Op-Ed: The outlanders among us

Here in North Idaho, it is common for those who grew up here to lament the influx of outsiders who strain finite resources and change the community's character. The happy ideal of a small town past has been eclipsed by today's boomtown. Just how long will it be before these newcomers replace North Idaho's distinct way of life with a repetition of their failed societies back home?!

I understand how dizzying it can feel to look around at the old family home and see how little remains of what we remember. My old neighborhoods in the Bronx, in Connecticut and in Maine are now unrecognizable to me.

It is unreasonable to expect the outer world to reflect our inner cravings for stability. Yes, it would certainly be better if our housing market were attractive to young families who would enrich us with their irrepressible energy and ambition. Instead, we are a rapidly growing magnet region for retirees. Things could be worse. We could be decaying in stagnation as our people depart without being replaced.

We are blessed by the energy that immigrants bring; their hopes and dreams for a better life made manifest in our midst. Instead of bloated real estate prices, we could be surrounded by the empty husks of abandoned homes and businesses.

Change is inevitable; the question is whether this change is one of growth or decay. North Idaho is alive, thrumming with the vitality of people who are here by choice rather than by happenstance.

Many newcomers are, like myself, a variant of political refugee. We come to North Idaho because we will settle for nothing less than the genuine American Dream of self-reliant autonomy. Our old homes have lost our enterprise, innovation and dedication in favor of an increasingly passive and dependent population; reliant on and tolerant of government intervention in their lives.

If you are a born-and-bred North Idaho native who worries that the social dissolution that is so prevalent in the more progressive regions of our Republic will be brought here, remember that the vast majority of newcomers know full well what went wrong back home. We do not want to repeat those old mistakes here. We are keenly aware of just how wonderful North Idaho can be. We do not want to despoil it. We want to join in it!

To those North Idaho natives who lament the predominance of newly-arrived Conservatives and Libertarians in our midst, you have options. Much of the U.S. has adopted variants of the communitarian Welfare State that are more progressive than today's traditionalistic North Idaho. As we who transplanted ourselves once did, perhaps you will have to muster the courage of your convictions and take the chance of relocating to an area more in keeping with your values.

For my part, I'd prefer it if you stayed. We all benefit from having a population rich in intellectual, philosophical and geographical diversity who interact freely and dynamically.

I am proud to be a newly transplanted North Idahoan. I want our shared local society to be vibrant, rich and healthy. If change is inevitable then our choice is whether or not we dedicate ourselves to shaping this change toward what our convictions say is both right and good. Each of us, in our own way, can make North Idaho a great place to live.

• • •

In Maine and then Idaho, Ralph K. Ginorio has taught the history of Western Civilization to high school students for nearly a quarter century. He is an “out-of-the-closet” Conservative educator with experience in special education, public schools and charter schools, grades 6-12. He has lived in Coeur d’Alene since 2014. Email: rginorio@cdapress.com