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I live in Iowa; those things you mention are the comic-book version of America. Nobody is shooting anybody around here; only college students end up in jail, overnight, when they leave the bars at 2AM and wander in the streets and might hurt themselves.

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Comic book or statistics?

I guess that mainland states' countryside is one thing and urban poverty in large cities is another thing. One more reason to take income rankings with a grain of salt. As a preedictor of lifestyle.

Oh, and a guy got arrested yesterday when he waved a gun around trying to steal a pair of gloves from a local farm store. Since its -14 degrees F this morning, I have some sympathy for the poor guy.

I lived in rural Iowa for 4 years and currently live in inner-city southside Chicago. The contrast could not be more dramatic. It's not "comic-book" to describe certain neighborhoods like this. However, Iowans (and other midwesterners) are extremely sheltered from the lethal combination of drugs, no family structure, poor schools, etc.

Sheltered = have a stable community and a strong work ethic? To say we're 'sheltered' is similar to, say, the way a lighthouse is 'sheltered' by being built of the right stuff and having a strong foundation.

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