---

Dear Editor;
I don't understand why it's not ok to love your country, to be proud of living in a rural community, to share your thoughts, ideas and recipes with your neighbors.
I don't understand why it's automatically assumed that if you live in a small town, or on a farm, or in "flyover country" you must be uneducated.
I don't understand why I'm expected to live by rules and laws and others aren't.
I don't understand why after working all of my life to own a home, raise a family and retire with a purpose, that I'm expected to pay for someone who doesn't want to work.
But mostly I don't understand where common courtesy, ethics, moral character and the concept of the golden rule have gone.
What happened?
Jane Batha
Mineral Point