Joel asks, "how do we go about building that respect?"
I think it is to late for these intransigent. We need to make it part of
our education system from kindergarten on. Start with the children--they
are everyone's future.
Craig Miller
On Mar 17, 2016 12:23 PM, "Joel Geier" <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2016/03/09/stewart-joins-chaffetz-call-disarm-federal-agencies/81561532/
Thanks, Paulette, for the follow-up posting.
It's enlightening to see how this narrative is playing in southern
Utah:
http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2016/03/09/stewart-joins-chaffetz-call-disarm-federal-agencies/81561532/
In particular, it's interesting how -- when trying to give an example of
BLM "terrorism," the first thing that comes to mind for these people is
the outcome of a "sting" operation aimed at people who were basically
looting Native burial sites to gather artifacts, either for their own
personal collections or for sale.
If you follow the link to the L.A. Times article that's cited:
http://graphics.latimes.com/utah-sting/
it gives a very sympathetic treatment of the looters, suggesting that
the entire case hinged on one little shell pendant that wasn't all that
"valuable," in terms of the antiquities market.
But if you peel away the reporter's gauzy descriptions -- including a
suggestion that these collectors/looters do it because they feel a
personal "mystical" connection with the ancient people who lived there)
it's clear that the woman at the center of this case was a habitual
offender.
She and her husband had previously been cautioned by an archaeologist
friend, and once even escaped prosecution for digging on a state-owned
site where human bones were found, and would even go as far as looting
an infant burial site:
“Oh, I found that in Cottonwood Canyon at the baby cave … Baby
Mummy Cave is what they call it,” she said, referring to a cave
on federal land south of town. “Five babies were buried there,”
she continued, as agents listened from a truck nearby. “That's
where the pipe came from, and the basket.” / “There still
mummies in there?” Gardiner asked. / “There are still, a few....
There was a skull in there the other day.”
The L.A. Times reporter does his best to portray this sting operation as
a case of entrapment by a dissolute informant, and suggest that this
woman wasn't in it for the money, and didn't even want to sell
anything.
But when she did make the sale that led directly to her prosecution, she
haggled to get an extra $100 on the deal! Looks to me like a classic
case of, "oh no, that's not really for sale ..." as a tactic to get a
higher sale price.
But because her arrest and prosecution following the sting (along with
her husband as an accomplice on one count) seems to have triggered her
husband's suicide, she becomes the "victim" and the BLM becomes the
Gestapo.
I can see how this narrative of "human lives destroyed by bureaucrats"
can be a powerful one, at least for people who have no sense of respect
for the people from the older culture of that region. It also works for
people who have no respect for the natural environment.
How do we go about building that respect?
Joel
Wed, 16 Mar 2016 17:55:21 -0700
Subject: [boo] Oops- here's the new link
From: Paulette Filz <paulettefilz@xxxxxxxxx>
Didn't mean to double post. But here is a new link about how
far legislators in Utah have gone to dismantle the BLM. P.
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