he troubles of Apple CEO Tim Cook may seem a world away to rural folks on the High Plains. But consider this: Cook grew up in the 1960s in rural Robertsdale, Alabama. And while this straight-talker and openly gay man is at the center of one of the world’s largest controversies, it’s worth noting that Cook’s ideas about right and wrong were forged in small-town America.
As The Rural Blog notes, it was in Alabama that Cook learned about right and wrong and the need for privacy, especially from the government.
Last December, shortly before the fate of a terrorist’s iPhone would focus the eyes of the world upon him, Cook accepted an award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. In his acceptance speech, Cook talked about learning to “take a stand for what is right, for what is just.” Big lessons learned in a small town.
