time to embrace some of that pioneer spirit and include those who naturally bring it with them: immigrants, entrepreneurs, idealists and innovators.
And it’s time to embrace people who genuinely want to help. Yes, we should demand that they bring respect along with knowledge and ideas to our state. Yes, we should ensure that local communities have a say in how they get “helped.” But with one hand holding onto dignity and the respect of our existing culture, it’s time to use our other hand to partner in order to bring new ideas, new resources, new insights and new solutions to our “beautiful hills.”
It’s already happened of course. We have a Senator with this background. We have many valuable members of our arts, cultural and culinary community from “back to the land” movements. We have doctors and professors from all over the world who populate our rural communities. It’s time to throw out the invitation and open up the spigot for more.
What about:
- A partnership with nearby Carnegie Mellon University to solve rural broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity issues?
- A partnership between WVU and Johns Hopkins to turn West Virginia inot the world’s hot-bed of health innovation?
- A partnership with some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to develop West Virginia into the world’s most profilic region for new business start-ups?
- A powerful partnership with the Gates Foundation to transform how “school” is understood in the 21st century?
- A clarion call around the world announcing that West Virginia is a “great state to create” and incentives for artists to flood into our borders to create one of the world’s greatest arts communities?
- Announcing that our state is truly a broad energy state now and is embracing “clean and green” innovation?
“Come home” to West Virginia? Yes, if you’re ready to create new opportunities, please come home. But also, to those with no prior roots in our state with talent and passion and creativity and integrity and a desire to build a life that matters, we invite you to “make a home” in West Virginia. We’ll both be “a better West Virginia” for it.
5 responses to “What We Fear Most May Be Our Greatest Hope”
**A Welcome Message**
Uplifting post! Love the emphasis on partnerships, and the reminder of our history and the emphasis on abundance mentality. Thank you for emphasizing diversity as a vision of positive change for everyone.
**Great Post Jeff**
As a small business owner we have forged partnerships with companies and individuals in BC – Canada, Portugal, Arizona and North Dakota amongst others. The world truly is “flat”, we as West Virginians, stand to benefit the most from this. With a “flat” world we can connect with people outside of our communities to help us accomplish goals without leaving the place we call home.
**Fear/Hope**
Great post, Jeff! Well said, my man. It’s time for Glasknost in WV. When I worked at GE, we had paradigm that often hampered things: If a component (a part, raw material or sub-assembly) wasn’t made or invented by GE, it was never considered for design or usage. That led to an initiative by Jack Welch called “Not Invented Here,” which became the acronym NIH. He challenged all the GE engineers, scientist and marketing folks to think and look outside the company … to look beyond the “walls” of GE. The insular thinking that existed 20 years ago, prior to the NIH initiative, was a huge limiting factor. In the context of industry, it’s hard to imagine (i.e., remember) such a paradigm, but it existed. In the context of West Virginia, I hope that in 20 years we will have made similar progress in openness, diverstiy and thinking beyond our borders. Talented people like you (Jeff) will undoubtedly be leading the way!
**Bravo**
Very well written article. I agree wholeheartedly.
**Yes, but…**
I know, I know. Drop the “but”. I agree with the principle you are espousing. The perspective you advocate is 99.9999% the right way to look at things, and the goals you suggest are worthy of serious consideration. In that sense, I can give a hearty “Right on!” to your post. On the other hand, many of the limiting factors are still in place. Where will the returning natives and immigrants from around the globe find jobs? How in the current economic infrastructure of the state will they create new opportunities? What kind of housing, amenities, and educational pitfalls and shortcomings will they face? If these folks are independently wealthy or can live on peanuts while they get things up and running, it will be a great success to lure them to the Mountain State. But as your post implies, the success of the PhDs from India (how many PhD-level jobs are there in WV?) and the artists from South America, the “immigrants” from NC and PA etc, and the entrepreneurial returning native daughters and sons will largely rely on capital and resources from outside institutions and organizations. While you have sketched some interesting outlines for what such collaborations may look like, there is still the issue of whether underdeveloped areas without the necessary base of a sufficiently skilled/educated workforce can really attract such widespread or large-scale investment without the proof of some pilot projects. None of this is to reject the feasibility of the vision you have articulated, but the people involved in trying to rehabilitate the state (including its image) will need to paint much clearer pictures of what is possible and how it will work in order to generate sufficient interest at the individual as well as organizational/corporate level. As one of those who left the state after getting my Bachelor’s degree, I am definitely rooting for this new pro-West Virginia movement I recently stumbled across. Yet so much of what I have read so far on other sites (I’ve just started looking at this one) is optimistic but vague, enthusiastic but short on details. An action plan and some specific project ideas, based on the kind of things you’ve written here, will go a long way toward getting the movement from idealism to functional and practical applications. I wish all involved in such efforts the best.