"Oil Patch Elegy"? Seriously, what a complete and clear-eyed objective assessment! I'm tired of stories of villains and victims. I know villains and victims exist and are real, but thank you for letting me draw my own conclusions.

I'm liberal and despise those who seek way more money and power than their fair share.

The bottom line I got out of this is that substrate of economy is beyond human control, because humans can't control what's valued. We should have safety nets for the people of Freer, but the economy follows value, and there is none left in Freer. We can't just create value there out of thin air. Maybe there's value like an Amazon distribution center (ugh) or chip factory. The bottom line is people went to Freer to follow value, it's gone, so they have to follow it someplace else.