There is a gap between the significant minority with access to technological benefits and the vast majority without. Many rural communities in the technically advanced nations are without certain fundamental benefits: some have open ditch sewage systems which serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and give off unpleasant odours; others may be located by rivers which threaten homes and businesses with seasonal flooding; in others, houses and farms still depend on trucked-in water or cisterns for supply. Such conditions, often falling short of minimum government standards, make these areas unattractive for new business and architectural development. Similarly, farmers need to up-date their farm machinery to remain competitively productive; those without sufficient land or equipment are forced out of farming. Costs for improved systems and keeping up with advanced technology are unrealistically high for small rural communities. Residents aim for impossibly complex solutions; intermediate options are vague and treated as unserious. There seems no real hope of getting ahead, and a sense of local creative initiative is lost.