[Vision2020] Unstable, Doomed Model Cannot Protect Our Quality of Life

[James Reynolds]

The doomed descriptor is absolutely correct but the growth model cannot be 
"blamed" on an entity. The Growth model is a description of how our 
unbridled breeding is fast filling the earth.


>From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
>To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] Unstable,Doomed Model Cannot Protect Our Quality of 
>Life
>Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 12:00:51 -0800
>
> >From this weekend's (February 26-26, 2006) Daily News with a special vote 
>of
>thanks to Antone Holmquist and Eileen McGovern -
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Unsustainable, Doomed Model
>
>B.J. Swanson has come under fire for her opinion on the proposed Wal-Mart
>Supercenter and some are calling for her head.  I say bully for her.  As a
>well-respected local banker, her learned opinion should be worth a great
>deal.
>
>Some local economists have trumpeted the economic mantra of "consumer
>choice" and bemoan Moscow's 1 percent annual growth.
>
>Basic mathematics, however, reveals that a 1 percent annual growth in 
>Moscow
>would certainly fill every nook and cranny from Moscow Mountain to Paradise
>Ridge and beyond within an average lifetime and such growth is just frankly
>unsustainable worldwide.
>
>Last year I embarked on a road trip from Fort Worth, Texas to northern
>Arkansas.  This is the heart and soul of Wal-Mart and other big-box stores.
>An awful lot of these towns have virtually no business district and the
>towns look shriveled up.  I drove into Bill Clinton's birthplace and found
>nearly a ghost town.
>
>Wal-Mart and the other huge chains have sucked the soul from these towns.
>As a young college student studying economics I suspected the basic 
>economic
>premise of growth, growth that was crammed down my throat was not quite
>right and 35 years later I know it is an unsustainable and doomed model.
>
>Antone G. Holmquist
>Moscow
>
>------------------------
>
>Protect Our Quality of Life
>
>Moscow, Idaho, Heart of the Arts, home of the Farmers Market - nestled
>cozily in the undulating Palouse.  Moscow is a community unique in its
>ability to combine small-town familiarity and warmth with the enriching,
>energizing force of the University of Idaho.  This has been Moscow's
>strength for many years and now it is under attack.
>
>Wal-Mart, the largest corporation in the world, and persistent violator of
>human rights both locally and globally, wants to gouge out a chunk of the
>Palouse and replace it with a sprawling, concrete Goliath of commerce - the
>Wal-Mart Supercenter.
>
>The super center is likely to alter the character of Moscow to something
>more gray and generic.  It will initiate urban sprawl, threaten both
>downtown businesses and the potential for sustainable economic growth, and
>have a negative impact on the local environment - all of which makes Moscow
>a less attractive place to live.
>
>Whether or not this assault on our quality of life occurs has a lot to do
>with the City Council's answer to the question: How to zone the area
>Wal-Mart wants to invade.  If it is zoned a mixed-use area, Moscow will be
>protected from the corporate onslaught.
>
>Please contact your City Council members and let them know how important it
>is to this community that they zone that area mixed-use in order to protect
>our quality of life.
>
>Eileen McGovern
>Moscow
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Thank you so very, very much Antone and Eileen for expressing a true sense
>of community.
>
>Take care, Moscow.
>
>Tom Hansen
>Moscow, Idaho
>
>**************************************************************
>
>"A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men."
>
>- Thomas Paine (English Writer, 1737-1809)
>
>**************************************************************
>
>
>
>_____________________________________________________
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>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

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