text: Interesting piece rich with accolades about rural Alaska while glossing over the economic truth. The truth is virtually all Alaskan rural villages operate without an economic basis.  They are wholly dependent on government subsidies of one form or another. Decades ago we called that welfare. Nothing has changed other than the name. Power cost equalization is a case in point.  How many urban Alaskans would like a subsidy from the government called travel cost equalization?  Same for bypass mail. In the L48 there is a name for towns without an economic justification for existence. They are called ghost towns. In those cases people moved on to a new economies and life continued.  On the other hand we provide Alaskan villages with an economic crutch that masks the dismal truth. It is unsustainable without more welfare.  Meanwhile the villagers learn nothing about a work ethic and and economic self sufficiency.