An editorial in today's New York Times (23 Jan 2002) runs under the headline
"Restoring Yosemite." The editorial complains about the
"tawdriness" and
"disgraceful overcrowding" of Yosemite National Park. The editorial
calls for implementing a Park Service master plan by which "The number
of parking spaces and campsites would be reduced" and "Commercial
structures and tacky cabins would be razed." The Times comes out in
favor of this plan on the grounds that it would have the effect of
"restoring animal habitat," and, presumably, of reducing tawdriness
and
tackiness.
Well, while the Times editorialists are in favor of reducing the number
of campsites in Yosemite Valley to 500 from 850, and for razing those
"tacky cabins," there's no mention of reducing the number of rooms
available in the park's flagship Ahwahnee hotel, where a room costs $366
a night. The Ahwahnee features "bell service, valet parking, a full-time
concierge, twice daily maid service with evening turndowns, room
service, afternoon tea service and informative evening lectures and
slide shows," according to its Web
site. It's amazing how
the Times editorialists, who yelp about how tax cuts unduly help the
rich and how welfare reforms unduly hurt the poor, are so quick to
endorse a Park Service policy that would have the effect of further
limiting access to Yosemite Valley for those who can't afford those
$366-a-night rooms at the Ahwahnee. In general, Smartertimes.com
believes that price is a pretty effective way to come to the most
efficient distribution of a scarce resource, like rush-hour highway
space or tickets to the Super Bowl. But in the case of a
government-owned national treasure like Yosemite Valley, restricting
overnight access to those who can afford a four-star hotel room seems a
bit un-American. You'd think a Times editorial on the topic would at
least deal with the issue. The failure to do so illuminates a classic
flaw of limousine liberalism of the Times variety -- the tendency to
mouth support for the poor and middle classes so long as they don't do
anything so "tacky" as to park their families in a camp site or cabin
that a Times editorial-writer might stumble across while walking from
Yosemite Falls to afternoon tea back at the Ahwahnee.
from Smartertimes 23 Jan 2002
