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From the 5-21-1997 Reno News & Review  Nevada serves up all forms of sin as her principal business.
We shape our communities in that image and likeness. For the sake of profit
and propriety, our marketable vices are at least subject to some degree of
regulation.But we don't sell incest, so its chronic symptoms go unaddressed. From
potholes to prostitution to teen pregnancy, the unspeakable inbreeding of
our decision makers renders progress impossible. Ancient taboos against
incest turned out to have a sound medical basis: the practice spawns
sickliness, sterility, even mental instability. The same holds true for
leaders of a growing community. Reno's always-reviled city council can thus
rightly plead not guilty. It merely reflects the city's narrow genetic
code: self-destructive, divided and divisive. Last year, in a typical
public relations coup, Nevada was named the most dangerous state in which
to live. Our teen suicide rate remains world class.Problems fester because, while our upper and lower classes may speak
English, they do not communicate. The landed gentry only listen to the
opinions of their peers concentrated in a few key places. A quarter-century
ago, the Elks Club and two local hospital guilds provided a cross-section
of Reno-Sparks power. Today, the Elks have largely been replaced by the
university hierarchy. Washoe Medical Center and the University of Nevada
now front a myriad of community advisory boards designed for one purpose:
insulating the institutions against criticism. The Reno Gazette-Journal has
taken the hint and started its own juice club, the Forum for a Common
Agenda. Common folk need not apply.Cliquey Reno's rarified ruling class is largely comprised of descendants
of immigrant Italian farmers or casino cowboys. They may seem unrelated,
but share a common gene for iron fists. In turn-of-the-century immigrant
ghettos, old Italians felt perfectly justified shooting a competitor who
opened up across the street. Taking bread off someone's table was a capital
offense. Old Reno gamblers had the same mentality. Like the old Italians,
they knew somebody lurked out there just waiting to rustle their
livelihood.These traits distilled down to the sweatshop mentality still afflicting
Reno today. The haves live like royalty, while the have-nots are royally
screwed. Health care remains elusive and expensive. Schools stay separate
and unequal. Fatigue blunts a feeling of vague rage at low wages among
workers with no rights. The poor cough up increasingly higher taxes to
benefit the rich. The plantation prospers.A decade ago, some well-meaning executives started a broadly-based
community betterment organization. For the next two years, Reno and Sparks
buzzed with energetic task forces. Then, downtown interests suddenly pulled
the group's funding and ordered the leadership to fold. All the research
reports were pointing to the inescapable conclusion that the
gambling-industrial complex was not paying its fair share.The incestuous hierarchy once again spawned sterility instead of
solutions. The community continues to bleed.Be well. Raise hell.
Andrew
Barbano is a Reno-based syndicated columnist and 28-year Nevadan.This Barbwire by Barbano
was published in the Reno News & Review 5/21/97.Nevada Instant Type in Sparks and both Office Depot Reno locations. |
Barbwire by Barbano premiered in the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in those parts ever since. Tempus fugit.
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