Ordinary People in Small Cities: Their Hometowns Can’t Hold Their Bodies, Their New Homes Can’t Hold Their Souls

Cities without an industrial chain basically have no jobs outside of civil servants and public institution workers. Yet living costs remain high, driving many people to leave for work elsewhere. But once they go out of town, they get exploited—simply grinding through a few years while their bodies can still handle it, burning out mentally, then being forced back home (like the layoff orders for migrant workers from a few years ago, or various tactics used to make jobs intolerable so people leave).

Home won’t hold your body; the outside world won’t hold your soul. This is the survival story of an ordinary person.

Original article