Valley Nebraska, where my father's store was located, was famous apart from being on the edge of Omaha and trapped between the Union Pacific Railroad lines and the Platte River, that's been described as a mile wide and an inch deep, and that traversed the state of Nebraska from one end to the other. Valley is also the home of Valmont Industries, originally Valley Manufacturing, one of the early manufacturers of the circular irrigation systems that are in use throughout the world. Valmont, with an expanded product line remains a major employer. And so it was with many small towns in America. Small towns would grow from unique ideas that had a significant effect on the world at large. As an alternative, we could standardize education a...