People should vote on Lands' End too
From time to time, some of my friends will call me a burned-out, leftie, alternative weirdo. And those are my friends.
They dismiss my opinions as being a bit far out. They're probably right, but for the love of money, I can't figure out the difference between Land's End, which is arriving here to a joyous chorus of cheers, and the proposed Lac du Flambeau casino and convention center, which has caused more cluck-clucking than one of those huge poultry processing facilities.
It's probably smart that village officials are asking Plover residents what they think about the casino in an upcoming advisory referendum.
What I want to know is why I didn't have a chance to vote on whether Land's End should be allowed to locate in Stevens Point. Far as I can see, there as many similarities as differences between Land's End and a casino.
For one thing, few people will get rich working at either place. We're talking jobs in the $8 to $10 range at both places. That's not exactly three-car-garage wages.
A lot of people shaking their heads and saying how casino gambling is the cause of a variety of social ills. Perhaps that's true, but it's not like any of those ills aren't already present in our fair River City, and it's not like America isn't supposed to be about letting people make lifestyle choices. Oops, take that back. The Fourth Amendment died a quiet death sometime in the past 20 years or so.
Anyway, critics will point out that gambling is itself addictive, causing a strain on social services agencies. No denying that. Of course, we all know that gambling has been readily available here in a variety of forms, legal and illegal, for as long as anyone can remember. Heck, some people have even established private, tax-free clubs just to have a place to go and gamble.
Personally, I find casinos depressing, moribund places where people wear long faces and seldom smile, much less laugh. I wouldn't toss a quarter at an electronic gaming machine if I had the money to waste, which I don't. But who am I to tell other people what they should or shouldn't do? Especially since it's a legal activity in some settings.
Speaking of addictions, isn't America addicted to the kind of consumptive mentality that companies like Land's End encourages?
It's pretty well established that this country consumes about 80 percent of the world's natural resources. Sounds like we're addicted to something more than gambling.
Anthropologist Sut Jholly's eye-opening video "Advertising and the End of the World" is available at the university library in Stevens Point. Among the points it makes: At current rates of consumption, most of the natural resources on planet Earth will be exhausted in 100 years.
This, despite the fact that survey after survey shows people don't equate consumption of objects with having anything to do with their own personal happiness.
Still, we live in the great gilded age of materialism, the new religion for many millions of Americans. Somehow we've managed to forget how to forge personal identities without all these props we buy.
Which is why I'm wondering why someone didn't give me a chance to vote on whether I wanted Land's End to locate in Stevens Point.
Good for the people in Plover, though. They might remember that at least plastic cups and poker chips are recyclable.
– Bill Berry