Page 30 - Flathead Beacon // 6.24.15

LIKE I WAS SAYIN’
TWO FOR THOUGHT SAME TOPIC, DIFFERENT VIEWS THE POPE AND POLITICS
KELLYN BROWN
START YOUR OWN JOB
BY TIM BALDWIN
For centuries, Catholic popes have played a significant
role in politics. The pope’s positions concerning biblical issues prevail in the church, which gives it cohesiveness and direction, but how should Catholics treat the pope’s political positions?
Politics do not rest in religion but in human law, expe- rience, reason and science. We call it political science. But when the pope speaks with spiritual authority on politi- cal issues, Catholics who see his positions as infallible may lay aside reason and adopt the pope’s political positions as religious ideology. This approach to politics is dangerous to liberty.
American history reveals that our states and nation were founded in the natural sciences of human nature. Though the scientific approach to politics has taken much time to develop, liberty has continually improved by rejecting religious tenets that conflict with what human nature and science reveal concerning natural rights and good government.
For example, most of America’s religious leaders during the 17th and 18th centuries rejected the dark-ages inter- pretation of Romans chapter 13 (through which govern- ments enslaved people) and interpreted the Bible as sup- porting man’s natural rights of life, liberty and the pur- suit of happiness and of dissolving harmful political bands. America celebrates their endeavors in this regard every July 4th.
Do liberty a favor: when religious leaders advocate political positions, test their positions with the scientific formulas humans have developed over thousands of years.
BY JOE CARBONARI
All hail the pope! Francis has done us a good
turn. He has brought our minds and our souls together. He has made us think. Many of us. Some find his message reinforcing, others are made uncomfortable. Uncomfortable Catholics can blame it on the pope. He said it; I believe it...a short-cut in thought.
If it is good, God-like, to protect those most closely around us, in ever-widening circles, and the Earth that we live on, how can we not take seriously the possibility that we are advancing major death and destruction?
If the majority, by far, of the minds that con- centrate thought on the possibility of human contribution to global warming feel that it is an accurate description of what is currently tak- ing place, that it fits what we are seeing, then it would be not good, un-Godlike, to ignore it.
To some, Francis represents our best selves, our godliness/goodness, inviting not just Cath- olics, but all of us, to recognize that we have a responsibility, born both of mind and soul, to work for God/good.
We must also share work, gain, and pain. Human Nature demands it. Share, or we revolt. It’s basic.
Pope Francis will be visiting the U.S. just before our next presidential election. He will share his thoughts. There will be talk among us. We will vote. This is good.
E’VE BEEN WRITING A LOT ABOUT NEW construction and businesses opening around the valley as our economy cautiously bounces
back from the recession. Montana’s character is on full display in that we like to take risks and forge our own paths, for better or worse.
Our entrepreneurial spirit was highlighted recently when the 2015 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity found that Montana has more startups per capita than any other state.
For every 100,000 residents in the state, Montana has 540 entrepreneurs starting a business each month, according to the report, far outpacing the national aver- age of 310. The numbers garnered national headlines, including from Fortune Magazine, which titled its story this way: “This state has the most start-up activ- ity – really.”
Really.
It’s the third year in a row Montana has topped the list and its dominance is growing. Last year our state led the survey with a lower average of 490 residents opening a new business each month. So headlines like this one from The Business Journal, “Startups thrive where the deer and the antelope play,” should be less surprising.
But for some reason, they still are.
People still question how our state, instead of Cal- ifornia (with Silicon Valley) and Massachusetts (with Boston), is leading the charge. And there are several answers, one of which is obvious.
The east side of the state is credited with much of the new economic activity largely connected to oil and gas in the Bakken region in North Dakota. That theory is backed up by the fact that Wyoming and North Dakota are second and third respectively on Kauffman’s rank- ings. But those two states still lag well behind ours in the rate of new entrepreneurs.
One could argue that many Montanans branched out on their own because they lost their jobs and had no other choice, but that assessment is mostly wrong. The Kaufmann report factors into its ranking the percent- age of new entrepreneurs driven primarily by “oppor- tunity” as opposed to “necessity.” Here, 84 percent of new entrepreneurs took the leap to take advantage of an opportunity.
Now that activity in the Bakken has waned, the new question is whether Montana’s three-year reign will soon end. Perhaps, but I doubt our state falls far. Out- side the Bakken area, our economy continues to grow at a healthy clip. Our jobless rate fell to 3.9 percent in May, according to the Department of Labor and Indus- try, and employment levels recently surpassed the 500,000 mark for the first time. Montanans who make their own work and want to be their own boss created a lot of those new jobs.
On a more anecdotal and local level, how many peo- ple do you know who have started their own business in the Flathead? I know several and am continually add- ing to that list. Over the last year, we’ve written about locals opening galleries, distilleries, restaurants and construction firms. To be sure, not all these new enter- prises will survive and many of their owners will end up working for someone else, or starting a new venture. But here more than anywhere else, the potential reward is worth the risk.
“There is sort of a pioneering spirit here in Montana,” Paul Gladen, director of the Blackstone Launchpad at the University of Montana, told the Missoulian. “Peo- ple are always being resourceful and figuring out how to do stuff.”
In other words, when jobs were scarce in the wake of the recession, Montanans put themselves back to work.
AMERICAN RURAL DIANE SMITH RURAL CONTRIBUTIONS
N
and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”
I think he was onto something. I’ve been asked many times why our urban and suburban neighbors should care about and support places outside the big population centers. Corn mazes, county fairs, and truck dogs always come first to mind. But, in case you’re looking for more serious answers as to why Mr. Bryan was right, try this:
1. Food – 85 percent of the world’s food is grown in rural areas. Billions of dollars’ worth of rural Amer- ican agricultural products are exported around the globe each year and hundreds of thousands of trees are planted on farmland for sustainability.
2. Energy – Large scale energy production facilities including fossil fuels, hydro, solar, wind, biofuels and others are often located in rural communities. These places are frequently tasked with making land available for these operations and providing the employees and ancillary services that make them
successful.
3. Water – Rural residents are often upstream stew-
ards of rivers, lakes, and other waterways that have a profound impact on our downstream neighbors. As I learned in law school, “Leverage is standing at the top of a river with a shovel, not at the bottom with a contract.” In other words, where your water runs through matters.
4. Recreation – Whether it’s our national parks, the lure of a back road, or the desire to ski, bike, hike, fish, hunt, kayak or just get away from it all, rural areas are big recreation destinations. Our national parks alone host millions of Americans and overseas visi- tors every year and U.S. rural tourism continues to grow robustly.
5. U.S. Military – About 40 percent of today’s U.S. military comes from rural America and 41 percent of veterans are rural Veterans. Given that rural Ameri- cans represent less than 20 percent of the U.S. popu- lation, that’s a disproportionate contribution worthy of every American’s recognition and respect.
I’d like to think I’ll never be asked “why rural Amer- ica matters” again. Just in case, I’m going to keep this list handy and memorize Mr. Bryan’s wise words.
EBRASKA CONGRESSMAN AND POPULIST candidate for president Williams Jennings
Bryan said long ago, “Burn down your cities
Diane Smith is the founder and CEO of American Rural where she works to create greater awareness of the growing opportunities for those who choose to live, work and prosper in rural and small town America. Learn more about Diane by following her column here or visit American Rural at AmericanRural.org.
30
JUNE 24, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM