I read with interest the fine article by Amber Napiwocki in The Tribune extolling the virtues of our fair city. Everything the author says is true — but it shouldn’t be publicized and articles such as this one should never see the light of day.
Instead, we should focus all of our energies on the negatives of living in Salt Lake City, because that may discourage others from moving here from less satisfactory places.
Thus, for example, we might rightly point out that we have only limited supplies of water, and that’s only going to be exacerbated if people decide to move here on the basis of articles like this one. We might also suggest that the Great Salt Lake is literally drying up, and that this process will soon be completed and blow copious amounts of foul air into our city from the arsenic-laden lakebed. This alarmist concept might discourage at least a few people from moving here.
Then, too, we might suggest that the predominant religion here is exceptionally unfriendly to those of us who refuse to join them. This is, of course, utterly false, but if it discourages a few people from moving here it might be seen as the kind of salutary white lie that ensures a good result.
Many years back, a former governor of Oregon encouraged people to visit his state and spend lots of money there, but he bravely and openly discouraged those same people from actually moving there. How I wish that our own Gov. Spencer Cox had the courage to do the same!
Thomas N. Thompson, Salt Lake City
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