If you think big cities are the heartbeat of America, let Buford, Colorado, set you straight. Who would have thought that a place with only one person would be a topic of conversation? Buford, the smallest town in the United States by population, located smack in the middle of the Rockies, has seen bustling days—back in 1865 when it was a post-Civil War stagecoach stop. Once bustling with 2,000 souls, it has shrunk to just one stalwart resident proudly waving his individualistic flag atop a stunning mountain vista.
What drives this lone wolf to live in splendid isolation? Some might say it’s the frontier spirit embedded in the American DNA—manifest destiny at its finest—showing us that self-reliance trumps the nanny state every day of the week.
Buford is not just eye candy for nature lovers. It’s a slap in the face to the tangled web of community legislation. Here, you won’t find any committees or councils dictating your every move. No sidewalk laws or endless debates about whether you can put a flagpole in your yard. The resident makes the law, enforces it, and enjoys the solitude that lets freedom ring from every corner of his domain.
Paving the roads was never improperly prioritized here, nor were there ever fights over who should fund it. Buford thrives on the purity and accountability of individual action. There’s no need for a maze of agencies. Instead, there is the simple, straightforward reliance on oneself—the ultimate homage to American exceptionalism.
One might say the town is living history, buffer-free and bureaucrat-free. You get a sense that Buford harkens back to a time when the U.S. was bustling with ambitious settlers who dreamt and dared despite the odds, risking it all. In Buford, you can imagine the town’s one resident feeling the rush of wind through the trees, letting him know he’s living in complete harmony with the rugged land that made our country great.
Of course, there are the naysayers—people who think the rural lifestyle is outdated. They're quick with their education policies and endless resources debates. Yet, in places like Buford, where education is sought through life experience, the lessons about self-sufficiency are learned in real-time, not through pop quizzes. Here, actions speak louder than any whiteboard lesson plan.
Economic prosperity means something entirely different when the market size isn’t calculated by product spreadsheets, but rather on barter and trade concepts of labor and goods. The town in the mountains turns the notion of economic dependency on its head. It’s back to basics—an economy that thrives on home-grown principles where products aren't made overseas but right here in the home.
Now, the liberals might grimace as they envision what it would be like to depend solely on oneself. But, the effectiveness of a one-man town comes from understanding that it's about the quality of life, not just the quantity. That’s where America stuck out its chest and showed the world what it was made of.
All told, Buford, Colorado, brings to life the concept of ‘less is more.’ It embodies the possibility of a world where simpler governing works—where you can be one with nature and one with the fundamental tenets of America. A defiant stand against letting the scales tip toward collectivism. Instead, it invites us to reconsider who we are and what we need by showing us the splendor of solitude.
So, visit Buford if you can. Stand there and soak up the magnitude of being the master of your own destiny. Take a metaphorical leaf from its isolated resident’s book, and realize your roots were always in being free.