LIFE ON THE FARM MADE IT HARDER TO COMMIT CRIMES, ABUSE DRUGS, AND BECOME AN UNWED MOTHER. The migration from the farm to the city enabled many of the social ills that often get blamed on declining morals. Let’s be clear: rural settings have always had their share of problems. But it’s harder to rob someone if he or she knows who you are. And opium and cocaine were temptations of the city. Most farm people didn’t have access to them even if they wanted them. They may have gotten a little tipsy on dandelion wine or moonshine, but drugs didn’t impact rural areas until decades later.
