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OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2015 No longer the land of opportunity Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Where are Sanders, Trump leading us? Wyden says Sanders is ‘real;’ writer says Trump is P.T. Barnum B HUQLH 6DQGHUV EURXJKW KLV SKHQRPHQRQ WR WKH 3DFL¿F Northwest over the weekend. On Saturday his outdoor rally in Seattle was hijacked by Black Lives Matter organizers, but he subsequently drew a crowd indoors. In Portland, the insurgent Democratic presidential candidate drew his biggest crowd ever — 28,000 in the Rose Garden — 20,000 inside and 8,000 standing outside. In the same week, the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump GRPLQDWHGWKHSDUW\¶V¿UVWGHEDWHE\ breaking new ground on the topic of misogyny. Sanders and Trump are an inter- esting pair. Is Sanders akin to Eugene McCarthy in 1968, who forced President Lyndon Johnson into retire- ment? Is Trump a new version of Ross Perot, who drained GOP votes in the 1992 general election, or is he an up- dated version of George Wallace, who fed right-wing voters’ base instincts? When asked last week if he were a “Bernie Sanders Democrat,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said: “Bernie is real.” Therein lies the essential dif- ference between the liberal outlier and the right wing bomb-thrower. T Sen. Sanders’ epic December 2010 Senate speech on income in- equality is the bedrock of what the man believes. Sanders’ straight talk is a threat to Clinton, who has a hard time giving us a consistent story line. In “Donald Trump’s Sales Pitch,” The New Yorker’s James Surowiecki likens Trump to P.T. Barnum, who understood that you have say in- creasingly outlandish things to get the public’s attention. Neither Sanders nor Trump may persist as major party nominees. But they will assuredly change the course of history in 2016. Campaigns are the prelude to government. While Sanders’ rhetoric leads to substantive policy initiatives, Trump’s insults seem only to feed grudges. :LOG¿UH,WWDNHVDQ engaged community here is no remaining doubt this is a year for the record books when it comes to lack of rainfall. Recent ZLOG¿UHV DUH D YLYLG WHVWLPRQLDO WR dangerous conditions. 3DFL¿F &RXQW\ :DVK LV QRZ D federally designated primary drought disaster location. Clatsop County and Washinton’s Wahkiakum County are HOLJLEOHIRUIHGHUDOEHQH¿WVEHFDXVHRI being “contiguous” to disaster areas. 5RXJKO\ WKH QRUWKHUQ KDOI RI 3DFL¿F &RXQW\LVFODVVL¿HGDVEHLQJLQ³H[- treme” drought, while the remainder of lands in the vicinity of the Columbia River estuary are in the slightly better FODVVL¿FDWLRQRI³VHYHUH´GURXJKW Despite minor showers and drizzle this week, it’s probably only a matter of time before the entire Columbia- 3DFL¿FUHJLRQVOLSVLQWRWKH³H[WUHPH´ category. We are still more than seven weeks away from the Oct. 1 start of the RI¿FLDOQHZ³ZDWHU\HDU´0RUHKRW dry weather is predicted for August, “and the long-term forecast is calling for a strong El Niño weather pattern WRFRQWLQXHLQWRQH[W\HDU,IDFFXUDWH this will mean another low snowpack and another year of drought,” accord- LQJWRVWDWHRI¿FLDOV All this draws strong attention to the importance of local professional DQGYROXQWHHU¿UH¿JKWHUVLQRXUFRXQ- WLHV ,W GRHVQ¶W WDNH DQ\ H[SHUWLVH WR see that grass, brush and leaves are SULPHGWREXUVWLQÀDPHVLIH[SRVHG to any source of combustion. This can be a cigarette butt carelessly dis- carded from a passing vehicle, a spark thrown by a mower blade striking a URFNOLJKWQLQJRUHYHQWKHUDSLGR[- idation of hay on a sunny afternoon. )LUHZRUNVDQGRSHQFDPS¿UHVDUHRWK- HUVRXUFHVRIREYLRXVULVN&DPS¿UHV must only be built in designated plac- HVZKLOH¿UHZRUNVDUHLOOHJDOWKLVWLPH of year. Immediately report any viola- tions to proper authorities. 6HULRXV¿UHVLQRXUYLFLQLW\LOOXV- trate how fast an emergency can de- velop and how much we depend on DUDSLGZHOOWUDLQHGUHVSRQVHE\¿UH- ¿JKWHUV2Q$XJD¿UHEOHZXSQHDU the northwestern tip of Fort Stevens State Park and a west wind pushed it into shore pines and driftwood. )LUH¿JKWHUVIURPWKH:DUUHQWRQ)LUH Department and Oregon Department of Forestry quickly arrived and kept the situation from getting out of KDQG2Q$XJ3DFL¿F&RXQW\)LUH District No. 1 and the Long Beach Volunteer Fire Department rushed to GRXVH D JUDVV¿UH WKDW ZDV WKUHDWHQ- ing nearby buildings and forestland. Local departments have also dealt ZLWKRWKHUOHVVGUDPDWLFZLOG¿UHVLQ recent weeks. This highlights the ongoing need IRU ¿UHVXSSUHVVLRQ WUDLQLQJ IXQGLQJ and public support. Though no society can afford to be permanently prepared for every disaster scenario, here in this usually moist place we will have to be especially vigilant as the prospect of long droughts elevates the risk of life-threatening situations. $VLGH IURP VXSSRUWLQJ ORFDO ¿UH- ¿JKWHUVZHDOOFDQKHOSLPSURYHVDIH- W\ E\ NHHSLQJ ÀDPPDEOH YHJHWDWLRQ away from homes and other structures, GHYHORSLQJ &RPPXQLW\ :LOG¿UH Protection Plans and avoiding po- WHQWLDOO\ULVN\EHKDYLRUV5HSRUW¿UHV immediately, since early intervention is key to keeping them manageable. .HHSDKRVHRU¿UHH[WLQJXLVKHUKDQG\ when working outdoors. We’ll get through this. The rains will return. But for now, we need ev- eryone to pay close attention. Fast re- porting and action can save property and lives. Rick, who thought he narrative of cruelty” to those was one-eighth American at the bottom. Indian, pretty much raised The musician Ted Nu- AMHILL — We like to boast of himself, along with his gent once suggested that the America as the “land of opportu- brother and two sisters. His “takers” in society are “enti- nity,” and historically there is truth to mom died when he was 5, tlement chumps” and “glut- that. and his dad — “a profes- tonous, soulless pigs.” The “We have never been a nation of sional drunk,” Rick once conservative author Neal haves and have-nots,” Sen. Marco told me — abandoned the Boortz compared the poor to toenail fungus. Rubio once declared. “We are a nation family. A grandmother pre- Sure, entitlements are of haves and soon-to-haves, of people sided, and the kids hunted Nicholas a legitimate issue for de- who have made it and of people who DQG ¿VKHG WR SXW IRRG RQ Kristof bate. But if you’re troubled will make it.” the table. That’s a lovely aspiration, the vi- School might have been an es- by publicly subsidized meals, what sion that brought Rubio’s father to calator to a better life, for Rick had DERXW WKH ELOOLRQ LQ DQQXDO WD[ the United States — and my father, D WHUUL¿F PLQG EXW DV D ER\ KH KDG subsidies for corporate meals and en- too. Yet I fear that by 2015 we’ve DQ XQGLDJQRVHG DWWHQWLRQ GH¿FLW GLV- tertainment? And if you want to see become the socially rigid society our order and teachers wrote him off. In a real scam, how about those zillion- IRUHEHDUVÀHGUHSOLFDWLQJWKHEDUULHUV the eighth grade, the principal pun- DLUHVZKRFODLPKXJHWD[GHGXFWLRQV and class gaps that drove them away. ished Rick for skipping school, by IRUGRQDWLQJDUWWRWKHLURZQQRQSUR¿W That’s what the presidential candidates VXVSHQGLQJKLPIRUVL[PRQWKV5LFN museums, which aren’t even open to should be debating. was thrilled. By 10th grade he had people dropping by? I hear from people who say Researchers have repeatedly found dropped out for good. that in the United States, there is now Rick worked in lumber mills and something like: I grew up poor, but less economic mobility than in Canada machine shops, then became a talented I worked hard and I made it. If other or much of Europe. A child born in the custom painter of cars. After his hand people tried, they could, too. Bravo! bottom quintile of incomes in the Unit- was mashed in an accident, he sur- 6XUH WKHUH DUH H[WUDRUGLQDU\ SHRSOH ed States has only a 4 percent chance vived on disability and odd jobs. His who have overcome mind-boggling of rising to the top quintile, according phone worked when he had enough hurdles. But they’re like the NBA cen- ters with short parents. to a Pew study. A separate (somewhat money to pay the bills. Remember that disadvantage is less dated) study found that in Britain, such He married twice and divorced a boy has about a 12 percent chance. twice, raised children as a single dad, about income than environment. The By another and was a loyal best metrics of child poverty aren’t measure, “inter- friend to every- monetary, but rather how often a child Remember generational in- one around. A few is read to or hugged. Or, conversely, come elasticity,” years ago, Rick was how often a child is beaten, how often that social mobility is slowly mending the home descends into alcohol-fueled ¿VW¿JKWVZKHWKHUWKHUHLVOHDGSRLVRQ- twice as great for from a serious disadvantage ness, dependent ill- Canada as for the on ing, whether ear infections go untreat- United States. a crucial medicine. ed. That’s a poverty that is far harder is less about Alan Krueger, Then he abruptly to escape. income than Some think success is all about a Princeton econ- weakened and had “choices” and “personal responsibili- omist, has noted to be hospitalized. environment. that in the United It turned out that ty.” Yes, those are real, but it’s so much States, parents’ in- KLV H[ZLIH¶V FDU more complicated than that. “Rich kids make a lot of bad choic- comes correlate to had been towed and their adult children’s incomes roughly she had needed to pay a fee to get it es,” Reardon notes. “They just don’t as heights do. “The chance of a person back. So Rick had given her $600 and come with the same sort of conse- who was born to a family in the bot- skipped the medicine. That’s what put quences.” Rick acknowledged that he had tom 10 percent of the income distribu- him in the hospital. tion rising to the top 10 percent as an And, yes, that was for his EX-wife. made bad choices. He drank, took adult is about the same as the chance Last year, I wrote a series titled GUXJV DQG ZDV DUUHVWHG DERXW that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall “When Whites Just Don’t Get It,” times. But he also found the strength having a son who grows up to be over about race gaps (the reaction was not to give up alcohol when he felt he 6 feet 1 inch tall,” Krueger observed in entirely enthusiastic!). I also think that was turning into his father. What dis- a speech. “It happens, but not often.” many successful Americans “don’t tinguished Rick wasn’t primarily bad choices, but intelligence, hard work ,¶YHEHHQUHÀHFWLQJRQWKLVEHFDXVH get” the income gulf. of a friend in my hometown, Yamhill. Sean Reardon of Stanford Univer- and lack of opportunity. So let’s just drop the social Darwin- Rick Goff was smart, talented and sity has calculated that the race gap hardworking, but he faced an uphill in student test scores has diminished, ism. Success is not a sign of virtue. It’s struggle from birth; I wrote about him but that the class gap has widened. A mostly a sign that your grandparents ODVW \HDU DV DQ H[DPSOH RI WKH DSKR- half-century ago, the black-white test did well. Meanwhile, more children in rism that “talent is universal, but op- score gap was 50 percent greater than portunity is not.” the gap between the richest 10 percent America live in poverty now (22 per- And now Rick is dead. He died of and the poorest 10 percent. Now it is cent at last count) than at the start of heart disease last month in his home in the other way around, with the class WKH ¿QDQFLDO FULVLV LQ SHU- cent). They grow up not in a “land of Yamhill at age 65. gap almost twice that of the race gap. I visited him the day before he died, Consider that 77 percent of adults opportunity,” but in the kind of social- as he was pained and struggling to in the top 25 percent of incomes earn ly rigid hierarchies that our ancestors walk, and I keep thinking of his prodi- a B.A. by age 24. Only 9 percent of ÀHGWKHNLQGRIVRFLHW\LQZKLFK\RXU outcome is largely determined by your gious talents that were never fully de- those in the bottom 25 percent do so. ployed because, in the United States, Yet as Tim Wise notes in a forth- beginning. Now, that’s what the presidential too often the best predictor of where FRPLQJERRN³8QGHUWKH$IÀXHQFH´ we end up is where we start. there’s an “increasingly vituperative candidates should be discussing. By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service Y ‘Black Lives Matter’ and the GOP variably poor and minority First, before the answer, neighborhoods — are then I have a nit to pick with the charged with doing the dirty question. The framing of nly one candidate in last week’s work. The increase in sheer the state of race relations Republican presidential debate numbers of interactions as a “divide,” to my mind, was asked to directly address the creates friction with target- creates a false impression, Black Lives Matter movement, and ed populations and ups the an equivalency. It suggests that candidate was Gov. Scott Walker. odds that individual biases a lateral-ness. But this Moderator Megyn Kelly asked will be introduced. discussion is about verti- Walker: cal-ness, about hierarchy. It Without fail, something is about whether state pow- “Governor Walker, many in the eventually goes horribly Charles er is being used dispropor- Black Lives Matter movement, and wrong. Blow tionately as an oppressive beyond, believe that overly aggres- We look at the end inter- VLYH SROLFH RI¿FHUV WDUJHWLQJ \RXQJ DFWLRQH[DPLQLQJWKHRI¿FHUVIRUELDV and deadly force against minorities African-Americans is the civil rights and the suspect for threatening behav- — particularly black people — in this issue of our time. Do you agree? And ior, rather than looking at the systems country. Carson responded with a prelude if so, how do you plan to address it? If that necessitated the interactions. not, why not?” Society itself is to blame. There is that seemed to label those demand- Walker responded with an answer blood on everyone’s hands, includ- ing justice and equality “purveyors DERXW VXI¿FLHQW WUDLQLQJ RI RI¿FHUV LQJ WKH KDQGV VWLOO FOXWFKLQJ WKH WD[ of hatred” seeking a “race war,” an “not only on the way into their po- revenue that those cities needed but RXWUDJHRXVO\ H[DJJHUDWHG XVH RI LQ- sitions but all the way through their refused to solicit, instead shifting the cendiary rhetoric. Then he said: time” and about “conse- mission of entire po- “What we need to think about in- quences” for those who lice departments “from stead you know, I was asked by an don’t properly perform ‘protect and serve’ to All Lives µSXQLVK DQG SUR¿W¶´ DV NPR — reporter once, why don’t I talk their duties. Both the question Mother Jones magazine about race that often. I said it’s because Matter and the answer focused recently put it in a fas- I’m a neurosurgeon. And she thought may be an inordinate amount cinating article on this that was a strange response. And you say — I said, you see, when I take of attention on police subject. one’s conduct and not enough Is it a coincidence someone to the operating room, I’m ac- on revealing that they many of the recent tually operating on the thing that makes personal that are simply the agents of cases involving black them who they are. The skin doesn’t SROLF\LQVWLWXWHGE\RI¿- position. people killed by the po- make them who they are. The hair cials at the behest of the lice began with stops for doesn’t make them who they are. And it’s time for us to move beyond that.” body politic. minor offenses? 7KLV ZDV DQ HORTXHQW H[SRVLWLRQ 7KLVGH¿FLWRIH[DPLQLQJV\VWHPV 7KLV³¿VFDOPHQDFH´DVWKHPDJD- H[LVWVDOODFURVVWKLVGHEDWH,WIDLOVWR zine called it, is added to a system of- of the absurdity of race as a biologi- LQGLFWVRFLHW\DVDZKROHDV,¿UPO\ ten already addicted to ever-improving cal construct but also an absurdly ele- believe it should. It puts all the focus crime numbers — a statistically unsus- mentary avoidance of racism as a very on the tip of the spear rather than on tainable condition — and a ballooning real social construct. I wish it were that the spear itself. prison population. To maintain the mo- people could all simply “move beyond Look at it this way: Many local mentum, cities needed to crack down that” at will, that they were able to PXQLFLSDOLWLHV H[SHULHQFH EXGJHWDU\ on lower and lower-level crimes, sac- simply choose to slough off the cumu- SUHVVXUH 5DWKHU WKDQ UDLVH WD[HV RU UL¿FLQJPRUHDQGPRUHOLYHV²ODUJHO\ lative accrual of centuries of systemat- cut services in response, things that poor and minority ones — to feed the ic anti-black negativity. But, that is not are often politically unpalatable, they beast. Public safety gave cover for a a power people possess. That is why when people respond turn to law enforcement and courts perversion of justice. to make up the difference in tickets In another moment during the de- to “Black Lives Matter” with “All DQG¿QHV6RPHFDQDOVRLQFUHDVHWKH bate, Kelly asked Ben Carson about Lives Matter,” it grates. All Lives QXPEHURI¿QDEOHRIIHQVHVDQGVWLIIHQ race relations in America and “how Matter may be one’s personal posi- the penalties. divided we seem right now.” She con- tion, but until this country values all 2I¿FHUVDOUHDG\GLVSURSRUWLRQDWH- tinued: “And what, if anything, you lives equally, it is both reasonable and ly deployed and arrayed in so-called FDQGR²\RXZRXOGGRDVWKHQH[W indeed necessary to specify the lives it seems to value less. “high-crime” neighborhoods — in- president to help heal that divide.” By CHARLES M. BLOW New York Times News Service O