"In the tradition of Jim Wolfe's "A Man about Missouri" 04-14-65
Differences Equal Dollars: Why Missouri Should Say "No" to Freedom's Frontier
The minutes to the August 9th, 2007 Freedom's Frontier meeting held at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri, reveal the course that proponents of Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area plan to use to interpret the history of the Kansas / Missouri border area.
Twice the neutral-value, concept of "no right or wrong" is mentioned as a marketing "hook".
The first instance is when , "Julie Mulvihill, Executive Director of the Kansas Humanities Council, spoke about the need to keep both maps to raise and expand perspective. Last month’s hand-out defining freedom and the story. Defining freedom – equality, choices, standing up for beliefs Concept of freedom’s frontier – it’s your story Interpretive and marketing hook No right or wrong"
The neutral - value theme continued a second time when the attendees broke into discussion groups. Items 2,3 &4 of the discussion group's report states:
"2) What do Kansas & Missouri have in common
3) Need to see the big picture, constantly developing
4) What happened…both sides felt justified in the 1850’s. Tell your story but don’t
talk about who’s right or wrong."
In my article about U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton's recent embrace of Freedom's Frontier, I published an email sent by a reader who has a firm grasp and understanding about the true purpose and intent of "Freedom's Frontier" :
"
as you can see the interest here is about creating a “unified” story, developing talking points, and making money on it while keeping the power in Kansas...The FF people are bureaucrats with an agenda and administrative skills. Their movement arose in the perfect venue of relativism and eastern Kansas money. It is a behind-the-scenes organization with roots deep in the Kansas mentality steeped in New England values and social paternalism which will try to convince Missourians is the same as Missouri’s values…finding common ground in appealing to middle-of-the-road “Midwest sensibilities” that are “value neutral” and “non-confrontational”.Supporters of Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area are quick to point out that the $10 million dollars that is to be distributed between 55 Kansas counties and 12 Missouri counties over the next fifteen years will be an economic windfall.
It should be noted, however; that Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area will be a government bureaucracy, ran by the National Park Service with paid employees. This means any initial windfall resulting from the distribution of the money will be offset by the expense to maintain it.
As Brett King writes in the December 7th, 2007 edition of the K-State Collegian newspaper article entitled, "K-State Students and Faculty Should Push for New Tax"...
"On paper, the employment in Kansas looks great; however, according to the Americans for Prosperity, "Since March 2001, Kansas has lost 26,100 private sector jobs and has added 15,700 government jobs."
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics ranks Kansas near the bottom in the United States for the creation of private sector jobs, but No. 1 in the creation of government jobs.
These government jobs come at a price. As we add more layers of bureaucracy, the cost to keep these government workers increases as well. Government officials are paid out of the pockets of citizens of this state."
This is the program that Judy Billings, and her cohorts from Lawrence , Kansas have been trying to sell to Missouri? This is what Missouri counties can expect in return for settling for the value-neutral , "no right or wrong" marketing strategy that they are promoting in our state?
The fact remains that culturally, Missouri and eastern Kansas could not be more different, and despite their "no right or wrong" marketing ploy , it is a fact that there is much more money to be made in the private sector by promoting these differences.
A good example of this is the recent "Border War Showdown" football game between Mizzou and Kansas University. I can not remember in recent memory , in which the differences between two regions and cultures have been so celebrated. The following quotes were taken from news media outlets preceding this heavily promoted event.
From St. Louis's Fox News 2 website dated Saturday November 24th, 2007
"For 116 years the Missouri and Kansas rivalry has been fought on the college football field but the "Border War" stretches years beyond that. "This is a deeply rooted rivalry of the nation," says historian Mark Trout. Those roots aren't just anchored in a football field they also reach deeply on the battlefield ...
History chronicles many battles between the Confederates in Missouri and Union loyalists in Kansas. "You see this during the war in 1862 and 63 where you will see one side strike the other and the other will strike in retaliation."
A true border war between the "Jayhawker" brigade and the still slightly celebrated Missouri men Bloody Bill Anderson and William Quantrill. It was in the summer of 1863 when Quantrill lead attacks in Kansas killing dozens and burning Lawrence but that say many it was retaliation for guerilla attacks from the Jayhawkers.
"It's not the cute little bird we see on the bumper sticker," says Trout. “The Jayhawker brigades will be known by people in Missouri as a bunch of ruffians and guerillas murderers and thugs. In Kansas they are praised.”
From the November 19th, 2007 edition of the Kansas City Star
"What we have this Saturday night inside Arrowhead Stadium is a one-time event, a brawl to settle it all. It’s Muhammad Ali-George Foreman. There will be no rematch. We’re about to witness history...Missouri-Kansas is just different. It’s a way of life. It dates back to the Civil War and the abolitionist movement"
These are just two examples of how the media portrayed the rivalry. There was no sugar coating the history, no neutral-value emphasis on not concentrating on "no right or wrong".
Did this controversy keep people from coming to the game? No. Quite the contrary, the game at Arrowhead Stadium was sold out, and as the January 3, 2007 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune pointed out,
"moving the games to Kansas City makes financial sense. The Chiefs have guaranteed each university $1 million per game, and that sum could rise if the games are well-attended. According to a university press release, MU will make about $1.8 million after expenses from the two games in Kansas City. That’s $1 million more than it would have netted over a two-year period".
That's not to mention the money spent on accommodations, food and other items that visitors who came to watch the game spent. Best of all this was done in the private sector, with no government bureaucracy, no added expenses, and no increase in taxes.
Missourians would be wise to let the Kansas idea of a bureaucratic Freedom's Frontier , fall on deaf ears. Historical societies and heritage groups could work together by embracing the rivalry between Missouri and Kansas, by purchasing radio, television or newspaper ads during the period leading up to such sporting events.
Billboard space could be purchased on the routes leading to and from the cities that such sporting events are held. Tourism pamphlets and informative flyers that emphasize the rivalry could be placed in convenience stores, restaurants and hotels could direct travelers to the places that gave birth to the modern day "Border War".
The best part about all of this is that our true history can be preserved, along with property rights and without the threat of increased taxes or the baggage that comes with the hidden agenda from the global programs associated with Freedom's Frontier.
Click Here to return to the Stop Freedom's Frontier webpage.
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