2
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I
N I
O
Editorial…
Water and land
America is turning tribal
The public response to protests and an
armed takeover of a federal facility at the
Malheur Wildlife Refuge swirling around fed-
eral action against a Harney County rancher
has revealed something about America: We’ve
become tribal.
Much of the public is perfectly willing to
apply a completely unexamined double stan-
dard to such divisive events, depending on
whose ox is getting gored, whether or not the
perpetrators or victims are “our kind.”
Some folks who look askance at “Black
Lives Matter” or “Occupy Wall Street”
protesters — who reflexively support law
enforcement when a police shooting incident
roils the country — suddenly look at things
differently when law enforcement and “the
government” is coming down on someone
wearing a cowboy hat and waving a flag.
On the other hand, social media users of a
different ideological stripe complain, “What
do you think would happen if the armed
militants were black/Muslim, etc. instead of
white?” Apparently they have forgotten —
or know nothing about — incidents where
law enforcement went in with guns blazing
against white supremacists or religious zeal-
ots, killing women and children (Ruby Ridge;
Waco).
What gives here?
American society is increasingly divided
into hostile camps, split along political, reli-
gious and racial lines. Each of us finds in a
given incident the narrative we want to see.
Social media tends to reinforce this phe-
nomenon. People share shallow Facebook
memes with each other, confirming their own
pre-existing biases. With a jillion gigabytes
of information at our fingertips, we gravitate
only to information that confirms what we
already think we “know.”
And there are plenty of people who gain
prestige, power — and money — by exploit-
ing the divisions perpetuated by our deep-
seated tendency to react “tribally.”
We’re all susceptible to this kind of behav-
ior — it’s a natural and very human response.
Critical thinking — challenging our own
assumptions, looking seriously at a different
point of view — is hard and uncomfortable.
It’s really tough to put ourselves in the shoes
of someone from another tribe; someone who
has a very different world-view, especially
when that view seems to run cross-ways with
our deeply held beliefs and values.
But it’s the only way to achieve real
understanding. Understanding does not mean
acceptance. Knowing what makes an Islamic
jihadist tick doesn’t mean you have to say,
“Well, gee, he has a point.” Sometimes under-
standing just means you truly know your
enemy.
But, really, the things that divide
Americans are not that extreme. Getting past
buzzwords and talking points and the agendas
of those in the business of division might get
folks onto some common ground. It’s been
known to happen.
Trouble is, it’s just so much easier to hit
“Like” and “Share” — and move on to the
next thing those idiots did that really has you
steamed….
Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
Your article on the Sisters Chorale was
great but there is one more person who should
be acknowledged and thanked, and that is the
pianist, Donna Moyer. She is so talented.
Nora Ellison
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Cloudy
Slt. chance snow
Partly sunny
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
Mostly cloudy
34/20
36/19
37/19
33/16
33/14
33/na
The Nugget Newspaper, Inc.
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759
Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com
Postmaster: Send address changes to
The Nugget Newspaper,
P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759.
Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon.
N
Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson
News Editor: Jim Cornelius
Production Manager: Leith Williver
Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken
Graphic Design: Jess Draper
Proofreader: Pete Rathbun
Accounting: Erin Bordonaro
The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area.
Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55.
Published Weekly. ©2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which
appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for
information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition-
ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently
available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts.
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
Looking out at the snow-
covered Cascades is an
unparalleled gift. Sure, the
skiing community is freaked
out with all the fun; how-
ever, in summer the snow
will transform into water —
and that is the REAL gift.
Water is going to become
a key factor in the econom-
ics of the Pacific Northwest.
If there is any doubt in your
mind, just remember what
Detroit Lake looked like last
summer.
If it was concern for
water and land that led
land-use planners to put the
kibosh on the more than
900 homes, 474 overnight
units, and three golf courses
Thornburg/Loyal Land
requested on 2,000 acres of
Deschutes County, it was
— environmentally speak-
ing — a very wise move on
their part.
Destination resorts
use more water than any
other development in the
Northwest, and I have
a hunch such business
schemes are doomed for
the future in this neck of the
woods. We don’t have the
water for such luxuries.
Then too, that entire area
on the south and west sides
of Cline Buttes is a natural
wonder. Just ask the people
who ride horseback, bird-
watch and hike in that beau-
tiful sagebrush-and-juniper
biome. Ask the golden eagle
that raised a fledgling on
the BLM land adjacent to
the Thornburg holdings, the
mule deer that use it as sum-
mer and winter range and a
myriad of other wildlife.
Environmentalist
Governor Tom McCall put
the machinery in motion
that everyone should
have listened to the day
he said it: “Protect the
Land.” He pushed ORS
197.030’s seven-member
Land Conservation and
Development Commission
(LCDC) to adopt state
land-use goals and imple-
ment rules, assure local
plan compliance with the
goals, coordinate state
and local planning, and
manage the coastal zone
program.
Today’s water crisis
shows us how wise McCall
was.
Back in the ’60s, dur-
ing the Sputnik era, sci-
ence became a high point of
education. In the course to
learn more about our Earth
and it’s inhabitants, a pow-
erful voice came out of the
University of Wisconsin
— Aldo Leopold — who
looked at new ways to pro-
tect the land.
Leopold proposed that
the expansion of ethics
should include nonhuman
members of the biotic com-
munity, collectively referred
to as “The Land.” He stated
the basic principle of his
land ethic as: “A thing is
right when it tends to pre-
serve the integrity, stabil-
ity, and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong
when it tends otherwise. It
changes the role of Homo
sapiens from conqueror
of the land-community to
plain member and citizen of
it. It implies respect for his
fellow members, and also
respect for the community
as such.”
That’s what LCDC does
for Oregon.
It’s our entire biotic com-
munity that makes Oregon
what it is; it’s the reason
people come to live here.
But it’s also the main rea-
son some people — who
just want to make more
money — come here as
well. Commerce is a nec-
essary part of society, but
safeguards should always be
in place to protect The Land
from those who see it as
merely a money generator.
And that’s what we face
with destination resorts and
growing pot in Oregon. I do
not, and never will, approve
of smoking pot, espe-
cially for recreation. Some
people claim it’s no worse
than when Prohibition
went down, but the sci-
ence of pot-smoking does
not agree. To me, it’s just
another indicator of a dying
society.
Taxing pot-growers to
the fullest extent is just
fine with me. Placing strict
controls on how much
water they can buy/take/
use to grow pot is beyond
argument.
As a social moralist I’m
a flop. However, as some-
one tied to all aspects of
what Leopold defined as
“The Land,” I shall be a
champion to my last breath.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.