first learning about appalachian mining towns in the “good old days” before they were left to deteriorate was quite an experience. It was pretty much just a system of mineral-serfdom. The mining companies owned literally everything, including all the stores (which were basically one megastore), and they wouldn’t even pay the workers real money. They’d pay the workers in scrip, ie fake money that could only be used in the stores they owned (LITERALLY MONOPOLY MONEY). So even if people wanted to move, they had no way to ever save up to because they weren’t actually being paid in real wages. No wonder appalachia was so revolutionary. The ruling class deserve(d/s) worse than the coal wars tbh