How bad could it get? America’s ugly election

A lovely place to live

I enjoyed your special report

on the Midwest (July 25th),

though you were dismissive of

rural areas. My small home-

town in Minnesota is sur-

rounded by the hills and hard-

wood forests of the unglaciated

Driftless Area. A state-of-the-

art school opened in 2017. A

60-mile paved bike-trail winds

through the limestone bluffs of

the Root river valley. The pro-

fessional Commonweal The-

atre Company operates year-

round in a neighbouring town.

Within an hour’s drive are nine

colleges and universities, the

Mayo Clinic and Medical

School, the Minnesota Beetho-

ven Festival and the Minnesota

Marine Art Museum. In Fill-

more county, which is nearly

the size of Luxembourg but

hasn’t a single four-lane road,

no one complains about traffic.

Our rural areas have an

extraordinarily productive

agricultural sector, vibrant

small businesses, inexpensive

housing, low crime, and a

sense of community. Nominal

income and

gdp

per person

may lag behind that of our

cities, but our quality of life is

second to none.

david schober

Rushford, Minnesota

Why did you refer to those who

live in country areas as “folk”

while their city counterparts

are “dwellers”? Can you not

dwell in the countryside, or is

such a word too sophisticated

for such folk? Why not go

further and call them

bumpkins? Alternatively, both

could be referred to as people.

fintan tuohy

Zurich