In this podcast, I talk with August Wallmeyer, a former journalist, speechwriter, and energy trade lobbyist who spent many years working in the Virginia Assembly. A few years ago I read his book, the Extremes of Virginia, a book about areas of the Commonwealth that a majority of us rarely if ever visit or think about when it comes to politics or policy matters. Wallmeyer, who traveled hundreds of miles to complete his research, brings all his experiences to bear as he unpacks three “rural, poor, and largely unknown” areas of Virginia: Southwest, Southside, and the Eastern Shore.
I moved to Virginia in 1992 and never left. I first visited in the 1980s on a family visit and knew I would return, and stay. One of the first things we did when I relocated from Miami, Florida was, well, explore as much as I could. Over the years I have visited just about every single county and met people from all walks of life. One thing I noticed, however, was how different life was outside the northern Virginia region. I had a general understanding as to why, but not the politics or the policy reasons behind it. August's book helped fill the gaps.
For those of you who know me, I've always been skeptical of foreign assistance programs (the tax money you and I send as taxpayers to foreign lands). America has invested billions of dollars a year in other nations for all sorts of things. You name it, your tax dollars have likely paid for it including wars, some necessary, some not; nation-building, a terrible idea; and much more. These days it is much easier to know where your money goes because of the Internet. Yet, most voters don't know and, I think, don't want to know. Yet what about the policy challenges right here in America, in places such as the subject of this book?
Over the course of many years, I've talked with policymakers and civil society leaders throughout the Western Hemisphere. They, too, struggle with some of these issues in their homelands and, guess what, a lot of what happens in these places impacts us right here, in places such as the Extremes of Virginia where even Mexican drug cartels have tried to make a home base for their illegal drug activities and others, human trafficking. Where I live, we still deal with transnational crime rooted in Central America such as MS-13 and other gangs. Another show focusing on these issues is coming soon.
Tossing money at a problem is not the answer and, as August explains in the podcast, it can make things worse. Now I am not saying we should eliminate all foreign assistance or related programs. Some of these programs are needed to protect and strengthen U.S. national security and other interests; heck, we spent more money on domestic programs than we do on our military! I think the question is one of political will, not money. Where is the political energy I see from lawmakers on building nations for re-building our hardest-hit parts of the state and the nation? And it is not about charity either. We have plenty of it. People who can want jobs, not handouts. These are some of the questions and issues I explore with August.
Further Reading:
Extremes of Virginia, August Wallmeyer (Amazon)
Health Wagon, A Nonprofit organization providing mobile health services to the medically underserved in Southwest Virginia since 1980.
The Rural Virginia Initiative at Virginia Tech
A Mexican cartel turned this rural Virginia area into a hidden cocaine hub (Courier-Journal)
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The Extremes of Virginia, A Talk with August Wallmeyer