This summer I taught an astronomy program at a library in rural Kentucky. These people out here are being ignored, and they are watching the world move away from them. I was thanked, multiple times, for caring about the community down there, and all I was really doing was trying to create more young nerds. The thing that hurts? Every kid I reach that goes on to go to College, or trade school, or gets smart? THEY LEAVE. And a part of me is worried that by doing science outreach in rural areas like these, I'm making the problem worse by setting a course of that brain drain in places that need smart people to stay put and fight for their communities. The world may not belong to guys like us anymore, sure. But we do have a ton of experience, drive, courage, fight and knowledge. My thought is that if I die and don't share my passions and knowledge I am worse than scum. We fight, or we die. I choose to fight.I'm a white, upper-middle class, American, man, with a good job.
Even if they leave, they remember what was left behind. A smart kid from rural Kentucky now working in the Bay Area and living in a condo still knows there are people back there in Kentucky the rest of the world has forgotten about. That can be an asset.brain drain in places that need smart people to stay put