Hard Living in America's Heartland: Rural Poverty in the 21st Century Midwest

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.