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Show A-14 The Park Record SatSunMonHues, May 4-7, 2002 DON'T GET ME STARTED By Gary Weiss Uno de Mayo i .. : ";"r For Our Annual Casino Night Fund Raiser for The Egyptian Theatre Company wfft an appearance by Park City's Elvis - Marc Raymond $65 per person (includes 10 free gaming chips and 1 beverage ticket) aturday May 11,2002 wo pm CRAPS BLACKJACK ROULETTE POKER SILENT AUCTION 'OPPORTUNITY DRAWINGS . ENTERTAINMENT HICH STAKES FUN! All gaming cxcuri through voluntary donation only and mttt all gaming regulation! promulgated by th DABC and Stat of Utah. W VL hl3 ilWt tim 1 FOR TICKETS CALL: 4)5-649-9)71 Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre 328 Main Street Park City, UT. 84060 Egyptian Tmiatrb Company All Hope iance In appreciation of all the heros that connect people and resources to humanitarian needs around the world, The Hope Alliance invites you, our volunteers, donors and friends to our new Volunteer Center. I Icros of Hope Celebration Saturday May 4, 2002 Warehouse TourMeet Dr. Annakkra, hero of the poor from Ghana, Africa at 5:00PM Parking Lot Picnic at 6:00PM Bring a lawn chair Music and Dancing with "Rule 62" at 7:00PM 980 South 700 West Suite 11 SLC, UT. 84104 801- 952-0400 www.hopealliance.com Thanks for breaking the cycle of poverty around the world and thanks to our celebration sponsors, Zions Bank, Albcrtsons & The Wasatch Brew Pub of Park City and Day's Market in Hebcr. Like many middle-class white kids who came of age in the 1960s and 70s, I was one of those romantically attracted to communism. But back then, this was more of a dating strategy than any sort of political commitment. " Gary Weiss In his 1847 'Communist Manifesto. Karl Marx, the German social philosopher and prime theorist theo-rist for the international. Communist movement, wrote: "Proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains... Workers of the world, unite!" Some 143 years later, less than 75 years after the Russian Revolution created the first avowedly communist com-munist government on planet Earth, European communism com-munism was in its final death throes. On a statue of Karl Marx in Bucharest. Romania, someone finally painted: "Workers of the world.. .Forgive me!" This was all brought to mind because throughout most of the world, in places where Communism was at least romantically attractive, "labor" is celebrated celebrat-ed on May I May Day. In 1889. still 28 years before that Russian Revolution, an international socialist conference designated May Day as the "official" holiday for the world's radical labor types. Which of course made it unacceptable for America. Like many middle-class white kids who came of ace in the l0s and '70s. I was one of those romantically attract ed to communism. But back then, this was more of a dating strategy than any sort of political polit-ical commitment. You see. I had a slightly different perspective than some others in my crowd; decades earlier, my family had been graced by the tender mercies of the Soviet dictator. Josef Stalin. Stalin was, beyond question, the worst mass-murderer mass-murderer in history. Worse, even, than Adolf Hitler, he killed more than 20 MILLION of his own people, and he created the (Julag system of Siberian labor camps. My uncle, who served as my father's father, was born in Russia, one of 12 children. After the Revolution, he and a brother made their way to this country. Some years later, having prospered in America, the two brothers went back to share their good fortune with the rest of their family. But they were gone -- all of them. Just gone. Like in "Doctor Zhivago" -- the story of a good man destroyed by the totalitarian regime the Bolsheviks called communism -- Boris Pasternak wrote a simple line that has haunted me my entire adult life. After years of searching for the mother she 'lost as a child, a young woman is finally told she will never learn what happened to her mother. She's told that her mother had become, simply: "a nameless name-less number, on a list that was later mislaid. " Despite this. 1 always thought it ridiculous that for half a century, much of the world's politics and resource allocation were based on the ideological differences between communism and capitalism. I wasn't a communist, but I believed that sell-determination was a basic human right. Who were we to" tell people half a world away what to believe? And. I admit. I still had a very powerful admira-tion admira-tion for several true revolutionaries who actually., were communists, among the millions who weren't. !; Men like the Russians. Trotsky and Lenin. And -most especially, that archetypal romantic hero. Che (iuevara. who. though from a wealthy family in . Argentina, was a prime force in the Cuban revolution. revolu-tion. ;, And in him. was the entire communist paradox. It was most appealing to people who came from money. Those in the best position to reject capital-.. ist materialism. Those who had a choice. For years. I was ; conflicted about' communism. I just , couldn't accept it was merely another'.' dictatorship. Until." by chance. I came across another siin-' pie line from a Hungarian writer ' that snapped it all ' into place. ' Arthur Kocstler ' wrote: "The answer is that there never was Communism in Russia; there. were only communists." And then I understood. . After the fall of European communism, there X was much celebration and bow-taking among U.S. politico. Much talk of how we "beat " communism; and I suppose we did. in a way. Just not the way the fioliticians told it. We did bankrupt the Soviet Jnion with the arms race, and we seduced them with Levis and CDs. Because communism simply-docsnl simply-docsnl work. It didnt work in Eastern Europe. It didn't work " for the religious Shakers. It isnt working in Korea. " It didnt work for American hippies. And even China has introduced private enterprise. Because, for good or ill, the human brain is wired for compe- ' tition. ambition and self-determination. I usually think about all this around May Day. Karl Marx mm a brilliant theorist, but he was a life-- long academic. And like Che, he came from money. " He had the freedom to be an idealist. He really ' believed it could work; that society could: "...inscribe on its banners: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. " But in real life, that system functioned much ' more like Mao Zedong's construct: "Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. " Gary Weiss is the former owner of Dolly's Bookstore and has served on the Summit G. Planning ( 'ommission. ' r -4 UiDITCDCAMTUC DAkl C By Jean Kirsten Johnson lJgp Hopis and hipsters -- common ground The steamy aroma of blue cornmeal dumplings travels with me today even though 20 years have passed since white-haired Joyce Taleycsva taught me to make the Hopi dish. A narrow back porch joined our pueblo-style apartments in the Second Mesa village of Shipaulovi, where I lived back in the early 1980s. Whenever I wasn't teaching schxl in this long-lived long-lived Arizona settlement, we ran back and forth carrying pies and pots of Hopi stew. Meals, chopping chop-ping wood, hauling water and long winter evenings were ours for the sharing. I remember living on the mesa fondly -- the fKd. the friendship and the gossip. Yes. gossip, which reflected the considerable interest close-knit pueblo dweller take in each other's doings. We didn't watch television much up on the mesa, Rather, we watched our neighbors, and they watched us. If I'm not mistaken, pueblo life is coming to mainstream America, although since there are no tribes with centuries of tradition behind them, the gossip might be more free-form. free-form. Termed "sus-lainable "sus-lainable communities." communi-ties." these pockets of high-density housing hous-ing arc gaining attention atten-tion throughout the West. mmhi Considering that the goal is nothing less than revolutionizing an entrenched model of development suburban sprawl -- that has held sway throughout the last affluent half-century, the shift seems radical. In Portland. Ore., for example, where I live now. one of the first streetcar lines to return to an urban area in 50 years opened last summer to national attention. The line links Portland's urban center featuring a university, art museum and theaters to the city's Pearl and River districts, where developers develop-ers arc building loft housing in former warehouses and blighted industrial lots. For these residents, the streetcar has become a cool way to travel. Galleries, restaurants and yoga studios have already started weaving themselves into Portland's new communities. Maybe it's just my nostalgic bent, but it sounds like pueblo life to me. While the lofts might not look out at bread ovens or Hopi cornfields, the residences cluster around centers that promise cultural and commercial vibrancy, Between the streetcar, which exceeds 2.500 passengers pas-sengers daily, and new car-sharing options Whether Westerners accustomed to wide-open spaces will accept the idea of living closer together remains unclear. Only one percent of the housing market's growth thus far is in urban high rises or mass-transit villages. " . Jean Kirsten Johnson (www.carsharing.net) that are gaining popularity throughout the West, many commuters have weaned themselves from dependence on private vehicles. And like the Hopis of pre-fossil fuel days who made treks to springs and cornfields on foot, a ' sizable number of bicyclists and walkers dot the scene with activity. Some foundations in California have picked up on this new brand of radicalism. Unlike the free ' spirits of the late '60s. though, today's "hipsters" -- as the Hewlett. Irvine, and Packard foundations have been dubbed -- have a distinctly pragmatic -bent. They also have a pot of money that com- ' mands the attention of state policy makers. Hipster foundations are funneling millions of dollars dol-lars into the exploration of what's become known as "smart growth." Joel Hirschhorn of the National " Governors' Association calls the idea of returning " growth back to city cores "one of the strongest social and political movements in the country -- ever." Hie Gcraldinc R. - Dodge-' Foundation thinks the idea has merit as well and recently -awarded National-' Public Radio ' $100,000 to report on -topics related to sub- ' urban sprawl. Whether' Westerners actus- tomcd to wide-open MMBMBMosMMM sPilccN w" II accept t he - - idea of living closer ' together remains unclear. Only one percent of the housing market's growth-thus far is in urban high rises or mass-transit villages. Still, according to a Packard Foundation staffer, the country has hun-'l drcds of sustainable community projects in devel-'J opmcnt. with Salt Lake City and 'Tucson joining Portland in leading the way. As for me, since leaving Indian country. I've lived out of town, though the idea of coming together?? pucblo-stylc is compelling. Not only do the new-J urban meecas promise an antidote to the hole-in-the-soul angst of living in contemporary society. they also Jure by virtue of their frugal use of natural natur-al resources. - I'll probably look into this new mode of urban existence, and while I'd be surprised to find anyone simmering blue dumplings, there's bound to be some great gossip to share. Jean Kirsten Johnson is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia, Colorado (hcn.org). She writes in Portland " Ore. -Z Where in the world is Tom Clyde?, :' Probably on his bike in some warm, scenic location. Hopefully, his column, 'More Dogs on Main Street,' xvill return next Saturday. |