But one of government’s most underrated superpowers is the fact that it doesn’t have to be ruthlessly efficient

The concept of government functioning as a business and the need for it to be "efficient" is the result of the widespread falacy that "tax dollars" fund its programs. This is not only false, but 180 degrees false.

Taxation's primary function is to reduce reserves in the banking system, followed by the need to decrease inequity in a system where reserves/capital naturally flow upward. Taxes can only be collected on money that has been already created in the private sector, so they cannot "fund" future spending.

Federal spending "funds" taxes and borrowing, not the other way around. Taxation destroys the currency that spending previously created by applying it to the otherwise meaningless number called "debt" in the worst misnomer in history. Every dollar of deficit spending becomes someone's fiscal asset in the private sector as the US dollar is self-funding and not reliant on revenue or previous spending to set its "value".

The best way to revitalize the rural areas of our country would be to institute a federal job guarantee that anyone could take advantage of by simply applying and showing the ability to satisfy some basic requirements. If such a program paid a livable wage and supplied a measure of security in benefits it would inject newly created money where and when it was needed without forcing job migration on the people to chase private sector employment.

The program would be best managed by state and local governments who know best what services are needed. It only has to be funded with federal dollar creation. This would offer those governments a labor supply that would fill the gap between what the people need and what is profitable for private sector business.