“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because some planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffett
I doubt very much that this quote goes on to say…despite the fact that it cost us a fortune to take care of the damn thing. The people of Cook County have always bet on themselves. It is obvious to anyone willing to look around. Almost everything you see was built during hard times. To bet against themselves would have gone against the grain of Cook County’s pioneers. Our lives are better for it.
In a recent letter to the editor it was argued that it is foolish to undertake a project on a “downturn” and warns that “good times don’t roll on forever and there can be harsh risks associated with borrowing on hope.” Thankfully, we as a nation and we in Cook County have always bet on our hopes rather than our fears.
Our American landscape is filled with projects undertaken in difficult times. A list of endeavors that would never have been realized if our leaders had accepted this negative advice would include…CCC projects nationwide, the Hoover Dam, the lock and dam system on the Mississippi, the Empire State Building, the Interstate Highway System, the Golden Gate Bridge, the GI Bill, the moon landing and countless others. It is, in fact, a list of our greatest accomplishments.
In 2009, we the people of Cook County passed a referendum with the expressed intention of improving our quality of life as well as the lives of those who will follow. We did so at the height of a terrible recession. We did so knowing there would be some pain. We did so knowingly. And we did so…because we were betting on ourselves…because we were betting on our future…and because we do not believe as the letter writer does, that we are sailing on “the Titanic.”
Someday “someone” will be alive, “someone” will be healthier, and “someone” will be happier, because of what we “plant” today. If this is not the truth…we will have failed.
John Gorski
Grand Marais
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