Written by Greta Hyland
There is nothing like a controversial event to bring out conspiracy theories, temper tantrums and dramatic theater. The Bunkerville standoff is no exception. My brother and I went the rounds on the issue, which led us down roads such as education, taxes, the poor, consumerism, injustice and the complexities of laws, rights and competing interests in a civil society. We ended by coming full circle. We agreed that our system is flawed; it is often unfair and bent toward those with money or power; but, ultimately, we work out our subjective self-interests via the legal system. I figured that if everyone is equally mad, then the system must be pretty fair. Though our system is not perfect, at the end of the day our laws are our only real defense. My brother was encouraged that there were people willing to stand up to the government because too few do or will. I could see his point, but I couldn’t help wondering if their stand really did anything good or meaningful for our country; or if, instead, it did more damage by resorting to the lowest common denominator: blaming anyone but the person responsible.
The most honest complaint I hear in defense of Cliven Bundy is that what the government has done doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t seem right – at least as long as you only look at what happened to Mr. Bundy. Once you start looking at other factors and players, however, it doesn’t seem as unfair (the other law-abiding ranchers, for instance). Many people believe it is not only unfair but unethical to destroy species in the name of progress or development. Of course, the desert tortoise is public enemy No. 1 right now because, through a conservation attempt by Nevada, Cliven’s grazing allotment got changed. But, in exchange for designating that land as desert tortoise habitat, Nevada got to destroy desert tortoise habitat elsewhere for development. Many believe that any development that kills endangered species or their habitat is unfair. But they had to compromise, allowing other users of lands their rights, as well, including Mr. Bundy’s.
In response to the perceived and much touted “overreach” of the government, ridiculous claims of the BLM euthanizing hundreds of tortoises surfaced during the Bundy showdown. When I first heard this I was shocked. How could the BLM justifiably change Bundy’s grazing allotment for a species they themselves were euthanizing? The fact is, they weren’t. The claim is categorically false. The Fish and Wildlife Service runs a Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in Nevada that was established in 1990 to receive wild tortoises that are in harm’s way from development and has taken in unwanted pets since 1996. Over 1,000 tortoises arrived at the center annually, and approximately 98 percent of those were surrendered or stray pets – many of which were sick or diseased. The center cannot ethically put sick or diseased tortoises out into the wild population or they risk spreading diseases to the healthy ones. Due to budget constraints they made the decision to euthanize the sick and diseased tortoises, but none of the healthy ones. While at first glance this seemed to be unfair to Cliven Bundy, it appears that the unfairness is to the public misled by irresponsible and/or unethical people on the Internet.
Another conspiracy theory surfaced surrounding Harry Reid and a Chinese company working together to build a solar panel power plant on Bundy’s land. The claim was that Harry Reid was behind the BLM’s attempt to round up Cliven’s cattle in order to get his land. This seemed so farfetched to me that I did not give it much credence, but I did look into it to satisfy my own curiosity. It turns out that Harry Reid is actively trying to build solar plants all over Nevada because Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of solar energy. He is negotiating a deal with a Chinese company to build one in Laughlin to spur growth in the economy. He has also brokered a deal with the Moapa Paiute Indians to build one there, as well, to help with the closing of the Reid Gardner coal plant. It looks like a Good Samaritan act when you consider the fact that the Moapa Paiutes were getting sick and dying from the coal pollution but desperately needed the jobs the plant provided. Apparently, because Moapa is relatively near Bunkerville, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones decided to mislead people with unethical cutting and pasting of separate and unrelated incidents to go after Harry Reid. Yet again, an instance that looked unfair to Cliven turns out to be unfair to the public as well as to Harry Reid.
Beyond conspiracy theories is the public drama displayed for media outlets and cameras. We have all seen the protest video taken by the Bundy supporters where they tried to bait federal officials into doing something heinous in front of their cameras. I’m not sure if they realized this, but they were being taped, too. What I saw was an angry, belligerent and antagonistic mob trying to pick a fight and block traffic. Apparently one woman got too close and ignored a federal officer’s orders to back up and got thrown to the ground. Afterward, we got reports that she is pregnant and has cancer – the implication being that the officers somehow knew this and that, because of it, she should have been handled with care. I’d like to know why she was there to begin with; but, furthermore, why should she get special treatment under the law? I am a firm believer in equal treatment for women – but that means equal punishment, as well. We cannot cry for equal treatment and then pull the “woman” card when we are treated like men. If it had been a man doing what she was doing, no one would have batted an eye. It seems to me like it was a stunt to stir emotion and, yet again, mislead the public.
In the end, we are all vying for our own selfish interests. We all have something to gain by engaging in anything we do – otherwise, we would not do it. But our selfish interests often conflict with other people’s interests, and so we must learn to compromise. One person getting their way likely means someone else did not. Cliven wants things his way, but so do other people; so the government, via the law, works it out. It’s like the scene in “Bruce Almighty” in which Bruce grants everyone the answer to their prayers, thinking they would all be happy, and all hell breaks loose; it’s not realistic for everyone to get their way. Nor is it fair for only a few to. You can’t always get what you want – not in a democracy, anyway. The system is not perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got – at least until we collectively work to change it.
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