Pioneer Spirit

Some friends and I rode our bikes up past Shaver Lake as part of a fundraiser for Valley Children's Hospital. It was a nice day for a ride, until we headed home. (The air conditioning on my motorcycle wasn't working.) We took the back we around Huntington Lake. The scenery was beautiful and the air was cool. The route is called Big Creek Road and goes past the old electric power generating plants.

These plants are amazing if you think about it. Without modern computers they designed, installed and operated hydro power plants generations ago. Do you think these plants would ever get through the permit process today?
   This reminded me of a couple of radio pieces I did last year.

Pioneer Spirit

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright February 2013

            Can you imagine the heroes in John Wayne movies if they saw what is happening in the country today?

            My hat’s off to those of you who still have that can do, pioneer spirit. This country was built, at least in the West, by those who faced enormous problems and made a go of it.

            Can you imagine a John Wayne character going to the government after problems with a cattle drive?

            Yes, I know life isn’t like a movie. Got it. That’s just an illustration. What I want to commend is the pioneer, ‘can do’ spirit that built this country. Yes, I understand all the criticisms of Manifest Destiny, etc.  I am not addressing that. I am saying there is an enormous, qualitative difference between the people who built this country and us today. In that comparison I’m not sure we look all that good.

The immigrants who came to this country in the 19^th Century faced tremendous hurdles just getting here. Can you imagine putting all your worldly belongings on a boat and sailing for nine weeks just to cross the Atlantic? That was only the beginning of the trip. Then they had to load up and start walking across the country. I’m tired thinking about it.

I think we still need some of that pioneer spirit to solve the problems we face today.

Pioneer Spirit II

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright February 2013

Recently I talked about the Pioneer Spirit.

The contrast is today’s response—one minor hiccup and people are suing each other or running with their hands out for government help. John Stossel criticizes himself and the government. Being a famous and rich reporter he has a beach front home that has been damaged twice by hurricanes. Each time the government---that means you and me---have helped him rebuild his beach front, luxury, second home. This is crazy. Even Stossel admits this is crazy.

            I get it. We are not a society of lone rangers. We live in community. Our high-tech world is more complex and inter-dependent than the world of the 19 Century. But, I think that calls for more, not less, of the pioneer spirit that made this country great.

            The world makes fun of Americans being a bunch of cowboys. People vote with their feet. Have you noticed where people all over the world are migrating to? They are not migrating to China or Cuba. People all over the world want to come to the U. S., not because it is like home, but because it is different. Today’s immigrants still see the U. S. as the land of opportunity.

Weeds

We spend a fair amount of time each year killing weeds. Not by choice. This is a picture of grass growing up around young cantaloupe plants.

If you remember Scripture, apparently we have had weeds since the moment we were tossed out of Eden. In Genesis 3 God's curse to Adam for eating the fruit is-

"Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you"

Genesis 3:17-18

   For those of you who question Scripture, I live with this reality almost every day of the year. Either we are killing weeds, we just killed weeds, or we are planning to kill weeds. This is no joke. Weeds block out the plants we are trying to grow. Weeds take water and nutrients that should go to the crop we are trying to grow. They make a mess in our harvesters when we are trying to pick cotton and they lower the quality of our crops.

   There are two ways to kill weeds, and neither one involves wishful thinking. Those things just will not kill themselves. We can either kill then mechanically or chemically. Those are our two choices. Like I said, they just will not kill themselves.

   To kill them mechanically we use shovels, hoes, mechanical cultivators and plows. It takes a lot of sweat, muscle power, diesel and raises a lot of dust.

    In the old days mechanically killing weeds was all we had. Today we can kill them chemically. Many non-farmers freak out when we mention herbicides. I get it. There was a time before I started farming. But, as I mentioned earlier, the weeds will not kill themselves and they have to be eliminated.  Yes, I us herbicides. Not necessarily because I want to. Nobody could want to farm organically more than I do. But, because the weeds gotta go. [A side note- there is one other way to kill weeds. Burn them. An organic almond grower I know burns weeds instead of using herbicide. You organic types tell me- is that a good trade off? He is using less herbicide. But, isn't that affecting greenhouse gases? Sometimes those are the choices you get. But, I digress.] 

    I just wanted you to know we still have to deal with the basics. To grow your food I have to kill weeds---and my choices are limited.

For those of you who are concerned about the tools of modern agriculture I will repeat the following quote-

Wise Words from Dixie Lee Ray

Dixie Lee Ray was the former Governor of the State of Washington and the Chairwoman of the Atomic Energy Commission. As a farmer I have sure appreciated the words she wrote in her book, Environmental Overkill.

         “Sometime in the future, when all the accomplishments of the 20^th century are recorded for posterity, it will finally be acknowledged that our greatest achievement by far has been the introduction of high-tech, high-yield agriculture. Measured in terms of benefit to human society, an adequate diet of nutritious, abundant and affordable food eclipses all other developments of this most remarkable century. Neither computer technology nor transistors, robotics, advances in communication and transportation, life saving antibiotics and modern medicine, nuclear energy, synthetics, plastics and the entire petrochemical industry rank as high in importance as the advances in food production. And all these other wonderful breakthroughs probably would not have happened without a well fed population.”

                                                              p.67

                                                              Environmental Overkill

                                                              Dixie Lee Ray

                                                              Regnery Gateway

                                                              1993

Water is Life

Irrigation, Native Americans and Us
By Paul H. Betancourt
copyright May 2012

                  One of the things I have long wanted to see is a liberal watching a Native American hunting an endangered species. Which side would they root for? They support Native Americans’ right to their culture and they want to protect all the critters.

            Well there’s a real life case similar to that. On April 30th NPR reported that Native Americans in Montana won a court case that requires the federal government to build them a $400M irrigation project. Imagine that- irrigation isn’t all bad after all.

            One of the tribal elders interviewed for the report said, “In our culture, water is life.” Guess what? Water is life in our culture too!

            I know Native Americans have suffered at the hands of government bureaucrats far longer than I have. But, I hope their case helps as a precedent here in the Valley. Irrigation cannot be good for them and bad for us.

            Water is life. Our bodies are over 60% water. You can live longer without food than you can live without water. Water is the precious resource of life and we are foolish when we fight over it. We need to learn to treasure water as life, and care for it as the precious resource it is. Water is life.