Thoughts on Living in Small Towns (Or, Life in Forgotten America)

One of the interesting things about watching the news and politicians in the United States is the way they eventually talk about “small town America.” In a lot of ways, “small town America” is part of American mythology: a story about America that this nation tells its citizens to make us feel connected to something that most people have no connection to. Beyond that myth, though, “small town America” is ignored; few people really know what it’s like to live there or understand the struggles folks in rural and small town communities face. Sure, we talk about it as nation every so often, but I’m not convinced that much of what goes on in national conversations has much applicability to everyday life in America.

I basically view our national talk about “small town America” the same way I view the same talk about “military families”: it’s mostly lip service designed to convince others that our politicians really care about these issues. But if you live in a small town in America, it’s pretty obvious that national policy (and, often, state policy) hasn’t done much to protect those small communities from corporate greed and abuse, the destruction of small business, the erosion of community arts and culture, or general decline (in population, in income, etc.).

While I don’t consider myself “an expert,” having only lived in small towns in a handful of states, I do have a lot of thoughts about what it’s like to live in a small town. I’ve watched two small towns get decimated by…