What Smalltown Means to Me.

Smalltown is an answer to the hardships of our times. In a crowded, noisy world where a sterile, formerly science fiction future is ever advancing—a recent news item described robots being developed to provide “comfort” for shut-ins—we are as far from community as Earth is from Venus. The word “community” itself is just another “buzzword” for vague notions of shared purpose. Politics has become increasingly dysfunctional, mass media is the Soma of this not very brave new world, and economic disparity is creating obscene gulfs between our common humanity. It is not a sustainable world.

Smalltown seems to be a path on the road back to what it means to be human, to feel and share joy and hope. It is not about waiting for a Deliverer or, even worse, a piece of legislation or regal pronouncement to save us. It is about saving ourselves, about creating true community, right here in our own neighborhoods. It’s not something downloadable or streamable. It’s feeling the good soil beneath calloused hands, planting seeds and tending and watering them, nurturing new life in the sunshine. It is really a garden that is growing.…

—Mark Cotta Vaz (Bestselling Author, Smalltown contributor)