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03/25/2006:

"WORKERS ON THE SLAG HEAP OF HISTORY"

IN AGES PAST, cities in wealthy nations greeted visitors with gold-plated lions at their gates.

But today, in America, the richest country on earth, the gates of many towns welcome visitors with abandoned factories. And the communities these factories flank tell you more about what's really destroying America than any Wall Street analyst or Washington policy wonk ever could.

Since leaving the Philadelphia area, I've learned firsthand that these Anytown, USAs are everywhere - not just on the East Coast. One of them can be found by driving north through the shimmering cattle pastures on Montana Route 12, right near where I now live. There, you'll be welcomed to East Helena by two defunct gray smokestacks rising from giant black mounds of what looks like spent coffee grounds, but is in reality industrial slag.

The towers, piercing an otherwise pristine Rocky Mountain vista, tell a story being told throughout America - a story not just of abandonment but of legalized theft afflicting both urban centers, and yes, small-town outposts.
philly.com