We all know some of those folks who admit they purposely let their house get rundown to keep their property taxes low. They let junk cars pile up in their front yards, even when a scrap dealer would gladly pay them for the metal. Their homes are an eyesore, and the tourists must hate this blight on the landscape.

I’ve always thought people who do this are really shooting themselves in the foot, because the impacts on tourism and general good feelings in their town must have an impact on jobs and land values all around them.

The same goes for our state government. Certain characters say nasty things, sometimes blatantly racist, such as those about drug dealers. Some propose laws that might hurt certain people, such as a current proposal to take away protection based on sexual orientation.

Some try to block private landowners from creating a park to attract tourists. Some work to undermine environmental laws and clean energy policies that protect our most valuable and attractive resources.

These people make our state less attractive to large classes of potential tourists, and potential company owners and job creators.

I say that everyone in this state needs to realize they are part of our Vacationland tourist economy. Whether they’re doing the obvious things, like keeping junk cars on blocks and split truck tires and toilets as raised flower beds, or the more sophisticated things, like spouting off against the poor and those of other races or orientations, people who make our state look bad to the rest of the world are hurting that economy and costing us quality jobs and quality growth.

Each of us has a part to play in making our state more attractive to others and for ourselves.

David H. Brown

Raymond

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