| Rediscovering What's Always Been There |
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The other day I read that 125,000 gorillas were
discovered living in a swamp in the Congo. Wow! How do you hide that
many gorillas in this day and age? When I told my eight-year-old about
the amazing gorilla discovery, he said, "Really? That's fantastic! Now
the gorillas won't go extinct, will they? If gorillas went extinct I
would cry for two days." Incidentally, there are roughly 125,000 children living across Wyoming, and in large part their circumstances are hidden and their needs go unaddressed by most of the candidates running for public office. This lack of interest in children's issues was starkly apparent in the recent primary debates broadcast on Wyoming Public Radio and Wyoming PBS. This election year, Wyoming's candidates are deeply engaged in a discussion about drilling in the Pinedale Anticline, immigration, snowmobiles in Yellowstone Park, the gray wolf, and the sage grouse. We see the usual posturing and positioning as candidates don their cowboy boots and hats to talk about what's happening on the ranch and their passion for the Wyoming way of life. All of this adds color to an election season and lets the voter know that the process is distinctly about Wyoming's identity and Wyoming's future. And yet, many important issues—including those that impact children—are either left off the agenda or receive scant consideration from the candidates. Certainly the discussion about wise energy development and the protection of our environment is critical to the people living in the Equality State. Yet I'm concerned that some of the more symbolic points such as those mentioned above, become the primary focus of debate, crowding out issues that directly impact Wyoming citizens. We hear little about issues that directly affect huge segments of the population:
While we are at the height of an oil and gas
boom in Wyoming, and our unemployment rate is lower than that of most
other regions in the country, strikingly, we are towards the back of
the pack in terms of human development and the well-being of our
children.
By Marc Homer This was originally published on August 9, 2008, on Trib.com, the online version of the Casper Star-Tribune, which also printed the OpEd on the same day. Comments (0)
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