Nebraska and "The Good Life"

(The following is what I wrote for a test in my Nebraska History class. For those of you who don't know, Nebraska's motto is "The Good Life." I was supposed to write an essay on how, if at all, Nebraska was fulfilling its motto. I got a 96% on the essay.)

"The Good Life" is a highly subjective term. If referring to Nebraska's politics, there is scarcely anything for a libertarian such as myself to appreciate. (Right-to-work laws and the lowest possible minimum wage, both of which make it easier to find a job, are the only things that come to mind.) The two parties openly support big government, with the Republicans going farther left, economically, than even the Democrats. Since they're also generally under the impression that America was founded on the Bible... there's nothing to appreciate.
Statist ex-mayor of Omaha Hal Daub paid for the unnecessary Qwest Center with a bond issue; and has decided that Omaha isn't in enough debt yet and wants a light rail, a new stadium and even a lake. Current mayor Mike Fahey wants to unite Omaha's public schools under one (failing) system and wants to annex the suburbs, which are filled with people who weren't keen on paying for all this nonsense. In any other state of the Union the GOP would be lynching these two for Communists; here in Nebraska they're heroes. And the Democrats, well, on a good year they can only try to "hold the line" on spending. They've yet to succeed at sending it back from whence it came-our pocketbooks.
So politics is out... perhaps quality of life or the economy? Well, the economy is based on an inefficient activity-agriculture-that is subsidized by the American taxpayer because apparently there's some God-given right to get paid well for growing unneeded crops out of land stolen from Native Americans. When people wake up and realize how much they're getting rooked out of, and federal farm subsidies/tariffs cease, this state's economy will die. The only places that would weather such a scenario would be Omaha (which actually has a diversified economy), Lincoln (because of government jobs), Alliance (because of the Union Pacific), and maybe Scottsbluff as well as the string of motel & restaurant communities along I-80. So the economy is built upon a quagmire incapable of sustaining "The Good Life."
Environmentally, too, we're poking out our own eyeballs. You know all those crops we don't need? Well, they're grown with water we do need. Lots of it. The Ogallala Aquifer under this state is drying up slowly, and when it's dry all the subsidies in the world won't help the farmers, who might actually be required to learn self-sufficiency at long last. Since turning this place into a desert is the economic foundation of the state, there won't be a whole lot of motivation to save the environment. In fact, the only thing causing us to look at the problem at all these days is that we owe Kansas some water. So the government is trying to figure out ways to save water so that Kansas can waste it instead.
So after all that, there's only one possible way for Nebraska to deserve the moniker "The Good Life," and that's socially. We've produced actors and novelists, more than our share. God, in His infinite sense of irony, gave homophobic, fundamentalist Nebraska a lesbian, Willa Cather, for its favorite author. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln is one of the best schools in the country. The Omaha rock scene has produced national legends like the Faint, Bright Eyes and 311. But, all these smart people we're making have largely come to the same conclusion-leave before it's too late. And I somehow doubt the Qwest Center will change that; it'll take fundamental change like the downfall of agriculture in the state economy or some lowered taxes (which means axing, not holding, the line on spending) and probably a bunch of other things our fundie, populist state isn't ready for.