Tweet
Lets not confuse the issue. The quality of the people involved is a strawman. Bundy is on record as saying some incredably ignorant rascist remarks...But actually lets look at the irony here: we have a guy on record (Bundy) who lives in a state where much of the money goes to federal programs for people who he knows nothing about...people he still thinks are basically slaves just off the boat who need guidance. What sticks out here is how ignorant this guy is and yet his state is probably more involved with federal issues than issues arising out of the provence!
IMO Government will always swing between extremes of state power and Federal power and this process demands checks and balances. With this said in present day America the federal government controls upwards of 80% of nevada land resources....It differs in some of the other Western states, but not by that much!
So when we look at money issues involving federal land the first question one must ask is do we want diversity or ****genaity? When I was growing up a Black kid from my hood in New York City spoke different, dressed different and acted different than a Black kid from Louisiana for example. Now? Many African American communities in places like Baltimore, Oakland, Chicago are virtually indistinguishable. This bothers me. I am using the AA community because it is an easy demographic to observe...many of these communities also get federal money in large amounts and one can only wonder if there is some desire to ****genize these communities...I would not put it past this government.
So right now, given this large federal land use, regardless of the Bundy's behavoir and their ilk...I think we need states to invest in the activities of their citizens. There is lot of poverty in the western grazing cultures of which the Bundy's are a part...a lot of this is because of horrendous fees charged to cattlemen. I can tell you from experience that in places like Louisiana where the herds are generally smaller, as a land owner what I did, which was the local custom, was to let ranchers graze to clear the land. In places like Nevada most of the resources, federally are used by the cities and one must ask if ranchers should pay higher and higher fees for land that was used freely, to subsidize las Vegas for example.
The issue gets complicated because it does allow for a certain provincial attitude, but there are states that are attractive to people who want to live like a cowboy and have cattle, its part of this country. America is a place where some want to live in a city and others want to live on a ranch and the federal government should not be allowed to create, artificially a situation where a pastime like cattle grazing is no longer available to people who live on land that was always used for that purpose.
I have always felt that with moderation and proper balance of power there is nothing wrong with some federal land...but wiping out ranching as a cultural pastime is far from the only stupid thing the burocrats and special interest groups have done. Los Angeles at one time had the best transportation of any city in America and this country because of special federal entitlement programs and special interests destroyed that system while building highways....the promise was that the car was ultimately a cheaper form of transport....and like with the ranchers we see now how people have been lied to!
The pendulum is too far to the federal government, states need more authority to dictate where money goes and it should be for activities characterizing the state, thats what makes this country great. Ranchers have, on the whole been wiped out because of fees that are too high and pay for entitlement programs in other state jurisdictions....this has little to do with the character of the Bundy's who are idiots.
IMO Government will always swing between extremes of state power and Federal power and this process demands checks and balances. With this said in present day America the federal government controls upwards of 80% of nevada land resources....It differs in some of the other Western states, but not by that much!
So when we look at money issues involving federal land the first question one must ask is do we want diversity or ****genaity? When I was growing up a Black kid from my hood in New York City spoke different, dressed different and acted different than a Black kid from Louisiana for example. Now? Many African American communities in places like Baltimore, Oakland, Chicago are virtually indistinguishable. This bothers me. I am using the AA community because it is an easy demographic to observe...many of these communities also get federal money in large amounts and one can only wonder if there is some desire to ****genize these communities...I would not put it past this government.
So right now, given this large federal land use, regardless of the Bundy's behavoir and their ilk...I think we need states to invest in the activities of their citizens. There is lot of poverty in the western grazing cultures of which the Bundy's are a part...a lot of this is because of horrendous fees charged to cattlemen. I can tell you from experience that in places like Louisiana where the herds are generally smaller, as a land owner what I did, which was the local custom, was to let ranchers graze to clear the land. In places like Nevada most of the resources, federally are used by the cities and one must ask if ranchers should pay higher and higher fees for land that was used freely, to subsidize las Vegas for example.
The issue gets complicated because it does allow for a certain provincial attitude, but there are states that are attractive to people who want to live like a cowboy and have cattle, its part of this country. America is a place where some want to live in a city and others want to live on a ranch and the federal government should not be allowed to create, artificially a situation where a pastime like cattle grazing is no longer available to people who live on land that was always used for that purpose.
I have always felt that with moderation and proper balance of power there is nothing wrong with some federal land...but wiping out ranching as a cultural pastime is far from the only stupid thing the burocrats and special interest groups have done. Los Angeles at one time had the best transportation of any city in America and this country because of special federal entitlement programs and special interests destroyed that system while building highways....the promise was that the car was ultimately a cheaper form of transport....and like with the ranchers we see now how people have been lied to!
The pendulum is too far to the federal government, states need more authority to dictate where money goes and it should be for activities characterizing the state, thats what makes this country great. Ranchers have, on the whole been wiped out because of fees that are too high and pay for entitlement programs in other state jurisdictions....this has little to do with the character of the Bundy's who are idiots.
Comment