People who have never traveled the length and breadth of the United States may not recognize the complexities and diverseness of this vast land.

Yes. In a large city I imagine one might have a violent act happen within one's view- isn't the same thing true of London versus what one would expect in the hinterlands? Same thing is true here. Which is why when something horrendous happens in one of our backwaters people express such astonishment.

Because the astonishment is real. Meaning that normal life for most of us is sweet and predictable, based on one's own family and community. A place where distant government makes scarcely a ripple in our everyday life.

Everyday life for most of us consists of jobs we may complain of but go to anyway, families that bicker and celebrate and grow, schools that we suspect are not teaching our children everything they need to know and some of us think they are teaching things they should not, local governments that irritate us and that we sometimes despise but other times support and defend.

Isn't that pretty much true of where you live?