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Blog 530 – 01.20.2017

Old Times

I was thinking about a line from the song Dixie, “Where old times there are not forgotten.” I have given quite a bit of thought to the great divide in our country between Conservatives and Progressives. Both of those words have some very positive connotations and some not so. Conserving the natural beauty of our nation and not sacrificing it to “progress” shows how those words can be used in an opposite way from the way in which they are used most times politically. Political Conservatives would give over control of federally protected lands to state and private companies to reap the natural resources from them seemingly no matter the cost while Political Progressives would seemingly prevent that. The First People have always fought the European model of conquest and “progress” but find themselves on the issue of Land Management aligned with Political Progressives. You cannot tell the players without a program.

This idea of remembering old times and going back to a “better” time is a dicey one. Southerners who nostalgically sing about old times not being forgotten never the less forget many things it seems like:

Seizing the land from the indigenous population.
Killing many and forcing the survivors to force relocate.
Engaging in the foreign slave trade to get cheap labor.
Breeding slaves to plant and harvest crops and treating them like cattle.
Even after being forced by a terrible war that took a million men’s lives to free those slaves still treating them, women, and many others like “second class citizens.”

Southerners are not the only ones with selective memories. Immigrants in the North fared little better than the slaves in the South in the sweat shop factories of the North. And when laws were passed forcing fair wages and treatment of employees those jobs were sent overseas and south of the border where cheap labor without pesky regulations kept profits high.

Real progress means making things better for all not for just a few special interests. Real conservation means preserving the good things for everyone one not just for a few to enjoy or get rich from using. Forgetting what we do not want to own up to and replacing history with a glossed over public relations piece about they way we wish we were is dishonest and we are not fooling anyone. Being proud of our accomplishments is one thing but denying our missteps only increases the chance that we will continue to make those same mistakes over and over again.

Progress is not going back but forward, not dividing but building a better union, not building walls but bridges, not tearing down but making better. If for no other reason than making some old times that we really could be glad to remember without cherry picking or having to “look away” from all the trash and broken lives and dreams we left in our wake.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White