Penny Thoughts: The Foundations of America are in Its Small Towns

Having been born and raised in a major population area, Miami, Fla., and having attended college in a major population area, Philadelphia, Pa., as well as having been to major population centers internationally – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Hong Kong – I have a sense of the activities and the “busy-ness”, for lack of a better phrase, in those places. There are many opportunities, sights, cultural happenings and other engaging interests in large cities.

Also, having lived in a number of medium-sized cities, I can attest to their pursuits and opportunities as well. I have lived here in Demopolis for more than two decades and I have to admit that living in a small city has its advantages which many folks overlook – advantages which are too often ignored or dismissed as insignificant.

Younger people often lament their lack of what they perceive as “cultural advantages” which smaller towns either do not or cannot provide. They seek the excitement and the charge of big cities to satisfy the lack excitement they long for in their small-town upbringings.

My youngsters, I know, feel somewhat lacking when they hear me talk of being delayed in the Hong Kong Airport for 20-plus hours along with 15,000 other travelers due to a typhoon on the level ten category, or talking about the plains of Botswana where people hunt lions and elephants. Hence, I limit those conversations since I do not want them to feel “cheated” that they have not had such experiences.

Still, there are some things I try to share with them about the advantages to living in a small town like Demopolis. I usually begin with one of my favorite observations by Thomas Jefferson, who, as I am, was essentially an isolationist. When talking about large, crowded cities Jefferson commented, “When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”

Larger, heavily concentrated population centers tend to promote a collectivist mentality. Witness what is happening in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago today. People tend to think alike and to vote like.  “Individuality” becomes a trap and those who think independently of the crowd are ridiculed, to wit the “cancel culture” which systematically drown out opposing views and ultimately inhibits free speech. This was one of the things Jefferson was alluding to.

Smaller towns generally produce more independent thinkers who seem to have a significantly larger broad-based view of the world.  Smaller towns promote more church-going and religious activities. They also promote families and family activities. And as sociologists, psychologists and philosophers have posited, sound families produce sound governments and democracies.

Because of these two dichotomous principles, it is no wonder that the larger population centers have more leanings toward strong central governments, which ultimately promote more Socialism. Whereas smaller towns tend to want a more democratic participation and eschew strong central governance. They tend to promote self-reliance, individuality, free speech, respect for others’ rights and the principle that hard work yields success.

These “small town” qualities are exactly what the Founders of this Nation laid as a basis for the “experiment” called “America”. I would submit that if you take my essential premises here and apply them in the real worlds of heavy population centers versus small population centers, you might find that my observations are on target.

Additionally, when the Founders set up a government, they provided for population representation in the House of Representatives. They also provided for representation of the Individual States by forming a Senate, which allows two senators from each State so that the smaller states would have an equal voice in making laws and in governing.

Still, the Founders could not conceive of a time when cities would become as large as they are today.  In fact, in 1790, the first year of the federally mandated census, the population of the entire Nation was barely 3.5 million, including slaves. Thus, conceiving of a city more than that size was unimaginable. And yet, those principles identified with “small towns” was the parameter of principles of America and its guiding rubric for establishing what it stood for.

Folks in small towns enjoy a kind of security and tend to be protected from the mass hysteria which plagues large population centers, primarily owing to their beliefs and practices which directly reflect the principles our Founders saw as necessary and rudimentary in creating a Nation.

It’s great to live in Demopolis, Ala., United States of America.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of The West Alabama Watchman.