> Do you think those blue collar coal workers are going to be amenable to switching careers so they can service wealthy ski resort visitors? All while making much less money?

The value of their time is determined by the market, whether and how in demand their skills are. They can make themselves amenable to whatever other career options are available, or else make themselves amenable to starve waiting for the resurgence of a dying industry.

The days of lifetime employment in a single career are rapidly coming to an end - globalism and automation are constantly reducing the value of employment in many professions, or making human employment obsolete. Those industries which haven't been gutted by these trends yet will be, inevitably. Nearly everyone is going to have to learn to take what little they can get when they can get it, in time.

And instead of pandering to blue collar workers, Republicans should actually be trying to help them prepare for the future, rather than yearn for the past. But they can't, because what would help would be subsidizing education and healthcare to reduce the crippling burdens of debt on the lower and middle class and make it easier for people to find other jobs, and possibly institute some sort of basic income so that a lack of employment won't be devastating, as lack of employment becomes the norm for more and more people.

> On a personal note, I've always been troubled by the over-representation of unnecessary services and useless gadgets in the US economy. Luxury ski resorts and $400 cookie baking devices (with connected smartphone app) are not noble products, and they demoralize the workers who provide/build them.

mining coal on the other hand -- a truly noble pursuit. "A lump of coal placed in a cart embiggens the smallest man ..."

As someone that lives in the region (and used to live in Jackson), resorts can be quite lucrative. Black lung is not a great condition to acquire. My ex was a bartender pulling down $400/night. The service economy is basically a sales training job where connections can be made, and advancement is a possibility. I'm a telecommuter, but I know many people that live/work in these areas and do ok. It should be a known cost to living in such great environments with heavy tourism.

You know service workers both living and working in Jackson, and doing okay? Those lucky few! Jackson refuses to build more affordable housing (because tourists and rich locals think poor people are gross). Therefore you see many of the people who work there commute daily from Idaho, and many of the seasonal employees camp out in the national forest behind the Strategic Elk Reserve. Jackson is a terrible model (Vail is similarly bad).

That said, coal and fracking seem like a bad idea for Wyoming's future. It has plenty of wind and empty land.

I live in a ski town on the North side of Yellowstone and we're quite happy to cater to the tourists. There is nothing demeaning about providing good service that people are willing to pay for.

The US is a rich country. Luxuries are going to be a major part of the economy no matter what the economic policy is.

The US is also becoming a plutocracy. You can never go wrong by selling something that absurdly rich people want, but things may get out of hand: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm

Lots of people who go skiing and snowboarding are lower and middle class, too.