By Lawrence Doe
My wife and I recently returned from a weekend at Dawson Trail Provincial Park in the northeast corner of Ontario’s Quetico wilderness. We had a great time hiking some of its trail system with our two dogs. The park is named after engineer Simon James Dawson who surveyed an already existing trail. The trail was established an estimated 9,500 years ago by indigenous peoples after the last glacier retreated. Fur traders, voyageurs, and missionaries followed in those ancient footsteps before Dawson. Between 1868 and 1871 the trail was improved to create a land and water route, connecting Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and Red River Settlement (now Winnipeg), to move settlers and military to Canada’s western prairies. Those improvements included steam boats for water and horse drawn carts for land. This required developing extensive docks, supply depots, and traveler shelters to help in the 80 times travelers would need to un load and reload at water/land transitions. The “modernized” trail was completed by 1871 and abandoned by 1879 when American and Canadian railroads were completed, providing a faster, cheaper, and safer way to travel. Since then, roads and airports have been built to accommodate the newer, additional technologies of automobiles and airplanes.
The current trail system is maintained by Ontario Parks for tourists, hikers, and the occasional canoeist willing to make the two mile portage around the French River Rap ids. One trail spur leads to the exact spot where Paul Kane sat in 1846 to paint his famous painting “French River Rapids,” now on display in the Royal Ontario Museum. We sat at that spot for a while, then continued hiking past archaeological sites and old logging infrastructure. We walked with an awareness of ancestors traversing the rugged country in clothing and equipment unlike the high-tech attire we wear. We had a deep respect of the strength, fortitude, and skills of those that went before us. We were also aware of those changing times impacting individuals’ jobs and their abilities to provide for themselves and families. Whole communities were established then abandoned with change. Individuals flexed into the new opportunities that “frontier” development offered. Their varied skill sets allowed them to move as needed and take on different work roles. Their work lives were not as siloed as their modern counterparts would be once communities, industries, and economies became more established. Our current living standards do not develop the broad skill sets of old, but rather create very specialized knowledge and methods of income producing work. This limited ability makes it hard to f lex with changes in the job market. Narrowed work skills are not the only circumstances impacting modern workers, families, and communities. Changing technologies, economics, and world markets highly influence one’s ability to earn a living wage and sustain an expected life-style. Large companies move off-shore for cheaper labor and less regulations, leaving American workers with less opportunities. Automation has eliminated many human jobs in manufacturing, mining, logging, farming, and even office work with AI. Moving forward in changing times creates “winners and losers”. The winners realize rewards while the losers are left in desperate deficits looking for answers and help.
Current governing majority, looking for constituents, promise the return of coal mining jobs even in the face of industrial and economic forces abandoning coal for cheaper natural gas and renewables. Promises of new logging jobs by opening America’s “road-less” wilderness is hollow given the timber industry’s acknowledgment it would take decades to replace closed lumber mills and infrastructure. Even then, imported lumber would likely be cheaper. The textile industry and many others simply cannot return jobs to America due to economic expectations, despite what current political leaders promise. No one would suggest we abandon roads, railways, and airports to return to the old Dawson Trail. But that is exactly what is being promoted in the current US government, that we re turn to the methods and regulations of the 1950’s.
New technologies make it hard to return to previous methods, but not all technology is helpful beyond new profit centers. Some benefit humanity and some benefit only a few. Wisdom is often subverted by the profit motive. Wisdom was ex pressed by the ancient Aztec peoples of the Andes Mountains. They had knowledge of the wheel, but only used it on their children’s toys. Speculation by modern archaeologists suggest the adults were aware of the tremendous damage wheels would do on their mountainous roads and paths. This decision rejected full use of a known technology in favor of environmental and practical concerns. In modern times, some scientists, ethicists, futurists, and humanitarians discuss and assess potential benefit and harm in technological advances, but their influence over policy makers is very limited. Business and military concerns complete risk analysis to set levels of “acceptable risk”. Modernity always moves faster than ethics and policy, sometimes to our collect peril.
I live in the modern world and benefit greatly by our past progress. However, I have deep concerns about changes to our economy and stature in the world. Development of new methods of war, gene editing, and AI, as examples, are having detrimental impacts on humanity and the environment. When the Dawson Trail was improved, it greatly benefited Canada and its white citizens after the land was taken from the Indigenous population. Winners and losers to be certain. But governance made decisions to benefit its citizens, settle its land and increase economic power to grow the country. I am quite certain the Canadian government had a plan when they modernized the Dawson Trail. I’ve always felt the American government, as well, had a cohesive plan to benefit the country as a whole, even if I disagreed with parts. However, the current ad ministration’s plan is causing chaos, fear, and suffering among most American residents. Changes to US federal policies damages jobs, homes, and safety nets meant to aid the most vulnerable. The economic stability and value of the US dollar is damaged at home and abroad. I don’t understand how this is a plan for positive growth, health and well being for my fellow American citizens. I see a terrible undoing of American greatness at home and in the world. The lack of law abiding moral, ethical, and scientific influence on evolving policy is not a plan and results in regression for our country. We might be walking the old trail again.
