With Super Tuesday in the rear view mirror and the dust beginning to settle, there is one indisputable truth. The north and the south still don’t see eye to eye.
To much of the nation, California is one big state filled with sunshine, beaches, palm trees and Hollywood starlets. But to those of us who call this place home, California is a state divided and there was no clearer advertisement for a mid section separation than the results of Tuesday’s hotly contested political battles. While folks in the north were voting yes for Obama and no on casinos, the south went the other way. Unfortunately, so did the vote. The problem of course could be summed up with simple math, there are many more people who live in So Cal.
Presidentially speaking, there’s still a long way to go. While the Republican candidate seems to be taking shape, the Democratic party remains divided and only time will tell who will emerge to take the stage at the convention. Frankly, what concerned me more was the vote in favor of allowing the expansion of the Indian casinos.
Let me be honest from the start. I’m not a gambler. I don’t enjoy losing money that I have to work awfully hard to get and there are always about a zillion other things I can think of to spend my money on rather than feeding it to a one armed bandit. Perhaps, if I did enjoy gambling, I’d feel differently, but I doubt it.
Years ago I lived on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in the bustling town of Ashland, Montana. I’m convinced that the term “the middle of nowhere” was actually coined by someone traveling to Ashland. Suffice to say, it is a long way from anywhere and the town consists of a barbershop, a cafe, two bars, a grocery store, a gas station and a post office. What more could you want?
This scenic locale is one of many terrific locations that our government gave to the Indians many years ago as a “peace offering” for having stolen their land in the first place. In the absence of work, many of the young people leave the reservation for school or employment, never to return. For those who stay, life is hard. Without resources for jobs or training, many live on government supplement checks known as per capita payments that arrive periodically in the mail. It’s not enough to live on, just enough to keep them prisoners in a jail of tumbleweeds, inadequate housing and alcohol abuse. You didn’t have to live there very long to figure out what was going on. It was shameful and hard not to feel just the slightest bit guilty.
Sure we’re in trouble. There is no doubt that we are in dire need of resources to get us out of this financial mess we’re in. Do we really want to balance the budget on the backs of our indigenous people? Don't they deserve better? Surely there's got to be another way.
What is it they say in gambling? The house usually wins?