Coal

I didn't know I got the Spike channel until Coal was on. (0.00 / 0)

I was kind of taken aback at the subtitles.  My DH is from Va, now he has an accent.

I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know mining like that still happened.  I can't imagine being in a space not bigh enough to stand upright for eight hours.  People always say miners make such good money, none of these guys appeared to have a particularily high standard of living.

The mine was portrayed as locally owned, but the website says they have an office in Canada.

After reading the blog I now know why that guy had such bright teeth.

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by: MadAnne @ Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 18:41:25 PM UTC

MadAnne (0.00 / 0)

When I first read that about the subtitles, I thought it made sense because of the heavy machinery, but then when I saw it was because of the accents, I can't help but think it's part off the effort to make West Virginians seem more "other" like we're foreigners and when someone is "other" it's easier to accept that terrible things happen to them like turning the state in to a national sacrifice zone.


When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it. Sherlock Holmes.

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by: Carnacki @ Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 18:45:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Exactly, I watch shows filmed in La, Miss, and they have very (4.00 / 1)

strong accents, but no subtitles.  I'm super sensitive about this so I'm not always sure of my judgement.  I can't believe it when people tell me WV jokes and expect me to find them funny.

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by: MadAnne @ Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 19:34:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

dig it (4.00 / 1)

As far as what its like underground, I think it does a fine job of showing and telling it like it is. Its hard. And dangerous. And claustrophobic. And most of these guys love it. They do it for their families and for their buddy that works beside them. All that hooey about doing it to power the world or keep the lights on is just industry prop. Just like most combat vets will tell you they didnt do it for the flag, they did it for their buddies beside them - these guys are the same.

Now, if they do a Reality show on life in the coal communities, it will be quite different. Squalor, drugs, ignorance, filth, decay, corruption, opportunism - it would shame most West Virginians. Most Americans, really.  

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by: twilight campfighter @ Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 19:37:35 PM UTC

straining a metaphor (0.00 / 0)

If I may continue briefly the comparison between combat vets and underground miners - (2 groups of people who work dangerous jobs they often come to love despite the hardships mostly because they and their co-workers are co-dependent on each others very lives) - I believe one of the reasons the anti-MTR folks have had such difficulty organizing in the coalfields is because they often conflate the coal industry with the coal miner. Nobody that regularly risks life and limb just to put a meal on the table is going to suffer that kind of derision passively. They have more pride than that. When a crunchy trust fund kid from Vermont is scaling around the top of a dragline crane for attention but can't call a single miner underneath him by name we have a serious disconnect. When that underground miner comes out the portal and is met with protest and anger he probably feels a bit like a soldier who returns home only to be spat on. The coal industry is talking to the miner and has won their hearts and minds. Most anti-MTR folks are skipping the miner and yelling at the industry, who has no heart and doesnt mind.  

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by: twilight campfighter @ Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 23:42:30 PM UTC

I copied and saved this from Kos because I thought (0.00 / 0)

he/she put it so well.

We need to prove ourselves as behind the people and less as against the coal industry. We want improved safety in the mines, not the status quo which has cost so many miners lives. We are for safe drinking water and acid-free rivers and streams but not against coal being mined properly and safely. We are against destructive methods of mining which destroy the landscape that most people in that region proudly enjoy. But we are not against the actual process of removing coal through other effective and cost-efficient means.

Yes, burning coal is one of the most environmentally damaging methods of obtaining energy. But we need to separate the burning of coal from the actual mining industry if we are to make inroads into bringing Democrats to Coal Country.

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by: MadAnne @ Tue Apr 05, 2011 at 00:46:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]