Today, and for decades past, when Utah congressional representatives talk about public lands management, they have only one perspective: What’s in it for Utah?
In this restricted view, the only correct measuring rod for any proposal intended to serve the national interest is its predicted impact, real or imagined, on Utah residents; and viewed through this political lens, every impact will be terrible.
And what do Utah representatives seek? They seek to increase their own political power. The quickest and easiest way to increase political power is to create fear and alarm in the public mind, by fueling division, and by identifying the source of the threat as “outsiders.” There is not a conflict in the world that does not feature this strategy. All that is required is for political actors to consistently identify the “national interest” as the threat.
Decades ago, nearly all Utah politicians realized that this strategy, applied to public lands management in the West, was the path to permanent political power. Whether a proposal was good or bad from a national perspective was a taboo topic. Every impact, real or imagined, that might flow from a new proposal was viewed as an existential threat to the Utah way of life, and proponents of the national interest were identified as the source of the threat.
Utahns are better than this, and we should hold our representatives to a higher standard. It’s time we accepted that we are members of a greater union, citizens of the United States, bound together by a common history and a commitment to the collective good, and that we are all engaged in the great adventure of determining, day by day by our own words and actions, the truth of the words found on every dollar bill, “E pluribus unum.”
Scott Berry, Salt Lake City / Torrey / Boulder
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible