Wallowa.com
OPINION
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
A5
United we stand, divided we fall
ON LIBERTY
Devin Patton
H
umans are communal beings.
Healthy communities provide indi-
viduals with a sense of meaning,
belonging and security. Our innate long-
ing to be part of a community goes back
thousands of years and is demonstrated in
this present age by the desire to connect
with people with whom we share common
interests.
Some of the most enthusiastic communi-
ties we see today are united around a shared
love for a sports team or a political ideol-
ogy, but virtually any sort of common inter-
est can serve as the impetus for the develop-
ment of a community.
Until recently, the American Idea was
one such common interest; it united indi-
viduals with diverse religious, cultural,
geographical and political affi liations, and
served as an example to the world that a
nation can thrive even when its citizens are
not united by a shared cultural heritage,
religion or geography.
Unfortunately, this sense of unity is
being eroded before our very eyes. Tribal-
ism is destroying our nation. If we cannot
stop the descent into tribal warfare, we will
become an uncivilized nation characterized
by warring factions and disharmony.
The human drive for connection is evi-
dent at birth and infl uences human behavior
throughout the course of development. As
teens, we all witnessed the power of “peer
pressure.” Our instinctive need for connec-
tion and social acceptance developed over
the course of thousands of years and serves
to protect us and provide meaning and a
sense of belonging. However, because this
need for connection is so instinctive, we
naturally fall into social groups, cliques
and clubs without much conscious thought.
We may even fi nd ourselves a member of
a “tribe” or gang, pitted against groups that
are perceived as threatening.
Consultant and author Alan Weiss, of
Summit Consulting Group Inc., makes an
apt distinction between communities and
tribes, stating: “Communities are inclusion-
ary. They are characterized by common
attitudes, interests, and goals. Religion,
beliefs, kinship and opinions can diff er
starkly in communities and, in fact, give
them vibrancy and dynamism, allowing for
continued experimentation and growth. …
Tribes are exclusionary. They recognize
their own members’ similarities and com-
mon background … generally seeing others
as enemies at worst and inferiors at best.”
Understanding the diff erences between
healthy community involvement and tribal-
ism is vital to a healthy civilization and pro-
tects us from unwittingly becoming perpe-
trators of dehumanizing behavior.
America, in her prime, was a commu-
nity of people united around the beliefs
that “all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with cer-
tain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happi-
ness.” Lady Liberty and the fl ag stood for
something exceptional — an idea that tran-
scended culture, religion or political affi l-
iation. Even from the beginning, there has
always been debate over the relative eff ec-
tiveness of a centralized government as
opposed to a decentralized government
emphasizing state sovereignty, but the prin-
ciples of America’s founding documents
were never questioned. Until recently,
political discourse centered around how
to best live out the tenets set forth in our
founding documents — the principles
themselves were not criticized or threat-
ened. America was a nation of rich diver-
sity, strengthened by various perspectives
about how to achieve our commonly held
goal.
Today’s cultural and political climate is
quite diff erent. Instead of lively discourse
arising within a community united around
shared principles, a form of neotribalism
has taken root. The political elites have
skillfully taken advantage of our desire for
connection and have created new tribes,
using fear to pit us against one another.
They’ve formed these tribes based on char-
acteristics like race, sexual orientation/gen-
der identity and vaccination status. They
garner support by claiming they alone have
the solutions to our problems. They encour-
age us to demonize members of other tribes,
reminding us that “the others” are threaten-
ing our well-being. It’s the storyline from
the Disney movie “Pocahontas,” and it’s
pitiful.
What’s worse, tribalism is impact-
ing families and small communities like
our own. We have editorials in our paper
that group nearly 40% of the U.S. popu-
lation into a neat little category called the
“unvaxxed,” which is basically the same as
being a murderer. Never mind that unvacci-
nated people may possess natural immunity
from a prior infection. Never mind that they
have religious beliefs that compel them to
decline the vaccine. Never mind that they
may lack access to the resources needed to
get the vaccine. Never mind that they are
humans capable of making their own medi-
cal decisions.
We do the same thing with religion, pol-
itics, abortion, Black Lives Matter and gay/
trans rights; we segregate people into cat-
egories created by the political elites, label
and dehumanize them, and then disown
them from our communities and sometimes
even our own families.
It’s impossible to negotiate with some-
one seeking your demise. Similarly, it’s
impossible to engage in productive dis-
course with people who believe the Amer-
ican Idea is fundamentally corrupt. These
people fail to see that it is impossible to
improve on the idea that “all men are cre-
ated equal.” The fundamental princi-
ples outlined in our founding documents
should be the basis for political discourse
and decision making. Without unity around
America’s founding principles, we are vul-
nerable to infl uence from divisive forces,
both internally and externally. We need to
unite around a common belief in the Amer-
ican Idea, and save our tribal warring for
things of less consequence, like college
football.
———
Devin Patton is a third-generation
Wallowa County native whose pastimes
include the study of ag economics, history
and free thought.
Guess what is coming to a bank near you?
LAYIN’ IT ON
THE LINE
Steve Kerby
C
hanges are coming to our banking
system and to us. Maybe it is time to
embrace the future, since the future
is now.
What appears to be foreign will
become commonplace, and you might as
well get ready for it. Cryptocurrencies
and decentralized fi nance are all the rage
right now, and you’ve probably heard of
things like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
However, the real story lies in the
mechanism that drives these new tech-
nologies and forever changes the digi-
tal landscape. This is where blockchain
enters the picture, the novel technology
that enables things like cryptocurrency to
exist in the way they do.
What is a blockchain, and what is with
all the hype?
To put it simply, a blockchain is a
type of digital database that can be used
to catalog all kinds of information (e.g.,
money, goods, properties, services and
votes).
Digital databases are powered by a
network of computers that are either part
of a centralized or decentralized net-
work. A blockchain database is funda-
mentally diff erent from a traditional data-
base because instead of organizing data
into tables, it creates blocks of data that
are then chained together. Each of these
blocks is timestamped and is connected
to the chain before and after it.
Bitcoin uses blockchain to record
peer-to-peer transactions through a dis-
tributed database. This distributed data-
base exists between the computers of
all users of the cryptocurrency. The idea
is that having the database distributed
amongst all the users allows for greater
transparency and enhanced security. It
gives users the ability to access, audit,
trace, and verify digital assets without
having to work through a middleman. By
cutting down on intermediaries, block-
chain cryptocurrencies put the power to
control data back in consumers’ hands.
Why are cryptocurrencies more
secure?
The old adage “don’t put all of your
eggs in one basket” sums it up. Like
banks and universities, many institutions
that possess valuable and personal con-
sumer information operate using a cen-
tral database. This information is stored
within a centralized network of comput-
ers that are housed in one location.
All that data is controlled by one
entity and is more vulnerable to hacks
because it would require only a sin-
gle point of failure to gain access. For a
potential attacker to compromise a dis-
tributed database like Bitcoin, they would
have to gain control of at least 50% of
the computers within that network. Even
then, the other 50% can fact check and
sniff out discrepancies, making it very
unlikely that a hack would ever occur.
Why is this important when it comes
to managing digital assets?
• No third-party involvement.
• Transactions of authenticated digital
assets made via blockchain are typically
available in 10 minutes.
• A traditional bank transaction can
take 24 hours or more to complete, not
including weekends and holidays.
• Blockchain technology guaran-
tees the integrity of all the data through
cryptography and through a distributed
database.
Why is this important to us now? This
is the evolution of our data future, and
the future of all banks is being reshaped
by new technology and it is happening
now.
Protecting and maintaining control of
data is more critical now than ever. Just
in the past few years, we have seen major
companies like Facebook, LinkedIn and
Morgan Stanley impacted by massive
data breaches aff ecting millions of users.
Blockchain technology is making waves
in the digital world by providing much
needed security measures and by giving
them the power to control data back to
consumers.
Digital? Yes, your bank is now 100%
digital; it is now our future.
Be informed.
———
As an avid outdoorsman, Joseph and
the Wallowa area have been a big part of
Steve Kerby’s life since 1964. Steve is a
Syndicated Columnists member, a national
organization committed to a transpar-
ent approach to money management. Visit
stevekerby.retirevillage.com or call
503-936-3535 for more.
The River Democracy Act spells trouble for Wallowa County’s future
OTHER VIEWS
Alicia Andrus
I
’m a retired Forest Service employee
with decades of experience writing
environmental documents about Wal-
lowa County. I’m uniquely qualifi ed to
understand what Sen. Ron Wyden’s River
Democracy Act means for our county.
When a batch of Wild and Scenic rivers
were designated in 1988, I helped write
river management plans and later formed
projects to comply with those plans.
I can readily state that Wild and Sce-
nic river designations will further limit
logging, fuels reduction, livestock graz-
ing, recreation and public access on pub-
lic lands, despite the senator’s claim to
the contrary. For the private lands that get
swept up into Wild and Scenic designa-
tion, landowners will see limits on how
they manage their own property. This bill
will destabilize our already shaky agri-
culture and farm-based economy, not at
fi rst, but incrementally over time in ways
that we’ll only recognize in the rear-view
mirror.
The River Democracy Act is pro-
moted as protection for our important
water resources. We all love the idea of
clean water, but how much protection is
enough? Because of our already intact
and healthy streams, Wallowa County
is home base for many threatened and
endangered ocean-going and resident
fi sh. We have so much habitat that more
and more of it goes unoccupied. Despite
ambitious hatchery programs, a dwin-
dling number of ocean-going fi sh survive
their trip to the ocean and back. Fewer
and fewer even make it back to the fi rst
dam at Bonneville. Fisheries biologists
now talk about extirpation for several
fi sh runs, which means extinction is on
the horizon. Meanwhile, the resident fi sh
populations of Wallowa County are sta-
ble. The problem is not Wallowa County
water quality — something’s happening
downstream.
I outlined many concerns about the
bill in a letter to the senator, but my letter
was never acknowledged. So I attended
the Senate Natural Resource subcommit-
tee video hearing on this proposed bill.
With enthusiasm, the senator described
the process used to form this bill as a
new way for citizens in his far-away state
to participate in Washington, D.C., gov-
ernment through the wonders of the inter-
net. He named it The Oregon Way.
I’ve concluded that The Oregon Way
is just a means for the laptop class to
force legislation on an unsuspecting
working class. Here’s how it appears to
work.
In October 2019, the senator
announces an opportunity to nominate
streams as Wild and Scenic rivers. Done
without a lot of fanfare, but with extra
circulation to tribal staff and environmen-
tal activist groups, the senator receives
a robust response of nominated streams.
No one objects to the idea of add-
ing streams to the Wild and Scenic sys-
tem because they don’t hear about it. He
claims to compile and whittle down the
nominations, although he won’t substan-
tiate that claim now with any evidence.
He reads a draft bill into the Senate
record in February 2021, which is the
fi rst alert to rural counties that substan-
tial portions of public and private land
are subject to this bill. He holds a Sen-
ate hearing and recruits one enthusias-
tic supporter with a side-hustle as a live-
stock operator to speak for the entire
grazing industry and repeatedly amplifi es
her statements of support with “and she’s
a rancher!”
After the hearing, his staff ers go
through the motions of talking with those
in opposition, but change nothing in
the bill. The senator hosts a video con-
ference to supposedly listen to oppos-
ing opinions, but only the preapproved
are allowed to speak, most of whom sup-
port the bill. Anyone daring to question
the bill in the online chat session gets
swarmed by bill supporters.
Such is Sen. Wyden’s Oregon Way.
Even more alarming is that he told the
Senate subcommittee that he plans to use
this process on future legislation.
Residents often share that they enjoy
Wallowa County for its high-quality
environmental resources and for its fami-
ly-friendly communities.
Without natural resource-based jobs,
our family friendly communities wither.
Sen. Wyden’s bill is unraveling the very
fabric of Wallowa County that its resi-
dents hold dear.
For those of you who support this
bill because it promises to give us clean,
cool water, you might pause and con-
sider whether we already have clean, cool
water. You might be advocating for a bill
that will incrementally improve water
quality at the price of our family-owned
farms, tree farms and ranches that are an
integral part of our custom and culture.
Dissolved family farms are usually taken
over by trophy homes, corporate farming
or government land acquisition.
Is this the future you want for Wal-
lowa County?
I thank our county commissioners who
see the risks and are informing the sen-
ator and his staff that Wallowa County
wants none of its streams included in the
River Democracy Act. I also question
Sen. Wyden’s intentions and want no part
of his perverse distortion of representa-
tive government that he calls The Ore-
gon Way.
———
Alicia Andrus was attracted to Wallowa
County for the scenery and has stayed 40
years for the people. She’s retired from her
Forest Service job as a planner and her
private practice as a land surveyor.