Botton Line

In the 2nd half of this book we will move on to the Easy Part. But first we need to get through the Not-so-Easy Part.

If we ever want to get out of the ugly rut we’ve made for ourselves, we need to admit a few things to ourselves, Repent, and mean it. 

First--that we got this land called California by glorified theft--by brute force of arms, by might of conquest. 

All along we have sought to space our consciences over this foul play by calling it Manifest Destiny, Inevitable Progress, the Civilizing of a Wilderness by a Superior Race with a Superior Culture. 

This is no different from the way that the medieval aristocracy justified its oppression of the poor working peasant class by concocting a doctrine called the Divine Right of Kings.

Spanish conquistador and English pilgrim/colonist alike justified their greedy desploitation of two continents at first as the great benevolent bringing of the Light of Christianity to the benighted souls of savages.  

We need to humble ourselves.

We arrogantly claimed to be bringing a better way of life to this land, and in forcing our will in this way we destroyed scores of settled cultures which had worked out a perfectly good way of living on their own--in fact a far more sustainable way of living.

Before we can move on and find our own stable accommodation with this land, we are going to have to humble ourselves, and ask for a change rather than dictate.

We can no longer ask the Indians--we made certain that would not be possible, lest we someday embarrass ourselves. But we can still ask nature. 

We have talked enough. We need to listen more.