Critique of Samuel Western’s Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River

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Critique of Samuel Western’s Push off the Mountain, Sold down the River
The essential primary arguments of Samuel Western in his book, Pushed down the mountain sold down the river touch on revolution. Samuel presents the past as having dark images and therefore, pushes for the need to have revolutionary kind of thinking for the betterment of the life of everyone. The revolution must have to peg on the leadership. For one to be a Wyomingite means coming from a dark past, therefore, having the need to embrace the revolution. There are fairness and accuracy in the assertions of the writer. These sentiments follow the considerations of the past engagement in Wyoming.
The exercise of monoculture in the state since the attainment of independence is an indication of a dark living as Samuel made reference. There ought to have been the effort of ensuring that there is movement from this monoculture to the embrace of diversity for the improvement of life of the Wyomingites. However, Samuel might be off the mark in his assertions due to the failure to consider the changes in attainment to the positive side since independence. What is missing in his critique of Wyoming history and culture is the connection between the past and the present, through to the future.
Although Western has resided in the state for more than thirty years, he has advantages of being an outsider since he happened to have come over, in his observations concerning Wyoming. The benefits come from his education and work backgrounds.

Samuel had good schooling. Samuel Western got his MFA from the University of Virginia where he also taught English. He also served in the Swedish merchant marine and worked as a fisherman. These backgrounds gave Western the advantage of portraying the status Wyoming from the right perspective. A Wyomingite could learn from Western that life could be different following embrace of different orientation of culture.
Changes
Some conditions that have remained the same in Wyoming since the publishing of the book in 2002 include the continued engagement in agriculture. However, there have been tremendous changes in the culture of the people. There has been an overwhelming change from the monoculture towards the embrace of diversity for the benefit of the citizens, (Kozak, 241). Although the changes cannot be said to be entirely from the inspiration of the book, there is much attribution to the work of Western in the embrace of the changes. There has been an embrace of industrialization and business engagement to improve the social, economic standards of the Wyomingites. The changes have come from the embrace of the right political directions which creates platforms for the enactment of proper laws for prosperity.
Western uses the myth that the Wyomingites belief that their children cannot do well in school. That is why there has been engagement only in common activities such as plays and storytelling that give the final image of a country that cannot do well even in agriculture. The consequences have been lagging behind in development and advancement in life. The significance of the myths is that; they gave the Wyomingites who happened to read the book, the conviction that; it was possible to change in the positive direction.
Values and Ideologies
The Wyoming values that I believe are most important and consequential include being hard working. For instance, even before the enactment of the changes that came after the writing of the book in 2002, there had been glimpses of hardworking character in the people. This virtue was in reflection through the embrace of careers such as coal miners and road workers as well as agriculturalists, as Western mentions them in his favorable treatment of the values in his book. The failure to move ahead was not from lack of hardworking characteristic; rather it was from the lack of the right leadership and focus, (Western, 81).
Among the ideologies emanating from the mythology in Wyoming, the one concerning agriculture has had a great impact on the government, political culture and economy. The thinking touches on agriculture being the cornerstone of the economy. This ideology had had much shaping of the government engagement in a bid to ensure there is sustaining of the agriculture. The culture of the people the people has always aligned to agriculture even as there is the embrace of modernization. The ideology has also shaped the economic orientation following the much effort in the agriculture especially with mechanization and other improvements. I would suggest the addition of the ideology that is working smart rather than hard, would take the state far in social, political and economic realms.
The most practical suggestion among those that Western came up with at the end of the book would be the one suggesting the investment of the infrastructure that would allow free expression of ideas. There is a high likelihood of improving the conditions of the country regarding the dark history. To add to the list of the suggestions for the future, I would encourage that the infrastructure includes that touching on agriculture. When there is an embrace of the right infrastructure in different sectors of a country, there is bound to be an improvement in all realms of life including economic, social and also political.
Works Cited
Kozak, Nadine I. “If You Build It, They Will Come”: Lusk, Wyoming, And The Information Highway Imaginaire, 1989-1999.” Information & Culture 50.2 (2015): 236-256. Professional Development Collection. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
Western, Samuel. “Pushed off the Mountain, Sold Down the River: Wyoming’s Search for its Soul” Homestead Publishing,( 2002,): 1-128