Dear HCN,
I find the exchanges
between Tom Power and Ed Marston perplexing (HCN, 8/2/99). They are
both right! My colleagues and I have surveyed over 7,000 randomly
selected persons in the West over the last 10 years. In all these
surveys people consistently say they either moved to or live in the
West for quality of life considerations. A majority of new migrants
have lower incomes as well. Other recent studies reach similar
conclusions. Clearly, as Tom Power stresses, they are trading off
income for lifestyle considerations.
This is not
to say they are content with all aspects of life. Ed Marston is
correct in that the level of education and other services are not
what they should be, and that we should not be satisfied with what
we have. My surveys and others show that around 75 percent of
people in the rural West are not satisfied with the current level
of educational and other services. In my state of Idaho, which
nationally is consistently at, or near, the bottom of the amount of
per capita funds allocated to education, there are schools in
danger of physical collapse, and colleges are woefully underfunded.
This negatively impacts the state’s quality of
life.
I also agree with Ed Marston that the
people we send to Washington, D.C., seem to thrive on generating
conflicts and have little vision for what the future of the West
could be. After every election I have an undeniable urge to head
for the border as my former “neighbor,” Stephen Lyons, has done for
reasons he has outlined in HCN.
I am appalled
that people in Idaho elect representatives who, at times, intended
or not, use racist code language. Such language can have unintended
results. My colleagues and I, in a survey of reasons why people
moved to Idaho, found that over 30 percent cited racial and ethnic
factors as a reason. Not a reason, I am sure, the leaders of Idaho
want for people moving here.
As to whether some
of our politicians are similar to those of the Old South, Ed
Marston might consider a dialogue with Tom Power on this. Tom took
a year out from his graduate studies at Princeton to participate in
the civil rights actions in the deep South and should have a
valuable perspective on this comparison.
I wish,
like Ed Marston, I could believe that unions are still the answer
here in the Interior West. Perhaps too optimistically, I hope the
recent migrants into the West will create the kinds of jobs and
demand the services of a Future West many of us want. These new
people bring energy and capital, and are not wage-slaves of the
older Western corporate order which held so many people in economic
bondage. However, as Ed Marston reminds us, if history is any
guide, we must actively fight for a West we can be proud
of.
Gundars
Rudzitis
Moscow,
Idaho
The writer is a
professor of geography at the University of
Idaho.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline They’re both right!.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
