LISTENING LEADS TO UNDERSTANDING

This was the scene at a Colville restaurant one night last September:

Nineteen people gathered at the Cafe al Mundo, just off Main Street. They'd been invited by interactive editor Rebecca Nappi to talk about government distrust.

Men and women with long hair, with short hair. Militia supporters, '60s-era liberals, twentysomething conservatives, home-schoolers, free-thinkers.

The differences were easy to see and to hear.

The similarities were the surprise.

This diverse group agreed on a couple of key points. First, that government - at any level - expects the worst from its citizens.

One of the men talked about how the IRS treats taxpayers. One of the women recounted her difficulties convincing authorities that she was smart enough to home-school her own children.

In America's bureaucracy, people concluded, citizens are guilty until they prove themselves innocent.

The group agreed on something else: That distrust and disgust with government really come back to rest on our own shoulders.

"I feel we will have no better than mediocre government, until we have good self-government," said one of the men. He had long hair and a beard almost as long; but appearances didn't matter. Every head around the table nodded in agreement.

Today - and for three more days - you will have a chance to sit at that table in Colville. Some of the people who were there in September appear as part of the project called "The Ragged Edge." A few of them wrote essays for us.

This project will take you to other places, too: to Bonners Ferry, the Columbia Basin, Spokane, the forests of North Idaho, the expanses of Almost Heaven.

"The Ragged Edge" is about anger and frustration running deep throughout this region. People on the ragged edge aren't dropping out. Their disillusionment with government spurs them to challenge it and change it, now.

You may not agree with their methods. Most of us still pay our income taxes. Most of us still send our children to public schools. Most of us do not think armed militias are a good idea.

So you may not see yourself in these pages.

Instead, you can adopt a rule from our Colville discussion: Listen with respect. Take time to read the project and think about the people you meet.

Chances are you'll find things you do agree with. Chances are you'll understand a little better why others think the way they do. There is common ground.

Then comes the next important step: If you don't agree with some of these activists, get involved yourself.

We are responsible for the kind of government we get.

Copyright 1995 Cowles Publishing Company
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.