America Lost (PBS, 2019)

America Lost is a documentary triptych that explores life in three of America’s “forgotten cities”-Youngstown, Ohio, Memphis, Tennessee, and Stockton, California.
The film shows the dramatic decline of the American interior through a mosaic of stories including an ex-steelworker scrapping abandoned homes to survive, a recently incarcerated father trying to rebuild his life, and a pair of sisters hoping to escape their blighted urban neighborhood.
I spent five years gathering these incredibly intimate portraits of Americans living on the edge. The film sheds light on how our crumbling social institutions have created a dangerous divide between the haves and have nots.
Subscribe to my Substack: rufo.substack.com.

[@itkapatanka]

9:14 'Poverty exists not because we cannot feed the poor, but because we cannot satisfy the rich.'

[@robertdivany1627]

Absolutely brilliant

[@sunnyhill5119]

Amen to that 🙏💯👍

[@superfly3990]

An able man won't work. It's just that simple.

[@rhondaklemple4855]

Wow you nailed it

[@AlexanderWaylon]

Amen

[@swannoir7949]

Our leaders sold us out. We went from being producers to consumers, and that was our downfall. Once the steel mills left, coal mines closed, and factories went down south, then over seas, it was a done deal. Now you can't even get a customer service job, because they're over seas, too. Now here comes AI. It's over with.

[@laetitialogan2017]

100 % correct

[@charles-nz8is]

So true!

[@willbass2869]

Plenty of union hacks also helped drive this country down. They could see what was happening

[@wontbefooledagain9400]

Jesus it’s rough kids I’ll tell you that I been working as a hairdresser for 32 years went to college too, but I make more doing hair. But all my customers are older and retired, I got a few younger clients but not like it was back in the day. And of course you make less every year with inflation and all the taxing aka fees.

[@swannoir7949]

@@wontbefooledagain9400 You're right. This generation don't care about hair like that. They'd rather die their hair in rainbow colors. And most ppl cannot afford a $300 color job anymore.

[@warthog473]

"They call it the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." ---George Carlin

[@joejohnson6327]

I'll never understand why so many Americans are so damn brainwashed.

[@anthonylemkendorf3114]

I’m not impressed with him and neither was his family.

[@the_kc_keys]

@@anthonylemkendorf3114how did you end up here if you don’t like George Carlin?? He made humor out of the idiots and hypocrisy we have to deal with in this world lol

[@marciemoo]

Omg, that’s exactly correct! George Carlin always put things into perspective!

[@LoloO42]

"The divided states of embarrassment". --- Eminem 😅

[@robertcombs55]

My dad bought Steel for the State of Louisiana; the last 10 years; he lived in Japan and Korea; because that's where America bought her Steel; The America we knew is Gone forever; I am a Vietnam Vet; I was in the last Generation that remembered when America was great.

[@avidodd26]

the worst part of this is much of the decline of the American middle class was engineered by global banking concerns.

[@adambased7928]

Not just American UK Canada Australia to name a few

[@theboyisnotright6312]

The really sad thing is these people have embraced authoritarian right wing policies. Siding with the EVIL wealthy and powerful that did this to them. Wake up!

[@sitdowndogbreath]

I'm going to have to assume that we're very serious trouble as a western society

[@karenclark266]

That's conspiratorial garbage. The banks don't control anything. Give Congress the credit its due. State legislatures, city mayors, county supervisors and federal officials did this. Don't give them a free pass in order to be a bigot.

[@montrelouisebohon-harris7023]

Exactly correct and it’s been this globalization and what they refer to in International Relations is interdependence. It’s STUPID!! it’s like saying “ OK you can have your countries and so-called borders, but these immigrants are going to go here and there & rich countries will get there, which is a way to the poorest countries!” and the WEF has a lot to do with it and American presidents in our government. Give so much money to the WTF and I don’t think they need a damn time.! the reason the third world countries are the way they are is because they’re unstable, and totally corrupt, and most of all communists or totalitarian

[@motherofdoggos3209]

Ross Perot said while campaigning for President "If NAFTA is signed, that giant sucking sound you'll hear will be jobs leaving America.". And the MSM ridiculed him.

[@johncronin5311]

I know I voted for him

[@johncronin5311]

Thank Bill Clinton

[@o0o_OutCast_o0o]

I remember back when he said that. I also remember people laughing at him. Calling him crazy and a radical. Today, they talk about how they miss Ross Perot and wish they had voted for him. How he was a man with the vision.

[@CaliCurmudgeon]

Ross Perot was a proto Donald Trump, from the blunt honesty to the mercurial temperament

[@LReno-di9cm]

I voted for him too. Clinton did this to our country!

[@Witchfoot.Incorporated]

I’m GenX. Born in 1976. Poor but didn’t know it bc it was really rural. I always knew I’d never have a retirement fund, that I’d work until I physically couldn’t anymore. I was raised to visit the city, but never stay. I feel such heartbreaking empathy for these people. They were sold an illusion- by the government…. Only to learn the government is nothing more than a corporate conglomerate. Today I’m an entrepreneur. I am not rich. I classify as the bottom of the, now extinct, middle class. that means I still make a lot more than most people in SC, but you’d never know it. Being raised poor but smart. I recognized the subprime fiasco so I never fell for it. I still haven’t bought. When i saw the rent trend starting here about 7 years ago, I moved out my house, downsized my belongings, and moved myself, mom & kid into a trailer park for $800/mo. Everybody laughed, pointed & told me it was a horrible decision. They trying to get into a trailer now. I save(d) my money & live happily in my lil trailer. I LIVE WITHIN MY MEANS.

[@kerrryschultz2904]

Such a simple concept and yet some like to live like a three day millionare. That sounds callus but always spending less than you take in allows even very poor people to advance financially. Small things like growing a garden, or skip the Tim Horton's coffee, drive a more frugal car, take the bus, work a few extra hours each week and save that money, buy less no essential goods. The list is endless. Keep a rainy day fund to avoid bank rip-offs. Congratulations on your success.

[@thecoxsays1]

@@kerrryschultz2904That kind of thing works when your money isn’t worthless. No one can even afford groceries now

[@kerrryschultz2904]

@@thecoxsays1 I've worked different jobs that paid reasonable money and drove a 25 year old car that I fixed myself and totally rebuilt a house including making my own cupboards and counter tops and island. Never smoked, or drank and always took extra work so usually worked both at home and work 70 plus hours a week. kept a garden and cooked my own food. Learned different skills and read a lot of technical stuff. One job managed to save 70% of my take home pay after taxes. And that same job that other guys worked at most said they couldn't save anything. And they all drove newer cars and smoked and had regular holidays and said a week off and they wouldn't make the mortgage. No one at that job kept a garden even though some lived on a little bit of acreage. I've known people with a 6 figure income and have less put aside for a rainy day than a few that made 1/3 that amount of money but they were very carefull with what they earned. They say the average lottery winner that wins 2 million or less is near broke in 3 to 5 years. And struggling to buy groceries.

[@user-fm3qf7rv7k]

Im almost 50 years old. Born and raised in Philadelphia. Still live and work in this city. Its become nothing but drugs, murder, carjacking, so sad.

[@tanyathewildflower5331]

The same thing is happening here in DC

[@alexadam353]

@user-fm3qf7rv7k Every state in the Union. Nothing but Corruption, Drugs and Criminals. Thanks WOKE DemoRats!

[@alexanderphillips3697]

We no longer put those delinquents in Jail. We need to get back to actual policing. In one hand people complain about “police brutality”, and then in the other complaining about crime

[@JTDyer21]

Classic example of why so many men feel worthless. Without good jobs the family crumbles and life can become hopeless.

[@myke030]

I felt your comment in my soul. I was laid off from a job in 2012 after 11 years. Found another job and lost that one (long story). I told my wife and all she could do was cry. We had a new baby and had just signed mortgage papers. I hustled around and eventually found decent work again in and its been good ever since. But when I was unemployed it was probably the lowest I'd ever felt. I'm thankful every day that things turned around, but I'll never forget that feeling. Situations like this definitely change a person.

[@audie-cashstack-uk4881]

Men have woken up Goverment and women are the exact same evil. Gov weaponisation of women and there natural spiteful ways is fully exposed and men have gone there own way those men not going there own way are trapped in the simp spy no tedtedtorone depression trans gay meds matrix I walked away for hood in 2017 and stacked cash gold silver stock like a mad man whilst living in a tiny box room surrounded by druggys cracks losers as I watched them tear each other apart I sat still and stacked 100s of thousands then walked away iv been monk mode for 7 yrs now walk away men MGTOW

[@joangratzer2101]

PLUS TODAY; WOMEN ARE FRIGID.

[@ixlr8677]

aint seen nothin yet. this country is comin apart. pile some more people in here. esp. muslims. mom g. washington an apple pie is leavin. turnin into a shit hole.

[@erin19030]

To have a good job you need to study, not get a job thru nepotism.

[@ladybug3380]

Greed destroyed America.

[@ixlr8677]

its still not takin any layoff slips.

[@ScottDenesen-py3tk]

Satanic politicians whom hate us at there core. That killed us.

[@rpmfreak9150]

Drugs helped as well..

[@brianmaitai7685]

No. what destroyed America is the inability to change in a world of Globalization and its rapidly changing parameters. Formerly third world countries like China and India as well as economies like South Korea (the largest maker of smart phones and electronic devices in the world such as the Samsung brand), Indonesia and Taiwan (the largest maker of solid state semi conductor chips), sent their best and brightest to America to study Science Engineering Technology and Math- the so called STEM courses. Those engineers then went back to their countries and with American knowledge and cheap labor, replicated the high quality goods formerly produced by America and sold them at cheap prices. The result: With outsourcing, there was no need to make goods in America any more when you can make them cheaper and better in countries where people don't whine about workman's comp and pension plans. Africa is also rising as seen in technologically advanced black countries like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. When Artificial Intelligence comes fully into play, things will get MUCH MUCH WORSE. More Americans will be jobless and the opioid use rate will rise dramatically. The American empire will sadly come to and end. That is the inevitability of radical change.

[@rpmfreak9150]

@@brianmaitai7685 nope. Never ever count America out. There's too many people starting to realize, how the democrats are purposely trying to turn our Country into a Communist Country. Just like the guy who did this documentary, he was a lifetime democrat, who grew up in a democratic household with it being pushed down his throat. Then he himself realized that things weren't like he was being taught to believe. The making of this documentary is what open his eyes, and made him see first hand how the democrats are destroying American values and beliefs. What do you think Covid-19 was about?? We're going to have to fight like there's no tomorrow, because if they're able to do it they're going to finish destroying our Country from within. Are you ready for doing something to stop them, is what you have to ask yourself.

[@tavasikachabvonga5026]

What a documentary! It is painful to see so much hopelessness and dejection. The breakdown of the community and the family unit is such a terrible thing. To everyone who is going through something similar, I say keep the hope, keep on being positive, keep the faith. You got this

[@PAMELAPORTER-ci7mr]

Sometimes, we have to cut our losses and leave, even with family. It's self protection.

[@tavasikachabvonga5026]

sadly true! @@PAMELAPORTER-ci7mr

[@johnnygoodman2003]

Family unit? You are just overlaying fox news talking point on top of this documentary. Can't you watch this documentary with an unbiased, independent perspective instead of re-interpreting it with a rightis perspective. USA has problems for single people and families. The family factor is NOT what is causing these problems. The group's that convince people that "we need to go back to christian values and the family" are the REASON cities like this fall apart.

[@mijreed]

34:00 - "If you're poor, then you're poor. And if you're rich...chances are you have more than you ever need." This describes America perfectly.

[@lyyang1284]

Quote from Bill Gate. “You cannot control born to a poor family, but you can control whether you want to live a poor life.” Make perfect sense.

[@areufreal]

@@lyyang1284 Your definitions of poor change throughout the sentence, which is convenient to defend someone who hoards wealth at large. Microsoft is a plague, a machine that eats art with substance and turns it into a disgusting apparition only meant to churn out dollars. 343 industries, Mojang, Windows. By the way, his name is Bill Gates, not Bill Gate.

[@SpaceLord2025]

@@lyyang1284 poor thoughts poor life... rich thoughts rich life

[@fritzsmith3296]

@@lyyang1284 "but you can control whether you want to live a poor life." Bill Gates was speaking his own mind, which he knows extremely little about. Karma is the architect of the coming life you're born into. Bill Gates is "crediting himself" for what was given to him on a "silver platter". For a real life example Bill Gates is just like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise. And he thinks he did it by his own whit's. Maybe God will remind him of this when Gate's is born into a "Homeless Life". And a message to you lyyyang. The path you're on is not on the of truth, but it is a good start. Buddha's last message to the world was "Be lamps onto yourselves." And you learn that through meditation. And you say "makes perfect sense." How so? Find your own path of truth. Learn how to be a lamp onto yourselves. PS: I'm almost 80. For most of my life I sought truth through the eyes of those who I thought knew the truth. That was 40 years ago. Since then, I became a Buddhist. I spent 30 days at a time vision questing in a small (21 foot) RV at 5700 ft elevation on the east side of Glacier National Park for 14 years. I did this 6 or 7 times/year even in winter at temps as low as -27F. This is the way to the truth for you. Until now your whole life was what you been told by people who have only scant knowledge about you and even less about themselves. This is "Compassion" in action. Your whole life before now was interpretation by others who you trusted. During my first 40 years of life there were times when someone (usually family) would say to me "I know you." Then I started to seek what truth is. Truth is a "metaphor" for compassion and freedom. Live it, not somebody else's version of it. "Be lamps onto yourselves."

[@fritzsmith3296]

@@SpaceLord2025 "poorthoights poor life". Show me the money wise one?

[@MichalisG1821]

I grew up in the 90's in the American Northeast. It was one of the fondest times in my life. My family were immigrants from Greece who had worked hard to become business owners and entrepreneurs. My grandfather was one of them. He saw what was happening to the country that he had come to for a better life. I remember in his last years, he would tell me that the country that had adopted us and the dream we crossed the world for was slowly dying. He told me I would see it all come to completion in my lifetime. That was ten years ago. I live back in Greece now, and seeing his words come true is heartbreaking.

[@1ireneaustin]

thinking of retiring in Greece. Tired of fighting the "will" of the people who want communism.

[@meaganmoore7094]

I am glad you are back in Greece 🇬🇷 cause it is people like you that are non US citizens and refugees that are making us more poor and more people homeless cause they help the non US citizens first before the US citizen first and that is not okay it would be like if I went to your country and got free food and a free house and free food and a free car and free schooling without paying for any of it or working for it I have been seeing more and more non US citizens and refugees get treated that way in the USA 🇺🇸 and it should be the US citizens that get treated that way they were born here

[@randymillhouse791]

@@1ireneaustin Damn that is funny. Please define Communism. No, YOU CAN'T!

[@randymillhouse791]

@@meaganmoore7094 Trump was the President that promised to end that type of stuff. Are you saying that he FAILED YOU?

[@MichalisG1821]

@@meaganmoore7094 You're mixed up. I was born in America as a dual-citizen. My grandfather became a naturalized American after he served in the US Navy during the Second World War. His own brother was lost at sea aboard an American submarine in the Pacific War. My parents and grandparents were responsible members of their community. My family were business owners and ran companies, providing their neighbors and fellow citizens with jobs. They created wealth, lifted many out of poverty, and gave hope. To this day, many of my family still live in the United States. Two of my cousins are Marines. My uncle is former Navy like my grandfather was. Another cousin of mine serves in the Air Force. You're just as much a part of the problem as the people who treat the United States parasitically because you cannot tell the difference between those who adopted this country as their home, who fought for and served it, who enriched it and helped make it great, and those who wish to prey on it. You are fooled. I am back in Greece because the country and the dream that my family fought, bled, and crossed a planet for is dying. And it's people like you - and those you claim to oppose - who hold the knife. Enjoy it.

[@bryandraughn9830]

Strange enough, i never heard mention of the word fear. When you're paralyzed by fear, you'll do anything to make it stop. Freezing to death with the shirt on your back in an alleyway in the middle of the night, with nothing and nobody is terrifying. Even death looks pretty good from that vantage point. Anger and desperation is a step up from that so you move ahead with that. You're constantly trying not to die. If you've never been there, it's impossible to imagine or make any sense of it. Yet, people think they understand what is going on.

[@judeflowers2813]

hit the nail on the head, my friend! Ive not been that down. Yet. Im 61, still working and my employer pays my health insurance. Then what? I have no retirement or pension. I have half of the worth of my parents house that I split with my sister that I plan to use to buy a motor home. But I will still have to figure out health insurance, lot rent or somehwere to place my motor home. Then just living expenses. All of which has to come out of measly social security check. Scary as hell!!

[@user-fc6lt7cc7p]

You are rich if your name is on the building, middle class if your name is on your desk, but if your name is on your shirt, you are screwed.

[@daleslover2771]

If a person takes the time to watch this, this is a blueprint in the majority of cities. Excellent documentary 👍

[@catherineblaiklock9832]

This documentary should have 10 million views.

[@Bagelrob399]

People are scared or don't want to face the truth.

[@vido4x4]

Or maybe because no one wants to watch a depressing documentary for over an hour.

[@toddprater14]

Cause they are sheep line up for the next Barbie movie or the thousandth marvel comic book movie made…. 85% of the world are mindless sheep that like what everyone else does…the remainder is interested in things like this or a movie based on life and not some fake made up fairytale world stuff.

[@dennis.teevee]

give it time

[@johnsagnella7445]

My mother's family landed in Youngtown from Finland. My mom was born there.They worked the mills. So did my grandfather when he was 16 years old. I visited in the 70s. I remember going to see the mills and remember the smoke and trains and machinery. It was such a fascinating sight. I have it on 8millimeter black and white film that my dad took as homemade movies at the time. So sad our leaders allowed this to happen all over the USA. This is a clear example how government separates themself from people and how they the government dont really know how to live with people. They just lie and ruin families. People really have pride when their country had their back. ✌️

[@ajack1889]

It's because big corp and oligarch money has infiltrated our voting process/democracy. It was happening slowly but surely for a long time, then the Koch Brothers passing "Citizens United" was the nail in the coffin.

[@joecox6095]

💯 right our government does this to us they don't care about us

[@MasterTSayge]

I moved out of America in 2010 and moved to Portugal without money. Now 10 years later I'm in paradise. 🎉

[@alghanekar313]

Were you born and raised in the US?

[@loditx7706]

@masterTsayge: so, you left Portugal?

[@lino222]

@@loditx7706 Ignorance is bliss !

[@loditx7706]

@@lino222 I don’t understand your comment. I was being snarky to him. He said he went to Portugal and now was in Paradise, so I was inferring that he had traveled on.

[@SwedishEmpire1700]

Ah, you sell your bum

[@MrJanes-cl5sj]

"Right now is the time to change so here I am" Spoken like a true survivor.

[@carriesmith7165]

I didn't grow up rich but I did have both parents, my Dad wasn't home much and they argued a lot and he could have left and I almost wanted him to because of all the arguing. Many years later i did ask why he didn't leave... he said because it would have lead to us kids growing up poor, divorce or single parent homes equals poor real estate equals poor schools equals poor education equals poor chance at a degree equals poor chance at a good job. Poor real estate equals poor neighborhood and getting into trouble and hanging around the wrong element. He passed away last year but I was sure to let him know how much I appreciated everything he did for us. My sister married well and has a happy family and solid financial footing and I have a very good paying job in a law firm. My Dad had only a highschool education but alot of willpower. Dad's are important.

[@danyoyoh]

That's the message here. It's the whole reason for America crumbling. The rest are just symptoms

[@laurenchristianna2092]

Dads are not important. They just get in the way.

[@latchkeykid5529]

I just lost mine, you’re story hits home.

[@Freight_Train]

Congrats to you on your success and for crediting your Dad with providing when you were young.

[@aob4214]

I too had a wonderful dad who many ways was far better than my mum. He worked incredibly hard to keep our family safe and provide for and I appreciate everything you ever did for me. I’m so grateful to have a mum and dad. You take this for granted when you’re growing up and then you see so many other people who didn’t have that same security. My parents to argue to have a lot when we were young and they could’ve split up so easily, but thankfully they didn’t and remain together until their deaths in 2009. I didn’t realise what a gift that was them staying together for nearly 50 years.

[@jasonmillers6941]

Grew up in Florida. Not a care in the world - for most of it... Had a good job, had friends and a life basically. Then COVID hit and I lost everything. Then I understood that I really didn’t have friends… I relocated in 2021. I’m slowly rebuilding my life now. But now I understand that to be peaceful, you must love yourself. You don’t need anyone else but you.

[@Job.Well.Done_01]

Hope you’re doing alright, brother. Very similar circumstances for me, but I struggle with fear. I try to keep the faith! -Best Wishes

[@jasonmillers6941]

@@Job.Well.Done_01 Stay strong brother. Patience, and a lot of it, is part of the key. But there isn't much of that going around nowadays.

[@elbertmoreno2159]

Why fear? 🤔

[@1bluegreen2]

May I recommend you slowly find those precious few who are with you when things are up and down? They are HARD to find...but you just hold on to them.

[@jasonvanleeuwen572]

@jasonmiller6941 - i know what you are going through all to well. The only difference is it wasnt covid or me it was a felony that i took for my so called friends. Lost my freedom, house, life, self respect and money. My wife, 3 kids, parents, brothers and extended family(Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and non blood kin) stayed at myside and held. My family and myself up, 3 years later and i think I've finally found a job after getting turned away at McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell Arbys and all the other so called "They will hire anyone Jobs". Hopefully this gets us back on our own feet, but i realize Self Purpose, Family, Pride and Love are what truely makes a person rich. Money just makes a person relaxed. Keep getting it for you My Brother. Ill be thinking and praying for you.

[@FerdiAziz]

Absolute 5 stars documentary. Thank you for making this vid available free on YT. Whatching from 3rd world country.

[@confrontpotential7133]

Kudos to PBS for this documentary. Sad, powerful, enraging, touching. I knew it was bad for families in the US, but this really opened my eyes. I'm an Aussie in a marginally better situation. Big love to all.

[@grunthostheflatulent9649]

This is not just "happening", it's being "done"

[@brosefmcman8264]

Just sent $$$$ billions more to Ukraine and billions to many other countries as well.

[@AB-ev8il]

We need Trump back

[@AB-ev8il]

Democrats plan

[@IINVICTA]

@@AB-ev8il😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@willbass2869]

@@AB-ev8il lots of repubs are on on the game too.....

[@HorriblySound]

I think they hit a great point about America in general. We have lost our morals, our communities, and our pride in our country. It's the down turn of America, and it sucks that everyone that died and fought for our country did it just for us to destroy ourselves

[@chulo9454]

America has never had good morals 😂

[@Sandman2007]

@@chulo9454we fought like hell. That’s part of the American Spirit.

[@loganstroganoff1284]

I miss my grandparents like crazy but I'm glad in a way they're not here to witness what's happened.

[@davysteak]

Actually, corporate America destroyed it.

[@splinterbyrd]

I'm afraid it's the same story across the western world, and elsewhere too

[@kingofthorns203]

I was exceptionally moved by the efforts of the pastors and the other religious figures to engage with their communities hands on. Christ works his miracles through true believers like them.

[@208SledHead]

Great video man! I'm 43 and I'm 90% certain that our glory days are FAR behind us - shit is only gonna get worse...only question is how fast. I honestly don't know why people want to bring children into this world.

[@jozephvoorheez2760]

Good point

[@johnmoosey8173]

Yup....right with you....country is finished and it matters not who is in the White House.....they sold us out for greed....

[@antpoo]

Since when was bringing children into the world a conscious decision?

[@208SledHead]

For the couples that are doing it right, it always has been.@@antpoo

[@antpoo]

@@208SledHead no, It’s mostly an accident by youth, or lack of control in throes of hormones or just pure selfishness out of fear and pain of loneliness and lack of purpose. Few ppl sit down and nut out the pros and cons and then get to work like it is a job. Shopenheur said, if giving birth to a child were a conscious act, Very few would wilfully bring a child inti exustence ‘in cold blood’. May have bed. Tongue in cheek, But he was philosopher, and I’m pretty sure he spoke from profound truth.

[@waynecoxdrums]

Great documentary. I'm sick of arguing with people online who say everyone has the same opportunity in life. They need to watch this.

[@a1waystreet597]

I 100% agree with you

[@douglasthompson8927]

agreed

[@fritzsmith3296]

@waynecoxdrums: "I'm sick of arguing with...". Ok, so stop arguing with idiots who want to be heard. You are enabling these "piss ants" to voice their ignorant opinions. My perspective of Youngstown is best expressed through Emily Dickinson's poem "This quiet dust was gentlemen and ladies and lads and girls was laughter and ability and sighing with frocks and curls, this passive place a summer's nimble mansion where bloom and bees fulfill their oriental circuit, then ceased like these. Just a note: there are "Youngtown's" all over America. FYI take a look at all the deserted towns across the Western States. Much smaller in size, but the principle is the same.

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

And stupidity never goes out of fashion 😂 unfortunately the more stupid and ignorant a person is it seems, the louder they want to shout about it because they haven't got the sense to understand that they just might not know what they're talking about 😂

[@peredavi]

You make your opportunities by getting off you ass,get a useful skill or education and leave a dead place like Youngstown. Losers stay and take drugs.

[@evilchaperone]

I grew up in Flint, Michigan in the 70s and 80s. I watched the collapse of a once mighty and proud American city. Sold out by the white house and wall street.

[@ninjanik2095]

sold out by capitalism, the root of all evil

[@wanda520]

Sold out by liberals in general

[@marionmarcetic7287]

Amen To That Brother!!! I Live In Southeast Lower Michigan, So I Know Where Flint Is At! That Asshat Governor That We Had Let Flint's People Suffer And Die From Lead Poisoning And The Children Suffered From Brain Damage Too! The Government Didn't Give A RIP About It Either!!! GOD Bless ALL Of The People Of Flint Michigan USA.🌺🌺🌺🙏🙏🙏🇨🇦🇮🇱♾️🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🦅🗽‼️

[@MrCtsSteve]

I grew up in Bay City but now live in Lansing. I've seen it too . Detroit , Flint , Pontiac , Saginaw....all industrial wastelands .

[@themaskedman221]

@@MrCtsSteve Which is exactly what you'd expect in a post-industrial economy.

[@ashizgar]

I watched this documentary few times already. I thank God every time when I watch this documentary that I am in better place than lost of people. Thanks for making this documentary.

[@user-dy4rp6bq8e]

You know as a Disabled Veteran I teared up thinking what the hell . 25+ yrs ago other countries looked at us thinking about the rights we have here now they just laugh at us we have no one to blame but our government they get richer we get poorer. sad

[@hardcyd3r]

Excellent work. I felt validated watching this. I live in a rural impoverished area, and its hard not feel like life is bleak. I will likely never purchase a home, or retire, and i may not ever be able to have children. I wish my parents and grandmother understood the pain and the uncertainty. ❤ Thanks for your hard work making this.

[@donniecatalano]

I feel very worried for the younger people today. They have very little encouragement, lots of criticism from older adults and very little opportunities. When I was younger it was very different and easier in many ways.

[@SofaKingShit]

It's funny how people who have inherited a lot of land expect us to die for that land in their wars while we can barely afford the rent we have to pay them for that land.

[@user-gc5hn2ds1u]

@@donniecatalano The Land of the Fee. Nothing is Free in the USA. Looks like it's becoming a 3rd world country.

[@tigerlily5791]

Theyre too busy living off your credit having a great time selling you into 32 trillion in federal gov debt for their social security checks. Work harder lazy bones. They had no trouble making it why do you? lol

[@jesuscheda3720]

@@donniecatalano thats my daily struggle, i live worried for my young kids and younger people everywhere, am trying hard to convince young people of the need to build communes or collectives where they can build their future working together...if they dont gather and build teams is really hard for them to make it.

[@nj2mddude205]

It's pretty startling to see old men scavenging abandoned homes for recyclable metals.

[@aleski4090]

Moved to tears. Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Maybe the New America can return to the basics

[@chaz4471]

Not without a God fearing national. Our government and leaders follow a different god.

[@coyotebebop3984]

I grew up in the Youngstown area, left for larger cities in Ohio and later California, and now 15 or so years later, I find myself back in Youngstown because NE Ohio is one of the few remaining "affordable" places to live and a large part of my family has remained in the area. It's hard to say that things have gotten much better, but there are signs of life that weren't present when this film was made.

[@johnthomas1689]

100% CORRECT! This filmmaker wanted only the Planet of the Apes version of Youngstown. There wasn't one single shot of the campus....or the busy sections of town where people live and work....WORK.....every day. This documentary is theater....it doesn't document anything that wasn't already recorded in the 80s. It's bullshit.

[@francisphillips53]

Those beautiful old houses.. whole neighborhoods gone. So sad this happened. 😢😢😢

[@ronaldmcmurray6274]

Yes, but look at the man who lost 2 brother's. He drove into a pretty nice new public housing project and all you see is rubbish, old beds, furniture strewn about the street. The government can only do so much. If you can't even look after your immediate area, fuck you.

[@ronaldmcmurray6274]

And WTF are 3/4 blacks being born to single mothers. Take away food stamps and welfare. How's about going on the pill. It's pathetic.

[@Revolver1701]

Great documentary. I grew up in the fifties and sixties. My family were very poor in a rural setting. We didn’t have indoor plumbing. The dirt road we lived on is still a dirt road today, 65 year later. I was able with a lot of help to go to college after dropping out of high school. So many things had to happen to help me in college. If any one of those hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have made it.

[@Revolver1701]

@@searas4227 no. I had a good job. Family. A loving wife. I have much I’m thankful for. I am wealthy.

[@swannoir7949]

@@Revolver1701 Then you are truly blessed.

[@loditx7706]

I’m so glad you made it through all your troubles; whatever they were! 😜You seem to be giving a lot of credit and reliance on outside factors that enabled you to achieve your goals. 👍Nothing wrong with that, as long as you recognize also your part in your success. All the breaks and good fortune and mentors in the world can’t help if you aren’t committed. From the little you say it seems to me you worked your ass off to do your best, so take a bow for YOUR part in how your life turned out. 💯🏆🥇🏅❤️

[@Revolver1701]

@@loditx7706 wow. Thanks. I finished college but had to give up on grad school to help my folks when my dad got sick. But it really was no choice but to do that and, even though it hurts when I think about that loss, I’ve made peace with that pain. Thank you for your kind words. I believe you have a good soul. 👍🙏🏆🏆🏆

[@samanthab1923]

It was meant to be. My mom & dad met during college. He helped her go back after having all of us.

[@nanetteharris3456]

I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity, as a young adult to live in 4 states. I enjoyed my experience with new people, neighbors and coworkers. I came to understand different places had different customs, food, climate, resources and economies! So changed from my childhood perspective of beliefs that everyone had the same experiences!

[@jackschaefer7751]

We were producer’s and became consumers. There is a healthy balance but when there are more consumers than producers you get poverty and reliance on government is inevitable! This has been the downfall of many nations. Trying to erase history is not learning from it.

[@vivalaleta]

"Experts are still trying to figure out what happened." Really? Trade deals, offshore industries, making us consumers without the ability to consume?

[@gaozhi2007]

oh no, GASP! not TRADE DEALS!!!!

[@vivalaleta]

@@gaozhi2007 It can't be overstated how .much that hurt this country.

[@l3eatalphal3eatalpha]

The second they come up with the answer they are out of a job.

[@vivalaleta]

@@l3eatalphal3eatalpha Because capitalism sucks balls.

[@stevebenton9193]

The man at the 30:53 mark caught my eye. He's ready to break from the unrelenting stress. I've felt that a number of times, for different reasons, but I know that feeling well. I've been watching this country slowly unravel since the late 1970s. It's everywhere, every state. In my own part of the country. Lynn, Massachusetts, Worcester, Lowell, Lawrence, Chelsea, Springfield...it's everywhere. The stress, the poverty, the dashed hopes, the empty promises. What the hell is the point, anymore. There'll be no Renaissance. It's over. It's been over. It takes everything you have just to wake up and live through it another day.

[@jonasspeelman6643]

He was also about to take it up the ass 🎉🎉 party in mark 30:53's ass!!! 🎉🎉🎉😂😂

[@theboyisnotright6312]

With the election of Ronnie, trickle down started. This is the results 😡😡. Wow turns out making the countries number 1 priority allowing the rich and powerful to do anything they want turns the place into a hell hole😢

[@laikanbarth]

@@theboyisnotright6312You sound so ignorant!!

[@derekg1524]

GE employed 13,000 at one time in Pittsfield, MA. All gone now. They're waiting for the big renaissance but it's not coming.

[@trythisathome5558]

God, and Springfield isn't even that bad. Former New Englander, moved to OH. I would move to Springfield in a heartbeat right now.

[@ElizabethMayo-sf4wg]

As I watched this video, I kept waiting and waiting for someone to say we need Jesus. Man's solutions cannot equate in any manner to the love, power and freedom found in Jesus. I am a Christian and my life would have been like mist of the people in this video if I had not been. Thank you for this video; I will pray for these cities.

[@nicolecittadini4234]

He long did watch for cause it’s there , church is part of this documentary

[@matthewneumann3538]

I'm one of seven saw my mom and dad struggle but they kept our family together good and bad times.im sure we were poor but with family,love,God I knew they put me on the right path .great documentary I wish all know they have a chance at life!we only have one shot so live life the best you can

[@loiscutting1716]

The slow downfall of America began in the 1970's when factories left for Mexico and the Far East where labor was cheaper enabling the factory owners to make more profits. When NAFTA was signed that was the death knell leaving thousands without any place to earn a living.

[@raginald7mars408]

it beagn 1963 with JFK assassi Nation the Miitary Industrial Complex Eisenhower enslaving USA and the world endless Wars Trillions $$$ total destruction God does not bless America Allah hates Humans

[@HobbyOrganist]

Stop blaming "NAFTA" there's a whole cookbook full of reasons why this all happened, it was not one thing it was many, including corporate greed, the 1973 oil crisis, the fact that these cities all were built up around just one or two narrow industries such as steel mills, the defense industry, the car makers, other cities were built up by railroads creating railroad towns where the railroad owned all the houses, and stores, when the railroad failed the towns died. Very few businesses last even 100 years, most only last 1-2 generations before the original owners children die, retire or sell out to another company who comes in, fires the workers, strips the assetts and closes what WAS a competitor- down. Others are killed by big chains like Dollar General, Walmart, Menards, Pizza Hut, Dominos coming in, flooding the area with cheaper products and driving local businesses away. Pizza hut's mantra for franchisees in the 1990s was to open the restaurant and do whatever you had to do to run the competition out of business. Do we outlaw Dollar General, Walmart, Menards, Pizza Hut, Dominos? do we forbid them from opening stores in small towns? People these days shops ONLY by price, "brands" mean nothing anymore, if one store has the paper towels on sale for 79 cents a roll and elsewhere it's 99 cents, the customer is going to buy the 79 cent roll from that business. If Amazon has the same thing you see at the local hardware store for $20 cheaper and free shipping on top, people are going to buy on Amazon. That's just how it is, the internet made it all possible to buy things on the other side of the country wit a couple of mouse clicks and have it on your doorstep shipped free in a couple of days. Me, I literally buy everythng but perishables, on-line- far better selection and choices, lower prices, free shipping and I dont have to drive somewhere and fight crowds, handle dirty shopping carts, wait on line, enter my CC info etc

[@JamesPilkenton-se5cx]

It all starts with a drunk driving conviction. It never ends and it goes on and on. Being a convicted DWI is like being a child molester or some real heinous criminal. Just don't do that. And the poverty begins and never gets better...

[@LMB222]

Interesting that when Eastern Europe joined the EU, the German economy didn't collapse. The difference is education. The US doesn't have as many vocational schools.

[@zuzanazuscinova5209]

​@@LMB222Germany still manufactures a lot. Plus they expanded their business into EE. All supermarkets are German at this point, selling German brands.

[@jacobthompson6265]

I escaped a tough upbringing in the Midwest and graduated from a extremely prestigious college (non-Ivy) and I still struggle. Even when you make it, you have to fight to keep it and it’s so tiring and difficult that a lot of people give up.

[@sandraalegria3439]

I worked so hard only to lose everything 2009 housing crisis and high unemployment . It's so fast that you can"t recover and catch up . Thank God for my family ,I would have had to sleep in the street and surely would have become mentally ill .

[@incumbentvinyl9291]

@@sandraalegria3439 Go easy on the fairy tales.

[@ipenguin3918]

@@incumbentvinyl9291 That's no fairy tale.

[@incumbentvinyl9291]

@@ipenguin3918 Then present the evidence.

[@wesleytheanonymous3751]

@@incumbentvinyl9291KZbin banned any method to do it.

[@mericavids]

Too many people and drugs. Anyone on public assistance has no business having more kids

[@user-gz7op7wd7y]

This is what happens when hope ceases to exist and despair takes it's place

[@MrCtsSteve]

I currently live in Michigan. I work in the Auto industry. This has happened all over the industrialized midwest . Its hard to compete with cheap labor in third world nations.... you can't.

[@beachalldayguy3997]

I’m def not buying car .. where engine was made in Mexico. You got that message @Ford !!

[@LMB222]

You can. Otherwise Switzerland and Germany wouldn't exist. Every time their cheaper competitors take a piece of their business, they move on. It's because they have the technologies and lots of EDUCATED people. Most men in this material hardly had a highschool diploma.

[@ixlr8677]

can when were driven to their level.

[@merovech7]

Words can't describe the trajedy of the single mom with MS. Why do some people come here just to suffer...😢...she is trying so hard with such a beautiful attitude towards life and her children. Truly inspiring woman and wish her peace and happiness in life

[@stonaciousstone4171]

Doesn't matter how hard you try. Single moms are the problem. Raising a kid without a dad is the biggest problem. We need to cone to grip with women's bad choices. You must have dads

[@ThatOneDudeNextDoor]

​@@stonaciousstone4171 the man abandoning the woman he got pregnant is not the woman's fault, it's the man's. Maybe hold them accountable first

[@LeeGordon-fp9zf]

​@@ThatOneDudeNextDoorThe women push them away to get taxpayers money.

[@brianal7143]

@@LeeGordon-fp9zfno accountability for blk men as usual. Ridiculous rhetoric claiming they all were ran out of the home. Same old deadbeat lies.

[@rogerp6903]

Thank you so much Mr. Rufo for producing this documentary,so poineint and real.Hope and love for all the good things in life is what thrives and survives. Excellent soundscapes throughout this peice as well. Being a Canadian and always looking toward the US with compassion and respect my thoughts are with the great people of the United States and not with the governments and businesses that have failed their cities and communities time and again

[@susanabbott1014]

This is why we can't afford to bring people in from other countries Charity begins at home and our American home needs help

[@BohemienneBrigitte]

We have to bring people in from other countries to increase the labor force. More people working and contributing to the economy will grow the economy. Immigration is a net benefit, even undocumented immigration. What we cannot do is continue allowing corporations to pay starvation wages to its employees anymore. Whether they're American-born, legal residents, immigrants, or undocumented.

[@tomas746]

Sorta missed the point Susan

[@JuddKramer]

The era of walking right into a factory job after getting out of high school has been over and done with for quite some time. And politicians have dangled the carrot of "bringing it all back" in order to get elected for fifty years instead of searching for real solutions and how to properly move on. Now folks are seeing that it was never an option and are losing hope.

[@ajack1889]

It's all by design. Who's funding said politicians and lobbying on behalf of their same old "values"? Which side is using religion and bigotry to manipulate huge swaths of blue collar and poor people to vote against their own financial interests, securing huge tax cuts and less regulations for the insanely wealthy? The answer's not hard to figure out. But most people get manipulated by the smokescreen of our corrupt two party politics. It's basically theatre at this point, an effective distraction. Meanwhile the billionaire owner class gets richer and make everyone else's life here worse. It's uber rich people who have effectively highjacked our democracy. The relatively recent passing of the Koch Industries funded "Citizens United" bill is what helps them do it exponentially faster.

[@user-ed2xq5zz6x]

It could be an option. But not with these two political parties. We would have to do something radically new. We would have to actually become nationalists instead of globalists. There is no force of nature preventing the reshoring of industrial jobs. It's a matter of political will. Basically people on the coasts just don't care that this has happened to the rest of the country. And they don't seem to care too much that it's happened in a lot of our cities too. But they are running out of bubbles to hide in.

[@kerrryschultz2904]

@@user-ed2xq5zz6x As a Canadian I think the independent Robert Kennedy Jr. with his intellect, and past working history, compassion for people, wanting to stop the endless waste of war that only benefits a few, and wanting to bring industry back to the USA is the right move. He also mentioned the need to move towards developing an energy infrastructure on renewal energy and the ideas and technology is there now.

[@ixlr8677]

and dont forget insurance.when i turned 18 in 72 you could get a job any where if you wanted to work with ins. an uniforms paid for. i dident know what a co payment was till bout 86. country has went to hell.

[@TheBigdog868]

When they take away everything, you still have a choice. Choose to be a decent human. Take care of those around you. Choose love

[@KaosNova2]

Yes, absolutely!

[@Marmite695]

A disturbing and deeply damning indictment not only of what is happening in America, but in many of the 1st World countries. I'm a Brit who ended up living in South Africa. Believe me when I tell you that Britain is also broken. And it's all down to greed. I'm glad to be 63, and I'm glad I have only one daughter (39 y/o) to worry about. There's nothing left but nihilism. I rage at the fact that, as did many of us, I did all the right things, for all the right reasons, all my life. I'll be glad to eventually go.

[@Bass-n-Boom]

I feel that...I can't always say "I did the right things"...but, I sure tried ta! But yeah man... I'm a lil' 'ol Oklahoma "Hippabilly", and I felt that all the way over Here. 🙌🏻🙏🏻💙✌🏻

[@Marmite695]

@@Bass-n-Boom

[@Marmite695]

@@Bass-n-Boom Sending love and light your way!

[@drannoc100]

I know plenty of people who came to the US penniless and even in debts, but all now middle or upper middle class, and even richer. American dream is for real. But one has to work for it instead of waiting for it to drop from the sky.

[@perpetualmoto]

I grew up in Ohio. Then I joined the military - couldn't believe how different, how much more abundant life was outside of Ohio...its hard to see the decline when ur living it. I feel bad for the good people who were unable to prosper in Ohio...

[@theminister1154]

There are perfectly nice parts of Ohio. YOUNGSTOWN is not one of them. That's for damn sure. My hometown across the border Sharon little better. Better though. The problem with Ohio is there isn't much to recommend it beyond good farmland & the central location/lake/rivers for industry. Once the globalists sold us out only the former was left.

[@perpetualmoto]

@@theminister1154 My family sold their dairy farm in the 90's bc it was no longer able to stay afloat...crushed many of my family members as it had been in the family for over 100 yrs.

[@theminister1154]

@@perpetualmoto That's hard man. Real hard. Sorry to hear it. I was gone and gone for good by the early 90s. Would not have predicted I'd have so much sympathy for those Cleveland to Pittsburgh corridor folks today, but life is long, & flyover got the rawest of deals from our Uniparty. Then East Palestine & the Pedophile in Chief heads to Ukraine. Satire is transcended once again.

[@Umberto2]

Neoliberal, corporate policies like those advocated for by this filmmaker caused this

[@patchadams4me]

@@theminister1154 the unions sold you out. Every single industry that the unions infected is gone overseas.

[@user-wy1dl2me2p]

Young people pay attention, Graduate , get married, and then have kids . I was a father at 16 and the more kids You have the worse it gets .

[@DistrustHumanz]

...and stop getting tattoos on your faces.

[@user-wy1dl2me2p]

@@DistrustHumanz for sure

[@phoenix5054]

I graduated, then got a job. No marriage, no kids. Did I do well?

[@toddprater14]

😂​@@phoenix5054did you tattoo your face. Haha. Yes u did good,don’t get married or have kids unless your 110% sure you and your girls compatible and are gonna make it long haul , once that’s done kids may be on your horizon..if you plan them your life goes easier cause your a bit older .,having kids really young by accident just makes your life harder….and lastly don’t white trash tattoo your body All over especially your face….I remember in the early 90’s when tattoos got popular then every douch canoe was getting them , now they’re doing their faces necks and it’s looks so biker loser trash…the new tattoo is none…

[@NowhereMan-vm4nb]

Haha and keep voting for crooked clowns too? 😂

[@cayankeelord3730]

I saw the writing on the wall beginning in 1973 when I graduated high school. When the EPA started putting onerous restrictions on steel mills and the corporations started moving operations overseas, foreign sourcing materials and labor, I could see the American dream desolving in front of my very eyes. Here it is some 50 years later and we are dependent upon China, India, Mexico, etc. for our steel and other material goods. It's easy to see why many Americans are losing hope about the future of our country.

[@Minka186]

Life has become very bleak for many! There’s no more middle class, now it’s only the poor and the rich. 😢

[@MrSebfrench76]

French guy here. This is a hell of a documentary, showing the USA that we love here. Don't get me wrong, we don't like to see such a decline. But there isn't an once of a bravado like in the ones too frequently visible on your medias, patriotic ad libidum. There, real people struggling for life , with this incredible faith in future, against all odds. Beautiful.

[@bicyclist2]

I'd much rather be in France.

[@MrSebfrench76]

@@bicyclist2 life's not too bad here, indeed...

[@RaceBanner_]

You’re either trolling, live in a cloud, or one of the 8% gaming the social safety net. I spent 24yrs in Paris & Tulouse. It’s unrecognizable today. Piles of trash, infrastructure in disrepair, horrible crime. Unlivable. Then there’s rising taxes, mounting regulations, oppressive bureaucracy, increasing energy costs, frequent strikes, and stagnating worker productivity that have made France a dystopian hell hole. It is estimated that 91% of France’s wealth is held *_outside_* France, in Monaco, the US & Switzerland, a sign that *no one* trusts anything French. Your government has even gone so far to pass crushing regulations against the one industry/company the French once got right - My employer, Airbus. And when I’m done with this post over my lunch hour, I will go back to my job of literally moving jobs out of France to facilities in America, Canada, Brazil. These jobs cost the company much more outside of France, but it comes down to word you cannot apply to France: Consistency. We cannot operate predictably in your country any longer. And by move, I’m not talking expats. I’m talking about hiring people with a work ethic. Decent pastry, failed social & economic policies, and the biggest crybabies on the F1 & F2 grids. That’s the sum of what France predictably delivers.

[@jerrybronham]

France needs to de-islamify itself and have strong borders to avoid such a thing happening there as well. Best of luck.

[@atlanta2076]

This made me tear up many times. And I love how Michael wrapped it up with some deep words. I hope he and his family are ok. All the people in this documentary deserve to be. Thank you for this film, Mr. Rufo, Sir! ♥♥♥

[@SubvertTheState]

"These places had failed to make the transition from an industrial to a postmodern economy." What's a post modern economy? Is it like Erie, Pennsylvania? General Electric closed up shop, not because nobody needs trains in the post modern world, but because of Greedy managers like Jack Welch. They can't help but sell out the communities which built them. Now Erie Insurance has taken its spot as #1 employer. Money scams instead of valuable exports.

[@gregoryabbot420]

"Experts are still trying to figure out what happened"? That's pathetic. It's pretty goddamned OBVIOUS what happened.

[@dorleenlastra3337]

Watching in 2024. California is beginning to look like this, among other things. 💔

[@deathuponusalll]

Hard not to tear up every few minutes watching this😢, you’re a hell of a documentarian 👏🏽

[@NONAME-kw3pu]

yup, sad.... america 3rd world by 2060? i wont be here. no kids to see the collapse with 78% poverty by then

[@PraveenSriram]

He definitely is a great documentarian!! Thank you so much 😊

[@andrewlkozar]

I teared up in the 1st minute, lol.

[@semarugaijin9451]

He is a good documentarian, but if you pay attention, under his veneer of compassion his central claim is that its their own fault... They became poor because they "gave up Christian values" "stopped working hard" and "drink too much" .... Rather than the outsourcing of their towns industry.

[@tmmsplace]

@@semarugaijin9451and so what do you say to turn next generation or the people who move into these towns? That their poverty is the responsibility of a company they never worked for that left long ago? What they need is clear thinking about the future and not dwelling on what never was, same as those who worked and lost jobs. Bounce back to your feet and provide for your family is a much more productive message

[@hominyboy]

None of the prayers have changed the fact that our education system often fails the students. The lack of quality education is at the heart of entrenched poverty.

[@willbass2869]

Pfft! Young unmarried women having babies is leading cause of generational poverty and abuse

[@rebeccamd7903]

Hearing her say “I’m proud but embarrassed” 🤯 I’m from West Virginia and grew up in Detroit…I absolutely know how it feels. People look at me like I grew a second head when I tell them. I now live in Stockton in the worst neighborhood and I have to say, it’s not as bad as Detroit although I have seen many drive-by’s. It’s better now than whenever this documentary was made.

[@nunyabizznizz7326]

offshoring manufacturing is what got us here...

[@RO-uz4oi]

I must have missed the detailed explanation of why the steel mills and the others left Youngstown, and the other causes of collapse in these various cities. I am sure it has nothing to do with corporate greed and concern for stockholder wellbeing by finding cheap labor and lower tax burdens and all the other ruthless ideas to improve the bottom line with no concern for the people they abandon.

[@jimmechanikong6924]

Yes, they should have kept inefficient, uncompetitive plants open forever because that is in America's long-term interest.

[@james_giant_peach]

@@jimmechanikong6924there’s no right answer. People blame their poverty on corporate greed and they’re right, but it’s not the employers job to keep the people happy, it’s the public officials job to do that. The employer will always want to find cheap labor and that is over seas or in another country.

[@RO-uz4oi]

@@jimmechanikong6924 Maybe better management practices might have prevented inefficiencies from occurring.

[@jimmechanikong6924]

@@RO-uz4oi maybe, but if they failed, is that the fault of greed? What responsibility do the workers bear?

[@SisterShirley]

​ @@james_giant_peach No, it's not the government's job to make people happy. It is to keep us safe, help us when we need it, run the infrastructure, etc... The pursuit of happiness is on yourself. It may take you a while to achieve it, but if you do the work, you will be rewarded.

[@geedus71]

That's a deeply disturbing portrait of everyday towns in a country whch is STILL seen all over the world as the ultimate land of dreams and opportunities. What was particularly downheartening was that millions were spent on programs ultimately doomed to failure because the whole axis of family & society had shifted. Really well-made documentary, thanks for posting this.

[@rustyshackleford6637]

we just keep on jiggin n booin

[@ipenguin3918]

It all started in the 1960s. It paid to have Keeeds, and go on welfare,

[@dampergoldenrod4156]

the police and judges and teachers are a menace in these places and the politicians send all the money to jews in israel and jews in ukraine and the locals are too stupid to know who their real enemy is.

[@frederickgriffith7004]

I don't know if I would blame it solely on social programs. I am a child of the late 1950s. Before all these social programs were implemented in the 1960s,many of my peers did come from two parent families. Very religious and very hard working and strict. The problem was that level of premature deaths within all of these families was unusually high. Meaning you had widows with children before age 40.The same with widower with children before the age of 40.So the disruption to the family unit and extended family was always there. But there was more of an incentive to remarry to produce blended families before blended families became the norm. Right after the Civil rights era in my community,the elders who were born in the 19th century were dropping like flies. Even though by this time some social programs provided better access to health care and the younger generation began living longer. But the loss of these parents, grandparents and great grandparents was devastating to many of my peers. At the same time people within the community began to see the flood of drugs and guns like nothing before. So quite naturally there were more overdoses,homicides and higher rates of incarceration by 1970.My parents did all they could from allowing external forces to tear our family apart. And I must tell you the temptation for me and my brother to make some quick money was always there. But luckily our father sent his three children abroad for ten straight summers. Since he was a career military man. I am just saying that are a lot more variables to consider other than social programs. I believe that they helped a lot more people than the people who may have abused such programs. For many people it was a stepping stone to something better. But I wonder why we do not hold our celebrities and sports stars to the same standards. Often they don't marry. The women have children by different men. And the men have children by different women. But I guess money and resources are the great equalizer.

[@dampergoldenrod4156]

endless money was spent protecting the usa from phantom enemies that is what destroyed the usa. aid for israel and their wars bankrupted the usa.

[@jthoen61]

I’m 62 years old. I grew up near Gary, IN. When I was a kid, almost everyone I knew worked at US Steel. The wages were high. You graduated high school, worked in the mill until you retired. Dads worked, made enough to support a family. Moms stayed home with the kids. You went to church on Sunday. Family was important. In the 1970’s, mills were eliminating jobs. Companies were closing and going overseas. Steel was cheaper to make overseas and I’m sure cheaper labor. Jobs were drying up. The collapse of the steel industry sunk Northwest Indiana. So let’s see, let’s eliminate jobs so the only people left behind are extremely poor and/or people that can’t affords to move. So what’s left drugs and violence. It is really sad because Gary and surrounding areas were beautiful. No amount of political b.s. can rejuvenate these cities with no jobs. It’s heartbreaking 😭

[@abbysellsrealestate]

Prayers to all the families that are having a hard time. It makes one grateful for what you do have. Not understanding why having another child and cant afford what you already don't have...but praying that they can move out of the cycle of poverty

[@patriciapatton557]

So true I don't understand I see women I know have baby after baby no money

[@misspatvandriverlady7555]

@@patriciapatton557Probably to at least have family. Though there’s really no reason to have more than a couple kids. But stuff happens when you’re making impossible decisions to pay the bills; goodness knows even middle-class people have “surprises”. 🤷‍♀️

[@jamespirko2971]

Being from Youngstown Ohio, I can attest that this is painfully true, and has been happening since the 1970s.

[@Sandman2007]

We know what happened there. Increased globalization under Nixon allowed the companies to leave from the unions constant problems.

[@johnthomas1689]

Nonsense, this depiction of Youngstown ignores completely what is going on today (even 2019). This documentary depicts only the depressed, whiners left over from the mid 80s. Total bullshit.

[@randymillhouse791]

Wow, been happening since the 19070's. Yet all of these idiots stayed there. WHY BOTHER? Oh, wait... easy access to DRUGS!

[@courtneyrandharper4571]

@@johnthomas1689 I wonder that as well; the steel mills left in the 80s. What have people there been doing since then? I imagine most of the best already have left and made new lives.

[@johnthomas1689]

@@courtneyrandharper4571 Youngstown is a big ball of opportunity for young people who want to forge their own path. Many folks who needed a safe place to raise a family and work NOW.....moved to Boardman. There's a lot of commerce, work and life in Youngstown....it's just not downtown and that's the same transition as Columbus or Cleveland....or..any major city center. Life has moved to the exurbs, suburbs. If I was a young person who wanted to start a new life, I would get a place near Meander or Mill Creek and live large on a fraction of the cost of a Columbus property. This documentary was filmed in a 10 block radius of the absolute worst of Y town. I could have depicted ANY city in the country the same way.

[@IzzySpeaks]

Easy to condemn a neighborhood. These are the symptoms of a society living wrong. It's not the fault of those trapped there.

[@alanj9978]

It's certainly the fault of those who choose a life of violent crime.

[@johnsagnella7445]

Izzy , 100 percent said ✌️ .

[@backintimealwyn5736]

it's gobalization. American really struggle looking at global issues. You can't solve the destruction of your economic ,industrial and democratic model with wellfare or christianity. Both side of the political game fail to adress these issues. You can work hard, but what's the point if they're taking in millions of illegal migrants that will work themeselves to death for half the price? You can adapt to the modern world, but what's the point if they Hire remote indian engeneers for one third of what an american graduate will need to survive? You can study but what if it puts you in dept and you compete with green card holders coming from countries where higher education is free ? Last solution would be to secede form the economy , but what if you're not allowed to grow potatoes and sell them?

[@johntechwriter]

Yes, when an identifiable group has been screwed out of their livelihoods and their society breaks down, the Republicans make a point of blaming the victims.

[@christophercoupe5006]

People are trapped there because they make stupid decisions like girls hooking up with guys who were never taught to be responsible adults!!!

[@jdsmith542]

I've worked with Homeless issues since the 80s. In that time we've spent trillions, and the problem just gets worse. There are so many layers to the problem. One is the simple fact that unskilled labor is steadily losing its vale, but our education system is failing to prepare students for skilled trades. Another is the credit-based lifestyle.

[@LReno-di9cm]

You are spot on!

[@NeighborhoodOfBlue]

Inflation and wage stagnation are a far greater problem than living beyond one's means because of credit cards. More often than not the poor are paying for basic needs with those credit cards.

[@charlesbosse9669]

I really like Michael and hus family. He's really foing what he has to do for his family. He's being what a real man is supposed to be,taking care of his family. I love to see this. I think he's a very nice young man. God bless you and your family Michael. I pray that god will gice you more,many more blesungs in life. I pray it gets a little easier for you to take care of your family.

[@bighomiestevethemetalhead8131]

I'm drowning and desperate right now, I'm disabled and unable to work. I live in expensive ass SoCal, my social security is $1,590 a month, my rent is $960 for a crappy 1 bedroom apartment in a bad area, my food stamps are $125 a month, I've cut back a lot everywhere I can and I'm still going in the hole by $200 a month. I haven't been this stressed out since my mom passed away in January of 2018 (the reason why I have to live on my own), I'm desperately trying to find some "cash only" work but everyone I've asked has told me they don't have a connection where I could get under-the-table work. I pay my rent no matter what, everything else is where I have to sacrifice, it's a miserable situation bro. Ps: I'm extremely grateful for the benefits I receive, I would be homeless or worse if I wasn't receiving these benefits.

[@FreedomSpirit7]

Rent sounds too high. Try to get into section 8.

[@bighomiestevethemetalhead8131]

@@FreedomSpirit7 it is waaay too high, I've been on the waiting list for Section 8 for 5 years now and I'm still waiting. It's extremely frustrating because the Housing Authority won't tell me any information about how much longer it will take and there's nothing I can do to expedite it, the messed up part is that drug addicted homeless people get on Section 8 Housing instantly while the rest of us law abiding citizens who are struggling have to wait YEARS...

[@StarSurvivor1585]

You need to move where rent isn't sky high. SoCal is one of the most expensive places in the country. If you are retired the rent is only going to go up, not down. Especially there. Research the cheapest places to live in the country and go there. You can't stay at a place that's the highest or one of the most expensive places to live in the US.

[@marcleahy6021]

Heartbreaking documentary! I’m from Detroit and every story in this documentary could be a Detroit story.

[@sandyweaver6686]

Yes me too. Detroit was so amazing during the car era.

[@lisapop5219]

Me too. My family moved up from the south when Detroit was a jewel. My dad's family were immigrants because Detroit was a jewel. By the time I was a teenager, it was half wrecked. I had to get out, my husband too.

[@evilchaperone]

Same with Flint. Heartbreaking.

[@beng4647]

CNY is like Detroit but 10 times the size

[@Gal1vs10]

Interesting

[@BrownPeterAnthony]

This is great, makes you question why sending money overseas to pay for wars when you have your own community that needs support first. Making rich richer and social divides.

[@etiletsatsi5130]

I really loved this amazing documentary. Well made, well-written, with such affecting interviews.

[@bigdog62362]

It is heartbreaking to see our country is crumbling now. I was born in 1968. It seems that the country is going down. It’s sad for our country to see but I really hate it for my children and the future generations

[@charlesmandus574]

I was born in 1966, me too.

[@francisphillips53]

I can imagine how beautiful those houses once were. 😢😢😢😢 it’s all gone, I feel sorry for the young kids coming up.. what will their future be like?? 😢😢😢😢

[@natashaalexander4651]

I'm an American trucker and I drive through blighted towns all the time. It's really sad to see. The majority of "zombie" houses are huge which shows that these places once had a rich and thriving history. My great country is rapidly disintegrating and descending to the 3rd world.

[@CommonSenseRevolution]

As someone who grew up in a GM town where they had 6 plants employing 25,000 people out of a population of 100,000 in the 60's & 70's, I saw people everywhere around me buying Chevies for the family to keep the workers and plants busy. Then along came NAFTA, and 1 by 1 the plants all closed, and poverty exploded. This film resonates hard. We need to bring the jobs back. We need more union jobs to better balance life and work and narrow the huge gap between the ultra rich and working-class poor.

[@ThatJewyJesusChick]

Jobs coming back is never going to happen until people start finding Jesus, putting PEOPLE before PROFITS. Too expensive unless people become willing to take a loss in order to succeed on a greater level.

[@frankyu6984]

Everyone should take this as a cautionary tale. When times are good, prepare for when times are bad. Life being unfair is fair.

[@jozephvoorheez2760]

Well said Franky

[@jozephvoorheez2760]

I’ll remember this comment. Has a deep helpful meaning to it! 👍🏽

[@helenaquin1797]

Whoa. That trite response will save the world.

[@michaelhogan-mz8ej]

A good friend of mine has a daughter who works as an assistant to the Secretary of Defense. She told her mother the other day : " mom our country is crumbling ." It's heart breaking .

[@OneAdam12Adam]

It started crumbling in 1981 once Reagan and Newt Gingrich sold their souls to the devil.

[@dasse8717]

Did her mother tell her how the Military-Industrial complex she was working for drained our coffers, or where that 3 billion they lost again is?

[@kerry1111111]

@@OneAdam12Adam Really what about Jimmy?

[@WheresMyInhaler]

Your friends daughter is literally working for Satan

[@steveweinstein3222]

If she feels that way, she shouldn't be working in the Defense Department!

[@thegreencouchshow4029]

The idea that politicians want more people pouring in to add more cahoots to what’s existing is absurd

[@user-tl8zp2vs3e]

What a precious, profound, and challenging documentary. Amazing insights into the social realities of those fighting daily battles to survive, to live one more day, and to care for their families. The outreach of those with true spiritual love, humanity, and redemption is a life changing influence for so many, the attention that is given by these churches without walls is the purest form of generosity, truly this is love in action to the badly loved. Thank you for such touching and inspiring observations on the up hill struggle that many face daily, and yet so very often we look the other way. Thank you for helping us to see, and to seek.

[@bobjary9382]

Michael and his family touched me hard. I hope they are doing ok . None of these folks are any different from the folks that had lovely lives, free of guns drugs and violence when good jobs were available. They are the same ordinary folks with the same wants and needs they have just been born into to American nightmare instead of the American dream. The point about figures and equations is so true. It might make financial sense to have your manufacturing base in China but it makes no social sense at all. There needs to be a balance sheet where social capital is added up , where community bonds have a value , where human happiness and quality of life can be reckoned with.

[@MartymcFly-zz2pg]

They plan to use the Asians as slaves indefinitely

[@craftsandstuff3349]

Well written!

[@ey67]

Predatory capitalism won't allow that. Mission accomplished 😢

[@qjtvaddict]

Nationalize many industries

[@PAMELAPORTER-ci7mr]

Our tax code needs overhauling so that it's disadvantageous to have manufacturing done in China by slave laborers.

[@patriotasylum]

Amazing documentary. Thank you for sharing this.

[@roselightinstorms727]

Best wishes to you all.❤ America needs to wake up to realize what is wrong.

[@tommyclark2709]

Damn good documentary, man. Great job. Captured some emotional moments.

[@NickG4745]

This needs to be shared all over. I will show my family and loved ones. Make this film go viral

[@Msangel06]

Show them for what!? They have any solutions? Nothing will change. It’s all futile.

[@PraveenSriram]

I’m watching it now

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

@@Msangel06 Only if you lose hope. Solutions come when people straighten out and look for them. 🌄

[@rustyshackleford6637]

I've primarily been jiggin n booin

[@randymillhouse791]

Yeah, tell them to GET THE HELL OUT from toxic cities!

[@acooksla]

The girl with the voice should go on AGT - her mom is amazing and her voice is beautiful

[@carliebeau5329]

Mom was born in Youngstown. Grandfather Crane Operator. They did pretty good. Grandparents had a 5th grade education left school and worked prospered and they had the dream.

[@kingdommanlegacyministries7769]

The 'system' WANTS you to fail...but you will prove them wrong. I pray RIGHT NOW that you will be a pillar in your community. Amen

[@trevor_mounts_music]

I lived in a shitty nothing town growing up...and then I moved. No use fighting a losing battle in a dead end place

[@dcoughla681]

It’s the same situation in Europe. The effects of globalisation & advances in tech will continue to impact everyone, not just rust belt states.

[@ninjanik2095]

the effects of capitalism, profits for the top. Its literally about nothing but that

[@markwilliams3994]

Greed & corruption and that is not just Capitalism!!

[@dcoughla681]

Countries like China want what the West has & are using the West’s capitalism model to make themselves prosperous. If that means undercutting companies & employees in the West then so be it. Tech reduces the amount of workers needed to do a job & makes it easier for work to her done at less cost. That is why the living standards of young people in the Western countries have shrunk.

[@gaozhi2007]

@@ninjanik2095 We don't have "Capitalism" we have Keynesianism, fiat currency and eternal inflation which has gutted the middle and lower class. True Capitalism has never been tried.

[@michaeld7409]

We will most likely face similar nightmares in Germany. It has already begun.

[@coreyflorendo66]

What's most unfortunate is the fact that a majority of people in poverty are, or have been, in highly dysfunctional relationships, which usually results in substance abuse and fatherless children...and thus, the cycle continues. How horrific.

[@crystalsswtor3760]

I used to live in a town like this and when I turned 20 and graduated high school, my mother and I left. What those people didn't understand is I did want what they had. I wanted a better life, but i didn't fit in and there was no point in me staying.