| Nevada quarter dollar proof, courtesy U.S. Mint. |
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| Will the Libertarian State endure being free-spirited? |
By Robert L. Candiotti May 2, 2010 Updated May 18/29, and July 29, 2010 From
time to time, I look closely at Nevada's quarter dollar coin.
Of all the United States' twenty-five cent pieces, Nevada's is one of my very favorites. Wild, uncorralled horses - healthy and untamed - are running beneath a dazzling dawn. For Nevada, the "Libertarian State," the image on the quarter of the wild horses is appropriate. As a Southern Nevada resident for 12 years now, I feel there has been a libertarian influence on my political
philosophy, and, perhaps, even my personality. Nevada lays it out pretty
simply: Here's your freedom. Take what you want and what you can handle. But do not shirk from your responsibilities, and always maintain
your respect for others.
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In the Las Vegas Sun, on February 10, 2010, there was a story by Steve Kanigher titled
"Las Vegas Monorail could seek partnership with Chinese." Immediately,
I did not like the idea of Communist China - built upon political viewpoints that are 180 degrees from libertarianism
- buying into Nevada transportation infrastructure. Picturing getting around
to various Strip casinos via an elevated monorail in Las Vegas owned by Communist China seems rather - and this
is no exaggeration, I think - surreal.
| Courtesy Sam Morris, Las Vegas Sun. |
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| Will there be a Nevada-China wind turbine partnership? |
Zeng Wei, party secretary of the Shenyang Municipal Committee of
the Communist Party of China, at the Las Vegas announcement on April 27, 2010, of China's A-Power Energy Generation Systems'
wind-turbine plant partnerships in Nevada. Two months earlier, on February 10, 2010, there was also a story in the Las Vegas Sun about Las Vegas Monorail
Company's possible consideration of partnership with China.
| Courtesy futureatlas. |
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| Las Vegas Monorail could seek Chinese investment. |
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Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines surrealism
as "incongruous imagery" through "unnatural juxtaposition." Libertarian
Nevada establishing partnerships with Communist China creates palpable surrealism. For
me, the juxtaposition of the land of wild horses with the country of Chairman Mao easily can be seen to be strange
and surreal.
| The Odd Couple - Uncle Sam and Chairman Mao. |
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| Courtesy Economist magazine. |
The "unnatural juxtaposition" (part of Webster's definition of surrealism) of Nevada
and Communist China in the Las Vegas Monorail business was instantly unappealing. Then, just a few days ago, on April 28, 2010, in another Las Vegas
Sun story by Richard N. Velotta titled "Planned wind-turbine plant gathers gust of momentum," I read that
a Chinese manufacturer of wind turbines will build a plant in Southern Nevada. The
story begins by explaining the plant could provide 1000 jobs, and 50,000 tons of U.S.-manufactured steel would be used for
construction. Reading the article, I was instantly skeptical. That was even
before I read that a "party secretary of the Shenyang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China" spoke.
He said that wind-turbine project is an "important first step." An
important first step? Wait a second. Is this the best we can do? Develop partnerships with the Communist Chinese? Chinese Communist Party official Zeng Wei, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and others at the gathering praised
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for drawing the Communist China plant to Nevada. Salazar, reports Sun writer Velotta, said Nevada Senator Reid "is a tireless worker for the creation
of jobs here in Nevada." In my thinking, it would be far better if Reid
tried harder for Nevada to create jobs that are extensions of U.S. companies, rather than ones from Communist China.
The evidence makes
me think the global influence of the West is bound to recede under the worldwide onslaught of China. The Chinese are smart,
and they are very hard workers. Their discipline is almost stunningly impressive. And they cannot be more serious about their
expansion.
| Chinese East is set with patience and planning. |
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| Deng XiaoPing, former Communist Party leader, said to China "hide your brightness, bide your time." |
In the "China's
Private Party" article, written by Richard McGregor in the May 15-16, 2010, Wall Street Journal, a statement
by former Communist Party of China leader Deng Xiaoping made about 20 years ago surely applies to China today. McGregor writes
that Deng Xiaoping's "crafty stratagem" advised his country's leaders: "hide your brightness, bide your
time."
It's not that I dislike the Chinese. I have thoroughly enjoyed the majority of
Chinese people that I have met since I became internationalized in the 1980s . China has an extraordinary culture and history. Yet, the Chinese are different than us. Saying that China is of the East is an
important statement that goes far beyond geography. The American West could not be further away from Beijing, again
speaking past mere geography. Right now, I think those who appreciate Nevada's libertarian personality should think deeply
about the need to maintain the wild mustang quality of the state. Wild mustangs running freely in wide-open country. In how many places in the world does this cultural
image exist? Not only is it difficult for the Chinese to understand libertarianism's life view, but it also, I am sure, is
hard for them to ever feel comfortable with Nevada's sense of liberty and personal responsibility rooted in freedom.
| American West lives like wild horses. |
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| Free as mustangs, Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack sang, "Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away." |
The Chinese say
their wind farm in Nevada would have 1000 jobs. Who would they hire? Who would be the managers and supervisors? What kind
of work environment would it be? What rights would the workers have? Would there be any hiring prejudices? In the part of the world known as the American West, free-wheeling, free-thinking, freedom-loving
Nevada can be thought of as the Western heart of the West.
Business partnerships between Nevada and China to me do seem to be surreal. In Martin Jacques' When China Rules the World, the writer clearly states dominance of the West
will diminish.
Jacques writes, "The West will progressively discover, to its acute discomfort, that
the world is no longer Western...The United States is entering a protracted period of economic, political and military trauma.
It finds itself on the eve of a psychological, emotional and existential crisis. Its medium-term reaction is unlikely to be
pretty: the world must hope it not too ugly."
I do conclude Nevada should think long and hard about establishing business partnerships with Communist China. And Nevada
needs to look at its libertarian history with fresh eyes.
To me, though I certainly do not claim to be the most intelligent student of Nevada culture, Nevada should ponder anew the
unique qualities of freedom and liberty that it possesses.
No question, China is on a roll. As stated in Wall Street Journal's "China Private Party" story, "The
rise of China is a genuine mega-trend, a phenomenon with the ability to remake the world economy, sector by sector. That it
is presided over by a communist party makes it even more jarring for a Western world, which, only a few years previously,
was feasting on notions of the end of history and the triumph of liberal democracy."
| Photograph by Daryl L. Hunter. |
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| Sierra Nevada cattle ranch in the wide open spaces of the Libertarian State. |
| Photograph by Fabio Miola. |
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| Dazzling Las Vegas Strip from the connecting bridge between New York, New York and MGM Grand. |
| Photograph by Ken Lund. |
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| Nevada is defined by many different types of Libertarian freedoms, including freedom of movement. |
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