Crazy Oregonians
Oregonian
Each part of the country has its own regional and local flavor, the personality of the people and cultures beat in tune to a slightly different drummer depending on where you live. A sense of identity seems infectious as those living within the state proudly proclaim themselves Oregonians. Living in the natural splendor of this diverse and amazing Northwest environment is a very important part of being an Oregonian. No matter where you live in the state, there are things to be quite proud of and they almost all come from the climate of where we live. Great monumental works of art and culture, the tallest of buildings or historical sites don’t hold the same stature in our Pacific Northwest. Our history and our pride comes from the environment we live in, from the majestic wilderness, our mountains and valleys, the farmland and coastal areas all seep into every aspect of our daily lives.
Yet, in this ever connected world where the concerns of outsiders and the rest of the world becomes our concerns. Where Oregonians interbreed with Californians and the rest of the nation, we have grown into a larger and more complex state. Somewhere along the way, or perhaps it was always there, our independence and individuality of living out West, has made us a bit odd. And that oddness has never been a bad thing, until it seems now.
Recently, I’ve noticed we are no longer odd ducks to just the rest of the country, where we like our gas pumped for us, and hate sales taxes. Now, we are becoming estranged from one another and we aren’t even making choices that are in our own best interest. At times it seems as if we are more concerned with fitting in with the rest of the nation that our own voice is getting lost. Our sense of who and what we are is getting lost in the shuffle of growth. Growth isn’t a bad thing, it is a part of the natural order of a modern, or seemingly modern society. The issue isn’t growth, but what we are growing into. Our ideas while once radical and oddball have become provincial and small minded. We have opinions on a state and national scale but our concerns are still over ourselves, and screw your neighborhood farmer. We want to protect the spotted owl but not our friends.
Why can’t we do both? Why must we seem like environmental activists instead of neighborhood naturalists trying to protect our land and people jointly? Instead we vilify anyone who is not us and we pass judgment on things that don’t really concern us directly, or that we know little or nothing about. If a person doesn’t have the decency to learn a bit about a subject before decreeing what should be done about it, then we have all become petty despots and tyrants using our freedom of speech for nothing but name calling and our vote as a battering ram. We are free but what we chose to do with that freedom is the mark of a civilized nation. To squander the rights we have is to spit on every person who has none.
But I’ve gotten off track. In Oregon we don’t really have liberal and conservative, Democrat or Republican. The concerns of the parties don’t fit the concerns of Oregonians, but that’s okay we’ve always been a little odd here in the Pacific Northwest. The problem is Oregonians are too ----. .
