Dear HCN,
Katherine and Michael
McCoy lament the lack of entrepreneurial spirit of the folks of
rural Utah and chastise Westerners in general for a lack of
excitement about the changes sweeping through the economies and
landscapes of the West (HCN, 6/23/97).
The McCoys
seem to suggest that we in the rural West should put on a happy
face and embrace the radical changes confronting us. They also note
that the only possible objection to the new icon of tourism is
based on ideology. But not everyone is equipped to start a
successful small business after a lifetime career of driving a
tractor or running a chainsaw.
Take, for
instance, my neighbor, who was recently freed from punching a time
clock after 30-plus years, when our local multinational closed up
shop. Should he invest his life savings in a greenhouse-cactus
growing operation? Or open a custom bootmaking shop? Exactly what
sort of commercial business did a lifetime of stacking lumber
prepare him for? His best option is to commute, embracing a new job
at $7 per hour.
As to why the rural inhabitants
of the West seem “doubtful” about the prospect of change, human
nature demands that we be somewhat reserved, even cynical, about
change. Change is hard. Change is scary. Human beings react to
change in exactly the same way other animals do: with
suspicion.
It also hardly seems fair to list the
negative impacts of mining while ignoring the negative impacts of
tourism. A few quickly come to mind: increased traffic, litter and
noise; crowded rivers, lakes and trails. These are not simply
matters of ideology but matters of quality of life. An appropriate
analogy might be the reaction of comfortable, quiet suburbanites
when confronted with a new steel mill being built on their block.
Would their objections be
ideological?
John
Marble
Crawfordsville,
Oregon
The writer is a rancher
and
environmentalist.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline ‘Change is hard, change is scary’.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
