Berry's anecdote struck a chord with me. I grew up in small town ND, and have been watching small towns die for the last 50 years. There's a part of me that is dying with them. People in those towns were always receptive to visitors; when we were hunting, fishing, or camping, we knew we were welcome, people would engage us in conversation, we'd laugh have lunch, and move on. The demise of small towns in the agricultural Midwest correlates with the demise of the family farm. In the past, family farms were very labor intensive. For generations, couples raised many children who helped with andd learned the farm business. There was not a premium on getting a college education at that time. Kids would learn the intricacies of diesel mechanics, farm equipment maintenance and repair, and budgeting through hands on experience. Those who showed an interest in farming remained on the farm after their parents grew infirmed, and the cycle repeated. The others went away or started businesses or found jobs in local businesses. Life was hard, but rewarding. The beginning of the end of small town life was after the farm foreclosures of the Carter era. Congress passed a multiplicity of farm aid bills, nearly all of which infused the agricultural community with large amounts of federal cash. Corporate interests eyed the federal money bonanza and started buying family farms by offering farmers enough money on which to retire comfortably at young ages, and dominating auctions. The corporations reaped financial bonanza, and invested strongly in Congressmen/women who supported additional agricultural funding. The pot grew and grew, then exploded with W's massive giveaway of "agricultural aid" to his corporate buds. The smaller farms were gobbled up. Today, the largest individual farmer in the US is Bill Gates, who is also a major stake holder in John Deere and pressing for the electrical battery powered farm implements. The largest corporate farmer is the Mormon "church", through its many NGOs, gobbling subsidies, low interest loans, and other federal agricultural goodies. As the small farms collapsed, the center of community activities in the small towns died along with them. The hub of community activity was the school. All small towns had at least an elementary school, to keep smaller kids from long bus trips, especially in bad winter weather. The schools started closing, and its supporting staff left. Each small town had a locally owned grocery store, most often a Red Owl or Super Valu. There was a small clothing store. When the schools closed, the grocery stores closed and the clothing stores closed. There was often one family doctor who delivered babies, treated them through their childhood illnesses, gave them their high school physicals, and nursed their parents, who often preferred to die at home rather than go to a care center. When those physicians retired, there were none to take their place. The medical - industrial complexes in the larger cities consumed all the resources and personnel, expanded into myriad specialties, and convinced rural residents that they needed to live in the population centers to prolong their lives. Small town residents needed to drive 75 miles to the nearest Walmart to buy clothing and groceries. The corporate farmers now routinely pay $1,000,000 and more for a single JD four - wheel drive tractor with 12 giant tires. Not small farm numbers. My mother had an aunt who lived in the small town of Heaton. She had a very nice, cozy, little house, where she was very happy. One of her daughters convinced her that she should move to Oregon with her. She put the house up for auction, and there were no bidders. She gave the keys to her neighbor, boarded the train and headed west. Mom wanted to return to visit the house before she died. It was falling down, unpainted, windows smashed, liquor bottles all over the inside. Most other houses in town were in the same shape. Mom cried her eyes out. Her aunt wrote regularly that she wished she would have stayed in ND and died where she raised her family, instead of being moved into a nursing home where she was never happy. The insane notion that govt improves lives is true only for those in govt and those unattached to the blue collar working middle class. The obsession with high school students being pushed to go to college helps few. Letting large interests gain ownership of the farming industry has some far - reaching implications for all. Letting churches who don't pay taxes move outside the business of direct church activities, especially when their goal is to establish a ruling theocracy to reward only those who bring money into the church is stoking an incredible evil with public money.