In the now-globally known Occupy Wall Street movement, average citizens have taken to the streets to protest the indecencies foisted upon them by leaders in various positions of power. The movement has been incredibly successful at raising awareness in the citizenry of the corruption that has been, and continues to be, performed by those in power. These abuses have been performed by nominated corporate chieftains and their underlings, and by elected – and perhaps worse, appointed – officials. (Worse because the public has no say-so in the appointee’s selection, a situation ripe for cronyism. And, in the easiest example, Goldman Sachs cronyism is what we’ve gotten.)
Closer to home here in Utah’s Wasatch region, the games, corruption, and bypassing of decent political processes continues. Occupy Wall Street has come to stand for the modern version of the citizenry rising up – sans pitchforks, lanterns, tar, and feathers as in days of old. Already, the term ‘Occupy’ represents any time that indecencies are in process, and are in need of a bright light to expose the actions, much as the suffix ‘gate’ took on new meaning following Watergate.
This sort of nonsense would never fly in the National Park land of the Tetons, should a proposal be put forth to connect Grand Targhee ski area to the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Why should it be allowed to fly on (non-National Park) federally owned land in the Wasatch? As the following guest editorial in Park City, Utah’s ParkRecord.com illustrates, it is perhaps time to Occupy the Wasatch:
(reprinted with permission from Mikell Bova)
Whatever happened to the democratic process?
There has been much controversy since Talisker, the owner of the Canyons Mountain Resort, announced its intent to link its resort to Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon via a tram back in late September. Since then Continue reading ‘Occupy the Wasatch?’
