Dear HCN,
Senator Laird Noh’s
article “The Old West is small potatoes in the new economy” (HCN,
4/10/00: The Old West is small potatoes in the new economy)
provided a clear view of the shifting power structure out
West.
Sen. Noh’s story is a lesson in political
power, and the moral of the story is straightforward: Land and
resources are power. Regardless of what myth we may subscribe to
regarding “local control,” power is the bottom line. Out West there
have always been just two major power entities – wealthy special
interests and the federal government. Those with money out here
understand that the only roadblock to total control of the land is
the federal government.
The average American
citizen (whose interests are represented by the federal government)
does not seem to understand the implications of this reality. But
wealthy special interests have always understood that the best way
to promote their agenda has been to convince the American people
that their special interests and the interests of the American
people were one and the same. Whether it was railroad barons of
yesteryear or the foreign energy companies of today, anyone who has
lived here as long as my family has understands that “local
control” often depends upon which special interest the local
politician subscribes to. In the future it will indeed be difficult
for the global special interests to convince the American people,
including the rural communities that have always been controlled by
them, that these global special interests are local and serving the
local interests.
After 100 years one thing has
become crystal clear: there would be no issues to discuss – no old
forests, no parks or public lands to fight over, if the federal
government had not retained and managed these precious lands.
Instead, there would mostly be vacation properties for those who
could afford them.
For the rest of us, we would
be forced to be content with gazing at the landscape from behind
fences, unaware that we could have been shareholders of a vast
treasure simply referred to as “the West.”
Mike Benefield
Burns,
Oregon
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Politics and the bottom line.
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