It hurts my feelings whenever I go out to the casino and see some of my peeps out there pushing around a beverage cart. Some of them are straight out of high school, or are very young, and for them this is a job until they can get out of college or find something better. And that's cool. Everyone has to start somewhere. But some of them are further up there in years and should really be settled into their careers by now. It kills me to see them bouncing back and forth like little goldfish in a bowl going "coffee, water, pepsi?"
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I am ungrateful for the casino. I can still remember in the not too distant past when the only jobs in sight were seasonal jobs, like tree planting or fire fighting. Those who signed up for the fire fighting jobs would sit around for months and say "man, I wish there was a fire," translated into "I wish I had a paycheck so I can feed my family and take care of the bills." It was a sad situation. So when the casino did open, and people were earning regular paychecks, consumer confidence did go up. People were spending it as fast as they could make it. Bills were getting paid, rez cars were being ditched for nicer vehicles. It was a nice honeymoon period. But the honeymoon's over, and the novelty wore off. Consumer confidence is sporadic at best, and is dependent on the amount of our next per capita.
We were told that gaming was never meant to be the great white buffalo, but that it would allow the tribe to diversify by investing in other businesses. Problem is, there hasn't been any meaningful diversification since then. Sure money has been invested in other businesses, but the so-called "other businesses" have all been very casino related in order to create a "destination resort." Should the casino go, I'm afraid these other businesses will go with it. Now I'm not an economist, so I don't have any hard stats or other proof that this will happen, but I have yet to see any proof to the contrary. So it really does seem risky to me to keep putting all our proverbial eggs into the same basket.
In my mind I say to myself "self, there has to be a better way." And so it was this way of thinking that lead me to the "Beyond Coffee, Water, Pepsi Project" otherwise known as the Broadband Project. The intent of this project is not only to rollout broadband capacity throughout the reservation, but to encourage a knowledge based economy centering on technology. I mean true economic development can't happen if you are only focusing on the financial capital while ignoring the human capital. You have to develop your human capital in order for meaningful changes to occur. Enter technology. Technology has been proven to be a great tool for stimulating the most creative of minds, and we all know what great imaginations our people have. There are many many examples of this throughout Indian Country. It's high time we release their idle brains from the bondage of the coffee, water, pepsi syndrome and allow them to fully develop and expand into who they truly are - proud and noble people.
If you're not a part of the solution, then you're a part of the problem.
