Musing: Who is US?

Say the word "logging" to someone in a metropolitan city and they will very likely conjure up images of bald, ravaged mountains that have been devastated by indiscriminate clear cutting, then opine at length about the evils of logging and of the selfish, greedy loggers who so thoughtlessly spoil the land. Say the word "logging" to someone in northwest Montana and they will probably envision a lovely forest that has been selectively harvested, pruned for health and cleared of fire-prone underbrush, then talk about how important it is to take care of the forests for future generations. I know I'm generalizing, but I think you get the gist: City folks and country folks are different. They've got different realities, perspectives, values, priorities, etc.

After a month of voyaging repeatedly between city and country, I am as aware of this as I have ever been. I'm also powerfully reminded about how important it is for us to mind our own business and not superimpose our decisions and rules on others whose realities we do not share. This is difficult, of course, in a country like the US where popular vote has the power -- it's just so easy for the urban majority to make rules that make sense to them but which may be insane for the distant, rural minority. So here's a thought experiment that has entertained me on the road recently: Suppose voting was done by area instead of population. What might the rules for Seattle, New York, Chicago and San Francisco be if Alaska, Montana and the Dakotas got to vote their proportionate land mass instead of their head count? To a Montana rancher with 25,000 acres, paving land to make parking lots or cutting grass and throwing away the clippings might well be viewed as a wasteful devastation of precious land.