I'm not suggesting that there is a fix. We've moved away from the social structures that bound us together like family and church and have promoted the freedom to live the eternal adolescence of me-first as being the highest expression of individuality.
Just as an example, FF has admitted in the past that the reason he didn't follow his kid to raise him and stayed here in the U.S. where he has no familial ties is because surfing and his career and lifestyle were more important to him. That's great for FF because now he gets to surf and work with the hip degenerates in the entertainment business -which he values - but it's not great for a cohesive society.
Now when his own kid has their family FF is in no position to help raise them, and in turn when he gets old he has nobody here in the US who will take care of him. So he actually needs Big Government to be his backstop - and if possible to get bigger - because he doesn't have anyone else.
Me-first, fck-the-family is not a bug in big government politics, it's a feature.
As for the rural areas, they would have depopulated further if not for government assistance programs. This was how the urban areas were built in the first place, by desperate people who moved (and took their families) to where the employment was lest they starve.