OPINION

Bigger doesn't translate into better

Americans believe that anything bigger is better. That includes more people.

The premise is that population growth is always good. That belief pervades almost every part of our lives, especially here in the Natural State, which won't be natural much longer if some areas of the state continue with unrestricted growth.

The idea that having more and more people will improve everyone's quality of life is hard to justify--especially if you look at the world's out-of-control population increase, which is an approaching disaster.

Just as the earth will see a horrifying loss of quality of life from over-population, here in Arkansas we will experience a similar but more subdued loss if an area of the state depends on increasing the number of people under the theory that having more people automatically increases the overall quality of life for everyone.

Hitler's propagandist Hermann Goering once said, "If you just keep repeating a lie long enough people will believe it."

"Bigger is better" is a lie; here's why.

First, let's step on a few toes. It seems from the prevailing sentiment I live in sad south Arkansas. We're supposed to be sad and poor because we haven't gotten bigger; we are even sadder because we have lost a small fraction of our population.

You can't open your iPad without reading about how wonderful things are in northwest Arkansas or Jonesboro because they have gained population, and how miserable things are in south Arkansas because we have lost a few folks. I expect the coming census will again show a whopping population increase in northwest Arkansas and Jonesboro, which will be trumpeted as being the best thing since sliced bread.

That is just boneheaded wrong.

Let's look at how adding more people to a place will affect quality of life. Roadside trash increases, commuters' drive time may stretch from five minutes to as much as an hour, schools are more crowded, and the frustration associated with accomplishing simple things is made more difficult.

The air will become dirtier and the streams more polluted. Hunting and fishing are reduced, and tasks as simple as going to the grocery store become more of an effort. More people can mean urban sprawl, fewer trees and wildlife, fewer clean streams, and an ecosystem void of those things that create a better quality of life.

We need a balance between natural environment and population. I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel. Take a close look at a vacation paradise, Switzerland, a beautiful country in the Alps in perfect harmony with its surroundings and its people.

The last thing Switzerland wants is more people. But Switzerland is not unique. Take a second look at the Scandinavian countries and note their scale of happiness. They are the happiest people in the world.

The United States isn't even on the happiness list.

When you add up all of the negatives that an increase in population carries, you come out with the average person seeing quality of life diminished. That is the ultimate problem with more people. Take a look at one of the ultimate "growth in population is good" cities: Houston. You couldn't pay me enough to live in Houston.

Sad south Arkansas didn't get a new prison a few years back. We didn't get a polluting pulp mill, and we didn't get one of the casinos. Thank you, Lord! Anyone who thinks those items are good ways to improve quality of life, especially the casino, probably couldn't pass sixth-grade math.

We ain't sad down here. In fact, we're probably living in the happiest part of the state because we have more quality perks to our lives without the negatives a larger population brings.

Let's look at the facts. How about a $50 million gift from Murphy Oil to pay every El Dorado High School graduate's college tuition? Or how about El Dorado's downtown being named the best Main Street town in the United States in 2009? Or having the best hunting and fishing in the state? Or having an entertainment center with a top restaurant and the largest PlayScape in the state?

I know we need jobs, but we can't fill the available jobs we have now. We have "now hiring" signs all over sad south Arkansas. So why not start getting picky instead of opening our doors to the lowest-end jobs, the ones no one else wants, and start recruiting skilled workers who want quality of life?

I spend a lot of time in large cities, and can tell you thousands of skilled workers in them are looking for a better quality of life. They get glassy-eyed when I comment about a five-minute commute to work.

Why don't we try to recruit those workers instead of another low-rent polluting plant? The answer is: We've always done it this way.

And our chambers of commerce executives would rather jump off the Main Street bridge than to support a green space ordinance. We certainly have, if nothing else, an attitude problem, and changing it is coming at less than glacial speed. When the right jobs are added to the economy without sacrificing the health and well-being of our residents, we will have the benefit of a better quality of life for everyone.

Here in Arkansas we have the opportunity to live the best of both worlds by enhancing a beautiful environment with a pleasant climate. To get there we must refocus on simple items that affect our citizens and push aside old standards, which promote growth as the cure-all.

We need to understand this is not 1870, and we are not trying to tame the frontier. It's time to realize several million more folks living in Arkansas isn't a good way to improve quality of life.

Email Richard Mason at richard@gibraltarenergy.com.

Editorial on 02/02/2020

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