To the Editor:

In this week that we celebrate Earth Day, I’d like to make a few observations.

In her book on the Tea Party, Strangers in Their Own Land, Arlie Russell Hochschild compares what she calls “the high road” to prosperity, versus “the low road.” Politicians of both parties are choosing to sell one or the other agenda to different states or regions of the country.

The high road can be seen in places like Washington state, where investments are made in the quality of life, good schools, updated infrastructure (including high-speed internet), clean air, pristine water and copious opportunities for outdoor recreation.

The low road is a strategy that does just the opposite. It is based on cutting spending on all the assets mentioned above.

In the short run the low road can reap some impressive results, like bringing in mining and drilling (and now fracking) operations, and the highly polluting plants that follow. But in the long road the results are miserable. 

The land is left spoiled. Traditional occupations like farming are drastically reduced. The money is boom and bust. The businesses that swoop in like vultures won’t even ask their executives to live in the affected states, so most of the high salaries (touted so eagerly by the politicians) end up flowing to other states (high road states), or even foreign countries.

Looking at the voting records of our representative in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, and at many of our local county commissions and city governments, we can see that the low road is being pushed upon us. All is not lost, however, as there is strong recognition that Western North Carolina is not the place for it.

In the long run, our greater prosperity is linked to keeping WNC on the high road to the future.

Boyd Holliday

Lake Junaluska