Of course, there are TVs, phones and the Internet to keep in touch with all the global happenings. Schools measure well in academic testing. Some of America's greatest leaders have been educated in small schools teaching the basics and requiring the best of both students and teachers. When you come here, the first thing unnerving that happens is that people in cars and trucks start waving at oncoming traffic. In a city, such actions are usually signals of a flat tire or a lack of courtesy.
Nothing is wrong here in the Ozarks.
Friendly people wave at everybody, because they just might know them. The roads narrow and stop lights become sparse. The speed limits are strictly enforced. Most people drive trucks or sport vehicles and make strange U-turns on main roads. The dress code is casual with most of the men dressed in hunter camouflage.