Does the North Country have a private sector future?

NCPR has reported for years on what many economists call “rural socialism.”

This is the growing trend of small towns across the U.S. that rely on taxpayers, along with state and Federal agencies, for nearly every aspect of their economies.

Here in the North Country, more than half of the take-home salaries are provided directly by governments.

When you add in the 10% of local residents on unemployment, and our elderly residents on Social Security and Medicaid, there’s not a lot of entrepreneurship left.

Yesterday, I was in Lyon Mountain for a rally to save the local correctional facility.

Despite an $8.2 billion dollar state budget deficit, and what state officials describe as plummeting inmate counts, there’s a strong push to save three prisons in the North Country.

(Unions and some local officials dispute the Paterson administration’s claims that a growing number of prison beds are empty. They say the state is still ‘double-bunking,’ a practice some describe as risky.)

The motivation is obvious: Since the 1960s, many parts of the region have been devastated by factory, mill and mine closings.

But interestingly, I hear very little discussion of trying to restart a private-sector, capitalist economy in these towns.

The assumption — the conviction — is that if state and local government jobs go, nothing will ever replace them.

That may be true. But what is the alternative? Is it appropriate, sustainable, ethical for our region to continue to rely on taxpayers (many of them living elsewhere) for our jobs?

And another question:

Have these prisons fostered prosperity?

When I drive through Dannemora and Lyon Mountain, it’s hard to see that the corrections jobs have sparked much of a retail or service economy.

These are hard questions. And it’s especially hard to wrestle with them at a time when many people are angry and afraid.

Lyon Mountain is an incredibly proud community. Many families have held on in the community through very hard times.

But it’s still important to talk about this openly. Your comments welcome.