PRIVATE EYE

PRIVATE EY

Utah Smug

I’ve lost all track of time these past couple of years. I’m not alone. Some folks have taken to modernizing the concepts of time measurement. No longer is our world measured as just B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini) or, of late, B.C.E. (before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era), there are now Pre-COVID (PC) and COVID (C) eras. Great. More Jeopardy questions—just what the world wanted.

Still, there has been a change. The seasons feel different now. For instance, I can’t recall any time in my youth when I walked outside in mid-February and did yard work in a Tshirt. I don’t remember summer and—I can’t remember— did it rain last April?

Time moves in a wave during COVID times—sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, not in a predictable tick-tock continuum. January felt like four months. February, just a couple of days. I can’t focus to save me. I don’t expect to finish this column today, let alone imagine someone reading it.

In PC years, people seemed nicer and smarter. Among those, people who took science, their health and the health of others seriously these past two years were prone to wear masks in most public places. That has proven to be a wise course. Not only did they help thwart COVID via wearing masks—while also diminishing the flu and the common cold—they gained the single thing non-maskers claimed most to own: freedom.

While the non-masked and non-vaxxed wallow at home crafting hard-to-decipher email tomes, honking horns in mini-parades and fighting with airline attendants, the masked and vaxxed have been free to travel the world, eat at any restaurant, watch the Utah Jazz and otherwise go about their PC normal lives. It’s ironic that those who claim to cherish freedom the most did little of value these past two years to live it.

Hoisting a flag with Uzis emblazoned on it doesn’t bring or express freedom any more than a “Let’s Go Brandon” bumper sticker does. Neither has any real impact on a day in a life, but I suppose they give some sort of identity to a person needing validation. I guess that’s OK.

On the bright side, they signal to me who I shouldn’t invite over for a beer, because they are also clear piss markers of personal turf. Why would I waste a good Fisher Beer on someone like that—someone who indicates he’s more prone to shoot his neighbors than to offer them a corkscrew? I mostly just shrug because if such flags and banners really had any impact on society, we’d all be wearing a yellow smiley face.

Such symbols are of a religious nature as well. Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics have worn the Christian cross symbol for centuries. Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists and all the rest have their own identifiers of religious culture. The LDS have their own as well, albeit hidden most of the time except in the dressing rooms of public swimming pools or gymnasiums. However, the LDS do boast of another symbol I rarely see anywhere else: smugness. I’ve lived in Utah most of my life, and it remains astounding that the only people who seem to recognize such smugness are the nonLDS. Being smug is not universal to all Latter-day Saints, and most are blissfully unaware that it exists.

It’s pervasive, however, among politicians and religious leaders who are LDS—also among BYU football fans. Those are the people defined by men like ol’ boy Bradley Wilcox, a BYU professor, author and high authority in the LDS Church. Although it was only “revealed” last week, for years, Wilcox has been telling fireside homilies that Blacks should not be asking why it took until 1978 for Black LDS members to get the priesthood. Rather, he said, “we should be asking why did the whites and other races have to wait until 1829?” I am not LDS, despite about 180 years of LDS lineage, so I don’t even know what that means.

However, I am a good monitor of smugness, and Wilcox fully defines Webster’s definition. To prove that smugness is his birthright, he’s willing to piss off the rest of the world’s billions of people (there are 16 million LDS worldwide), too. While back-slapping his own religious creds, he reminds the rest of us we’re not in tune with his kind. He thumbs his nose at the rest of the world’s religions by saying “they’re not playing with the whole piano.” Isn’t that a paralipsis?

Anyway, in the lands where Christianity began over 2,000 years ago, there were no pianos, Bradley. That’s what smugness does to people. It makes them diminish everything around them.

Like women. Or people of color. Or people of other faiths. Or atheists, even. Left unchecked, the smug do great damage, and it’s only too bad that the LDS leadership and Wilcox’s peers basically shrug it off as him being a victim of the culture he was raised in. Nope. He’s been rewarded for his bad behavior his whole life. Is that the LDS face-forward culture, then?

But, it’s COVID times, right? Where have we seen this before, the act of giving the reins to a smug man? Donald Trump is dangerously smug—the same as Wilcox. No one checked him off.

Being smug and in power is a dangerous cocktail. Utah is full of smugness bartenders. Look at our Legislature, which doesn’t listen to the voice of all people. Listen to Gov. Spencer Cox say we don’t miss the Outdoor Retailer shows (while ignoring, again, the financial impact on local hospitality businesses and employees) or also his strange relationship with COVID that still downplays the dead and dying. Smug? Just put that word on the Utah state flag and be done with it. CW

Send comments to john@cityweekly.net.

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MISS: Water From Where?

Be careful what you wish for. Maybe we’re jaded when it comes to climate and conservation, but the latest “good news” about the Great Salt Lake raises major questions—for instance how, from where and what are the unintended consequences? The Legislature at long last realizes that the iconic lake is shrinking—it apparently took expensive helicopter tours to convince them, but there it is. House Speaker Brad Wilson, the Deseret News reports, wants to appropriate $40 million to find solutions from some conservation organization that will apply to ultimately establish a trust as a private nonprofit. Whew. They’re supposed to “find more water” for the lake. There’s a lot in this. Think about conservation not only of water but also of the industries surrounding the lake. Where is this “extra” water supposed to come from, you ask? We don’t know. One thing we do know is that climate change and how to reverse it long-term are not on the table. Utah prefers to be reactive.

HIT: Winter Congestion

Hand it to the younger generation to hit you where it hurts. You may recall the arguing and angst about canyon traffic, especially during ski season. There were lots of polls and studies before the final choice came down to a cool gondola or an enhanced (wider lanes) bus system. Either choice would cost between $500 million and $600 million. But would they solve the problem? Or rather, what problem would they solve? Students for the Wasatch say it’s all about taxpayer dollars subsidizing private businesses—namely ski resorts, according to KSL. Any large-scale projects have the potential to harm the already fragile canyon environment and watershed. And the proposed solutions come with their own problems—like a lack of parking at the mouth of the canyons to catch the bus or gondola. The students have been up at the Capitol, but getting lawmakers to listen is hard.

MISS: Can’t Vouch for It

You’re probably tired of hearing about school vouchers. I mean, you’ve already voted resoundingly against them and, year after year, voucher bills have failed to pass. Despite this, there is no end of the conservative ideology embracing school privatization. Rightwing Republicans simply do not like “guv-schools” because the fear of socialism overrides any belief that a public education should produce students “who would understand political and social issues, participate in civic life, vote wisely, protect their rights and freedoms and keep the nation secure from inside and outside threats,” the Center on Education Policy notes. Now, lawmakers are workshopping another bill to divert school funding to other things. They say they want to prioritize education funding. Sure, they do. They also want vouchers, but the governor is not convinced—yet. He seems to think it’s about funding. Education is really about the goals of democracy.

Be a Delegate

Want to make a difference in Utah politics? In case you didn’t know, it’s dominated by a small group of passionate activists. With election season right around the corner, now is the time to start thinking about candidates and how to get them on the ballot. Candidates will begin filing on Feb. 28, and you have to decide what party to affiliate with by March 31. The Republican caucuses take place on the evening of Tuesday, March 8, and the Democratic caucuses are on Tuesday, March 22. The Women’s Leadership Institute will be conducting How to Become a Delegate, “a training program that educates voters on how to run for state and county delegates.” Presenter Leslie Carpenter hopes to help people more easily influence what candidates come out of the party conventions. Salt Lake Cham-

ber Board Room, 201 S. Main, No. 2300, Friday, Feb. 25, 10 a.m., free. https://bit.ly/3sLSk7X

The Trains Are Coming

Are you worried about the air we breathe and whether it will get better or worse? Gov. Spencer Cox isn’t. He believes the air is cleaner than it ever has been in our lifetimes. It’s critical that you call his office about a proposal to bring a new rail line to Tooele. It “would open the door to massive expansion of an industrial warehouse farm being pushed by The Romney Group,” say the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. While the EPA has written a letter to the Surface Transportation Board about concerns over the rail’s impact on air quality and wetlands, it’s most important for Utah citizens to weigh in. This New Rail Line Proposal for a Satellite Port will only add to the pollution by supporting dirty energy projects. Call Gov. Cox, 801-

538-1000. https://bit.ly/3GRrtwd

Mental Health in Society

Why do you think it’s important to hear from Black experts about mental health? It’s because of unequal access and cultural perceptions. Statistics show that only 25% of African Americans seek mental health care, compared to 40% of whites. The rate of suicides among Black children has also exceeded that of whites. And then there’s the social pressure. Polls consistently show that mental health issues are seen as a sign of weakness among all races. During Black History Month, Weber State University is offering An Evening With the Black Clinicians, with a focus on Black health and wellness. “A collective of master and doctoral-level mental health clinicians, the Black clinicians desire to transform mental healthcare,” they say. “Together, they seek to create a safe therapy space for people of color to address mental health and process what’s happening in our current culture and society.” Virtual, Thursday, Feb. 24,

6 p.m. Free/register at: https://bit.ly/3GFQSJ5