Thank you for the this piece - a reminder to disconnect from cell phones, tvs, computers etc and to just disconnect...and I dare I say it "recharge, be a human being..."
Nice one Josh! I’m constantly asking myself where can I create time and space for screen free depth of connection. Then I make time to inhabit them. This is part of how I build the machinery.
I first heard of your book on wade Crowfoot’s video interview w you on Campus Connect. I bought it in audio and hard cover that day. After listening to it a few times, I am inspired to visit these BLM places. I have also given a copy of the book to Asm Ash Kalra and Asm Pellerin as they are both environmentally minded with their legislation. And I got a signed copy to add to a
Natonal parks themed wedding gift for an adventurous young couple. A great book! I thought you’d like to know!
So how much damage to the environment do you think that cow and its brethren have done? Have you ever seen a beautiful stand of aspens after a beaver felled them? Sorry, Josh, my prejudices are different than yours. Everywhere humans go, they leave a mess.
Hey Sue! We could go back and forth on the merits of livestock on public land, and certainly on the comparison to cows and beavers....but I think what is infuriating about the Bundy cows out on Gold Butte is that he is grazing them illegally without a permit (for decades now) and owes a million plus dollars to the BLM. So the American people - the owners of these lands - are literally getting nothing in return for the cows to come in and impact a fragile ecosystem. Western public land ranchers are already getting a massive government handout in grazing fees that haven't changed in fifty years. Then you have Bundy who won't even pay those.
Thing is, the Bundy family was grazing cows on that land bafore the BLM even existed. It's a case of government overreach. Granted, the lands in many parts of the Great Basin are marginal, especially in the southeastern portion. What I've seen up north is vasst open sagebrush range with ample feed and cattle spread thinly across that land. So much for that argument. When land is played out, it's time to move that damned herds. And my sacred cows are the wild horses. The BLM salivates on rounding them up to save the cattle and the sage grouse. It's a ridiculous mishmash complicated by a purchased government agency. The BLM would also love to get people off the land. The manager at the Idaho BLM office admitted on video his mission was to remove ranchers completely off the land. So this is where I get more emotional than logical. As you wrote about in your book, there are many stakeholders using public lands. Ranchers are the only ones I know about that have to pay for permits. Unless the land is a specific state park or monument, anybody can go out in the desert and do what they want free of charge. But ranchers are considered evil.
We already saw how unregulated (no government overreach) grazing on public lands turned out. The damn dust bowl. The Taylor Grazing Act began in 1934 in response to the dust bowl, and later merged with the General Land Office to create the BLM in 1946. The fees and permits were absolutely the only forward...the only way to curb the unfettered grazing that led to environmental decline and a dust bowl that created "black blizzards" and displaced 2.5 million people. Sometimes we need government overreach.
No doubt, hikers and campers and OHV enthusiasts and many other recreationists leave an impact, but we all have to go home at the end of the day. Cows stay...and stay....and stay. Paying miniscule permit and AUM fees are necessary.
I don't think ranchers are evil, nor do I think all BLM employees want to see them removed (you could argue the exact opposite), nor do I think the wild horse round ups are just (which, you could argue, are being pushed by the ranchers themselves).
Points taken. BTW, it wasn't just cows that brought on the dust bowl. The way people plowed their fields and didn't plant windbreaks had something to do with it. Just sayin'. Nerry Christmas. Let's hope the New Year is saner for all of us.
I apologize for being a pain in the ass about this. Living in cowland makes me a little fnooky about these issues. Sorry.
As for unplugging, you're right. There's a piano to play, knitting do finish, and books to read. We're finally getting rain up here. Stay warm and safe, Josh.
Thank you for that DFW quote. He was right.
100%. Such truth. There were so many others warning about the same malaise in the 90's, but he articulated it so well.
"READING.READING.READING.READING."
Reading this on Monday instead of Sunday, having been a victim of the Great San Francisco Blackout of 2025. Good ol' PG&E ...
I try to keep disconnected as much as possible, at least with the phone, but it's a great reminder to keep working at it whenever possible.
As for the cows, I don't have any answers right now.
Thanks Mike. I need to read about this black out!
For me, it's often about wifi as much as it is about my phone. 3 hours of writing or work without both feels as cathartic as it does efficient.
“The working parts of my own machinery are built from acts of defiance, though unevenly practiced and constantly rebuilt”
A great list and a poignant reminder to grease my own machine.
Thanks Pete! Love that idea of greasing the machinery. So true. Practice, practice, practice. That's what I'm attempting every day.
Thank you for the this piece - a reminder to disconnect from cell phones, tvs, computers etc and to just disconnect...and I dare I say it "recharge, be a human being..."
Yes. "Be a human being." Exactly!
Alison and I cite “A Supposedly Fun Thing” about once a month.
Yes! One of the best pieces of writing...
Wow! I feel calm now.
I'm so glad to hear this. Thank you!
Nice one Josh! I’m constantly asking myself where can I create time and space for screen free depth of connection. Then I make time to inhabit them. This is part of how I build the machinery.
YES!
Amazing piece!
Thanks, Paul!
I first heard of your book on wade Crowfoot’s video interview w you on Campus Connect. I bought it in audio and hard cover that day. After listening to it a few times, I am inspired to visit these BLM places. I have also given a copy of the book to Asm Ash Kalra and Asm Pellerin as they are both environmentally minded with their legislation. And I got a signed copy to add to a
Natonal parks themed wedding gift for an adventurous young couple. A great book! I thought you’d like to know!
So how much damage to the environment do you think that cow and its brethren have done? Have you ever seen a beautiful stand of aspens after a beaver felled them? Sorry, Josh, my prejudices are different than yours. Everywhere humans go, they leave a mess.
Hey Sue! We could go back and forth on the merits of livestock on public land, and certainly on the comparison to cows and beavers....but I think what is infuriating about the Bundy cows out on Gold Butte is that he is grazing them illegally without a permit (for decades now) and owes a million plus dollars to the BLM. So the American people - the owners of these lands - are literally getting nothing in return for the cows to come in and impact a fragile ecosystem. Western public land ranchers are already getting a massive government handout in grazing fees that haven't changed in fifty years. Then you have Bundy who won't even pay those.
Thing is, the Bundy family was grazing cows on that land bafore the BLM even existed. It's a case of government overreach. Granted, the lands in many parts of the Great Basin are marginal, especially in the southeastern portion. What I've seen up north is vasst open sagebrush range with ample feed and cattle spread thinly across that land. So much for that argument. When land is played out, it's time to move that damned herds. And my sacred cows are the wild horses. The BLM salivates on rounding them up to save the cattle and the sage grouse. It's a ridiculous mishmash complicated by a purchased government agency. The BLM would also love to get people off the land. The manager at the Idaho BLM office admitted on video his mission was to remove ranchers completely off the land. So this is where I get more emotional than logical. As you wrote about in your book, there are many stakeholders using public lands. Ranchers are the only ones I know about that have to pay for permits. Unless the land is a specific state park or monument, anybody can go out in the desert and do what they want free of charge. But ranchers are considered evil.
Love to hear your passion, Sue! :)
We already saw how unregulated (no government overreach) grazing on public lands turned out. The damn dust bowl. The Taylor Grazing Act began in 1934 in response to the dust bowl, and later merged with the General Land Office to create the BLM in 1946. The fees and permits were absolutely the only forward...the only way to curb the unfettered grazing that led to environmental decline and a dust bowl that created "black blizzards" and displaced 2.5 million people. Sometimes we need government overreach.
No doubt, hikers and campers and OHV enthusiasts and many other recreationists leave an impact, but we all have to go home at the end of the day. Cows stay...and stay....and stay. Paying miniscule permit and AUM fees are necessary.
I don't think ranchers are evil, nor do I think all BLM employees want to see them removed (you could argue the exact opposite), nor do I think the wild horse round ups are just (which, you could argue, are being pushed by the ranchers themselves).
This is some worthy reporting: https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-12/the-wealthy-profit-from-public-lands-and-taxpayers-pick-up-the-tab/
Happy holidays!
Points taken. BTW, it wasn't just cows that brought on the dust bowl. The way people plowed their fields and didn't plant windbreaks had something to do with it. Just sayin'. Nerry Christmas. Let's hope the New Year is saner for all of us.
Happy holidays to you and yours!
May they be filled with the kind of machinery that allows us to all unplug. (the actual point of this dumb little essay!). :)
I apologize for being a pain in the ass about this. Living in cowland makes me a little fnooky about these issues. Sorry.
As for unplugging, you're right. There's a piano to play, knitting do finish, and books to read. We're finally getting rain up here. Stay warm and safe, Josh.