Thursday, April 29, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Nevada is inviting a wave of new citizens, investors and businesses into our communities, reflecting both our traditional hospitality and need to diversify our economy. This is good but it becomes modern-day colonialism when wealthy or powerful participants treat our communities as unsettled territory.
Allowing a corporation (or investor, or developer) to annex land and create a new local government as proposed by Innovation Zone lobbyists crosses the line. Our state is less populous than many others, but our land has a long history of culturally important uses, including Native American sites and villages, as well asrecreational, environmental and military areas. All of these groups have active interests in our land use.
Allowing corporations to create self-governing colonies at the local level is colonialism of the pre-19th century land-grab variety. We welcome newcomers into our communities, but should not encourage the idea that a desert means unclaimed land. Anyone considering moving here must be prepared to work with those already here. Whether a corporation eyeing Storey County business space or an investor wanting a Summerlin property, Nevada is not an empty canvas awaiting colonization.
The idea of allowing corporations, developments or powerful individuals to bypass government or community structures is anti-democratic and encourages the colonialist tradition that our modern social justice movement is trying to overcome. Bringing new ideas in is wonderful, but does not replace cooperation.
