A community invested in all is a real possibility

Lou Marzeles
News Editor     

     It’d be nice to feel that this community shares the motto of the classic novel The Three Musketeers:      “All for one, and one for all.” Commonly the slogan itself is dismissed as a literary ideal, never meant to be taken seriously by anyone other than Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the musketeers of the novel.
     That’s the problem with ideals. They suffer serious credibility problems. Often, it seems, they can be taken seriously only when swine develop aerodynamic properties.
     I’m not here to make a philosophical argument on behalf of idealism. I am convinced, however, that there is always a realistic core of truth inherent in any ideal; the trick is to dismiss what’s sheer fantasy from the underlying verities that ideals are based on.
     In the case of the Goldendale area, the notion of a community that actually does care about all the constituencies that comprise it is not at all simplistic idealism. As you’ll read in this week’s Java Talk column, there is a core concern in town for the well-being of all its citizens, and it’s clearly beyond lip service. People here want to do right by people here, and that means reaching out to all.
     That statement indeed can come across as a mellifluous ideal, and it warrants keeping in perspective. It’s ludicrous to imagine that every single person in town wants the very best for every other single person. But universality of outlook is not the goal. There only needs to be a critical mass of outlook for the benefit of an ideal to have a universal impact.
     If such a critical mass can happen—and I am fully persuaded that it is possible—this is where it can happen. If you struggle with that idea, may I suggest the possibility that you’ve become overly familiar with the extraordinary nature of this area.