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12 days agoWhen smart people move out to the boonies, it’s to get away from all people. When dumb people move out to the boonies, it’s to get away from smart people and their annoying rules. They still want to hang out with other people and do dumb people stuff with them. So you don’t really see smart people out in the boonies, but they are there, just inside.
Yeah, Alberta used to have a much more varied economy. But every boom, things move more into oil and gas, and every bust, they barely move away. People are quick to follow the easy money and so reluctant to do anything else when it goes away, knowing it’ll be temporary, even if temporary means years. As it wanes, the booms will be shorter and less pronounced, and the busts will be longer and more pronounced. Eventually, there will be a tipping point, even at the current reluctant pace people have for turning away from it. But it would be so nice if more people saw the writing on the wall sooner.