184 - Why Small Town Living Won't Heal Your Soul
Clean air, low crime, and people who smile when you pass by…so if small towns are so great, why are people leaving?
According to country artist Jason Aldeen, folks in a small town “take care of our own” and “you cross that line, it won't take long - for you to find out, I recommend you don't…”
In other words, despite having less police presence and less access to public safety nets, small towns are allegedly safer and more prosperous because rural people look after each other. Our question today is; do they really?
Are small towns more moral than the rude, uncaring city folk, who can walk over a homeless person without blinking? Are small towns safer, since everyone owns a gun, and they’re willing to defend themselves or their kin whenever necessary? Are small towns happier with all that clean air and sprawling nature? And, if small towns really are as wonderful as the songs make them out to be, why are they still shrinking all across the United States?
On today’s episode we’ll separate the myths from the facts, and help you decide if small town living is right for you. We’ll also explore a tale from history that feels like it was yanked straight from an Aldeen song. It’s a story about a small town in Missouri that banded together to murder the local bully, Ken McElroy, who put their humble population through years of hell. At the end of which we’ll decide if Ken’s death is the example that proves the rule that small towns are safer…or if this is the murder that shatters the myth of small towns completely.
Links:
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/05/america-a-nation-of-small-towns.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGxGDdQnC1Y&ab_channel=CrashCourse
https://usafacts.org/articles/which-cities-have-the-highest-murder-rates/