Dear HCN,


Allen Best (“The mythic West and the billionaire,” HCN, 2/26/01: The mythic West and the billionaire) is right on target. Artists who’ve romanticized the West, often with corporate subsidies, have tended to blind us to the dark side of our history. The paintings are beautiful but isn’t art, and all the arts, supposed to help us see ourselves, warts and all? On Cape Cod, clear across to the left coast, pretty pictures continue to rule the day, while views of our toxic civilization get pushed aside in the race for dollars.


Thanks, HCN – and Allen Best – for the needed reminder.


Malcolm Wells
Brewster, Massachusetts

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our articles are available for republishing, but images are only available on a case-by-case basis. You can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request illustrations and photography for specific stories. Republishing guidelines

• Credit the author and High Country News - We prefer Author Name, High Country News at the byline.  At the top of the story, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by High Country News.”
• Check the image requirements - Images that are clearly marked CC or from federal agencies are in the creative commons and are available for republishing. Outside of this, you can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request more information.
• Don’t change anything significant - Articles must be republished in their entirety. Revisions for house style or references to time (“yesterday” to “today”) are allowed. If larger revisions are necessary, including significant trims or an editor’s note, contact us at syndication@hcn.org to get approval for the change ahead of republishing.
• Share on social media - When sharing on social tag High Country News in your post and note the story is from @highcountrynews
  • Twitter: @highcountrynews 
  • Instagram: @highcountrynews
  • TikTok: @highcountrynews
  • Facebook: @highcountrynews
  • LinkedIn: High Country News
• Stay in touch - Let us know you republished the story. Send a link to syndication@hcn.org once you’ve republished the story and let us know how it’s resonating with your readers.

The West, warts and all

by Malcolm Wells, High Country News
April 9, 2001

<h1>The West, warts and all</h1> <p class="byline">by Malcolm Wells, High Country News <br />April 9, 2001</p> <p>Dear HCN,</p> <p>Allen Best (“The mythic<br /> West and the billionaire,” HCN, 2/26/01: The mythic West and the<br /> billionaire) is right on target. Artists who’ve romanticized the<br /> West, often with corporate subsidies, have tended to blind us to<br /> the dark side of our history. The paintings are beautiful but isn’t<br /> art, and all the arts, supposed to help us see ourselves, warts and<br /> all? On Cape Cod, clear across to the left coast, pretty pictures<br /> continue to rule the day, while views of our toxic civilization get<br /> pushed aside in the race for dollars.</p> <p>Thanks, HCN<br /> – and Allen Best – for the needed reminder.</p> <p><b>Malcolm Wells</b><br />Brewster,<br /> Massachusetts</p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=188491">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">The West, warts and all</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-200/the-west-warts-and-all/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=107159&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-200/the-west-warts-and-all/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

1