Land, people and policy: A western view

Excerpt

PRESS, radio, and television commentators tell us that the United States is in the process of major social, economic, and political change. William Hornby, editor of The Denver Post, recently wrote a column titled “America: Awash in a Flood of Change,” After describing some of the changes, Hornby reflected:

“If all these changes have become so deep-rooted in our society so swiftly, is it any wonder we have a hard time defining a westerner? We can scarcely describe an American, let alone measure regional differences.”

“Yet we have this faith that the West and westerners are different beyond the obvious facts of geography. Somewhere out there in the changing sea of American lifestyles we think there are characteristics of personality and viewpoint that are pecularily and distinctively ‘Western’.”

In his book Energy, Economic Growth and Regionalism in the West, Professor Lynton Hayes identifies a new regional unity, but points to numerous institutional and political impediments to the development of a strong, active regionalism.

Two developments in recent years provide a focus for my look at land, people, and policy from a western point of view. One development involves a questioning of …