National Parks Money
The presidency of Ronald Reagan might have only lasted two terms, but it appears that it will be a long time before its impact is no longer felt. Since the Reagan Era there is a political trend of shifting responsibility away from the government to so-called "private interests." Adopting this position today is literally politically correct for a politician, whether or not the politician is a democrat or republican. This notion of "private interests" is a little skewed though. These "private interests" which are accepting the responsibility of the government are corporations, in essence creatures of legal fiction which lack any value system except their own profits. Unlike the government, corporations represent only their stockholders. By contrast, the government represents the people as individuals in a republic. Thus the private interests will not act unilaterally to protect the environment, nor will they treat national parks decently under the scrutiny of the federal government given their track record so far. A corporation is a conglomerate of thousands of stockholders, with stock traded on the public market every day. They grant it the same legal rights as an ind
It was the practice of the government in the past to use private money from corporations to refurbish and maintain monuments and historic sites. Just recently the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island went under a three-hundred million-dollar renovation funded by private corporations (Meadows 178). They outraged many when the companies involved in the project marketed their "charity," and claimed credit for doing their part to rejuvenate the national legacy (178). We will see similar advertisements again if they pass the National Parks Commercialization Act and private funding of public operations is a regular practice. The national park system was founded to protect our lands from the savage and insatiable money mongers of the late nineteenth century. In a sense we are simply opening the door Theodore Roosevelt so tightly shut. The corporations of today are no different from the Robber Barons of the past century. Each played their tricks and push their buttons in Washington to slip through the cracks of social justice. However, there is no Theodore Roosevelt on the horizon to whip them from the bully pulpit. Corporations stand just as much a threat to our national parks' preservation as the tycoons of the industrial revolution. The National Parks Service should appropriate control of the concessions. The National Park Service could then use the money to restore and maintain the environmental integrity of our national parks. This suggestion should not be denounced as creating more "big government." The National Park Service is even more benign than the Post Office. How could this possibly be perceived as an encroachment on our individual rights and autonomy? It is every citizen's responsibility to protect their national treasures. We should demand the government protect them, not sell them! Perhaps it time for the government to put the practices of the capitalistic economy it so p
Some common words found in the essay are:
Reagan Era, Commercialization Act, Parks Congress, Olympics Meadows, Post Office, Corporate America, Ellis Island, Theodore Roosevelt, Park Service, Pulp Company, national parks, national park, meadows 178, national park service, responsibility government, tongass national, private corporations, commercialization act, nature preserves, concessions national, national park system, parks commercialization act, national parks commercialization, park service,
Approximate Word count = 1293
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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