Hard Living in America's Heartland: Rural Poverty in the 21st Century Midwest - Kindle edition by Dáil, Paula vW.. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ .

Despite living hard, endlessly challenging lives, the rural poor remain tirelessly optimistic, believing things will get better next year.

As one struggling farmer explained, "Sometimes I feel like a jackass in a hailstorm--I just have to stand here and take it...but what the hell--it'll stop hailing sooner or later." The struggle to survive on the richest farmland in America has produced some of the nation's poorest people.