Let’s look forward to Nevada’s next 150 years

By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 | 2:01 a.m.

Sesquicentennial. That may be easy for you to say.

But as Nevada prepares to celebrate a century and a half of birthdays as a state this week, it is safe to say that no one who was here at the beginning (1864) is here today; well, maybe some spirits have hung around.

This is my point: For those of us who live here today and think Nevada is what we have made it, the fact remains that our imprint on Nevada is only the latest iteration of what thousands upon thousands of people have built over many, many decades of trying to get it right — even if it may now seem wrong.

Looking back has never been my strong suit. I don’t think, other than in an effort to learn from our mistakes, anyone has ever progressed by looking behind us. Forward is the only direction in which progress can be achieved.

So, how about we look toward the next 150 years as we decide how we want Nevada to look when the tricentennial is celebrated. Too far out? OK, let’s settle for the next 10 years.

There is an election coming up and, yes, I realize that the fate of nations and states is not determined by a single trip to the polls. But I do believe that if the people of Nevada want change, then each trip to the voting booth is important — starting with the one coming up Nov. 4.

The history of the Silver State is a story of leadership, of visionaries and of builders. For sure, there was a robber baron or two — or more — in the mix, but for the most part we have gotten to where we are against impossible odds because we had an entrepreneurial spirit coupled with leaders who were willing to take risks.

Today, Nevada is a mixed bag of success and failure. The latter half of the 20th century was our first golden age, unless you count the gold and mostly silver age of the mid-1800s, which was the impetus for our statehood in the first place. Our predecessors’ efforts created a state and specifically a city that became the envy of the country. At least until 2008.

But it was not just the great recession of 2008 that took us down, although it was devastating. For a few decades before that, an attitude was growing in our state that would be self-limiting. That attitude suggested every Nevadan was in it for himself and the idea of growing together was practically blasphemy. It manifested itself in an impractical way.

We allowed ourselves to be convinced that low or no taxes was the only key to success. Sure, being competitive from a tax standpoint with our sister states is important. But what we have learned is if low taxes come at the cost of terrible K-12 education, a lackluster higher education opportunity, health care that lags far behind the rest of the country, and an overall quality of living that is the envy of well, maybe Mississippi or Alabama, then the cost has been too high!

I would like to see Nevada lead the nation in the quality of our education at all levels. I would like to see a Nevada as a national leader in health care, and a Las Vegas where people will want to come for their health care and a good time, all at the same time. I would like to see a Southern Nevada that leads the country in job growth, and I would love to see a Nevada that has gotten past the political and economic jealousies of the past as it grows forward with an attitude that we are really One Nevada and not just a slogan.

I can’t imagine most Nevadans don’t believe in the same, or even a better, vision for our state.

The disconnect comes when those who want what is good for our state and its people don’t get out to the polls and do their part in pursuing that dream. Instead, too many people choose to let someone else exercise the power that belongs to all the people.

Nevada didn’t make it to be 150 years old without people expressing their will at the voting booth, and we won’t come close to achieving any success in the future unless the people who want to get off the bottom of every list get off their own bottoms and go vote.

Nevada shares its birthday with Halloween. That is when we are supposed to, or allowed to, give our children a mild scare. The rest of the time we are supposed to do all we can to make their lives — and ours — as happy and rewarding as possible.

Happy sesquicentennial, Nevada. May those who are here for our tricentennial look back at this time in Nevada’s history and celebrate the good decisions we make from this time forward.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Las Vegas Sun.