I attended the mining talk at the Chilkat Center on the 26th. There was some very interesting economic info laid out, i.e., the fact that the Palmer project’s Preliminary Economic Statement alludes to the high likelihood that the project is based on an investor bubble and is not economically viable to begin with. But my blue-collar brain gets a little bogged down in the numbers. Instead, let’s look at the proposed Palmer project from a Zen-Buddhist perspective. It’s simple: the people in power that are pushing for a mine are doing so for money. Deep down, everyone knows this is true. In Zen, this is referred to as “greed.” If you can think of a reason to have a mine here that isn’t ultimately about money, come talk to me and tell me what that is. On the flipside, people opposed to the mine don’t want other beings to become sick and die. In Zen, this is known as “compassion”. Through Zen, I practice choosing compassion over greed.
Speaking of compassion, Lani and Jones Hotch spoke, as well. You could hear a pin drop. They spoke a message of compassion and of the unity of this valley. And I realized something: who cares about the myriad economic and logical reasons to not have a large-scale mine here? Klukwan is reaching out to us all in friendship and compassion and asking us to not kill their ancient way of life in exchange for money. It’s easy: I stand with Klukwan.
Russell Kennedy