1) Since 1970, the United States has increased its population by 64%.

Northeast Ohio, a 12-county region with more people than Connecticut, has lost 7% of its population over this same time period, shrinking from 4.1 million to 3.8 million people.

2) In 1970, 1.4 million of those 4.1 million people lived in the four core cities of Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown.

Today, barely 700,000 of the 3.8 million people live in those four cities.

3) The region was once a model of working-class prosperity. It was an exemplar of how people who didn't have a college degree could support their families, earn a good salary with good benefits, and have a stable middle-class existence.

4) In 1960, median household income in metro Washington D.C. was only 9% higher than in metro Cleveland.

Today, median household income in metro D.C. is 82% higher than in metro Cleveland.

5) This morning, I read that Ohio is poised to break its all-time annual record for drug overdose deaths.

If you look at this great analysis by @InnovateEconomy you will see that Ohio is one of the worst-performing states in terms of expanding

1) A thread on social, economic, and technological change:

2) As modern westerners, we grossly underestimate the profound and sometimes brutal sociological and psychological effects of continual, relentless, and massive social, economic, and technological change. We are too close to it. It's all we know. We are fish who can't feel wet.

3) The technological changes enable and facilitate massive social and economic changes, which, in turn, create demand for yet more technological changes to help people adjust to the social and economic changes. Rinse and repeat (in a smart washing machine).

4) There is nothing novel about this observation. Far smarter people have written and spoken eloquently about this dynamic over the past several centuries.

5) But we are not forgiving enough (of others and of ourselves) and we are not understanding enough about the significant harm that this continual and relentless cycle of change and disruption does to our mental and spiritual health. We think all of this is normal.