By Noah Dawson
I was driving between Amarillo and Canyon today, and as I was driving, the wind was blowing, enough so that a thin brown haze of dust filled the air. Thankfully, today was no repeat of the dust bowl, but it did bring up that old part of this region's historical memory.
I've written about history and its impacts on our local politics before. I've written about how we should embrace our local history of rugged individualism and how it provides a guide for less government interference. I've written Hayek’s works and his arguments that neither freedom nor tyranny are guaranteed to any society.
The memory of the dust bowl brings this kind of discussion to the forefront.
When we forget or simply choose to ignore history, we are doomed not only to repeat it, but to make new mistakes the lessons of history could have steered us away from. The trash carts and the councils stubborn refusal to take our unique history and meteorology are just the latest example.
So, make no mistake:
When I bring up our local history, I'm not doing it to virtue signal my pride for this region. I'm doing it because our leaders must take our history into account when making decisions. When they don't, we all suffer.
