Utah Is No Zion

One heart? Bah. One mind? Only if people withhold what they're really thinking, which they do. But truth be told, the things I dislike about the state I've lived in for over two years have little to do with "being mormon" and more to do with a culture that seems to incestuously breed the worst parts of itself.

There are plenty of people here who share my distaste and endeavor to change it from within because they have some reason to stay or care about making it better. I get tired of people harping as much as the next guy, particularly when they're doing nothing to change the things they're whining about or act like they're trapped (though occasionally they truly are). So I generally avoid complaining for complaining's sake. ...yet I'm going to enumerate some of the things I find unpalatable about this place to explain why it's not just about it being populated by a bunch of mormons, and it's not just about it being the reddest state in the republic (yes, I listen to Glenn Beck even though I don't always agree with him), and it's not just about wanting more diversity for diversity's sake.

So what is it about? It's about various problems and symptoms indicating some very sick or imbalanced aspects of society here:

• truly ugly sprawl,
  
• unhealthily myopic cultural/political perspective,
  
• high teen suicide attempt rate (yes, that's part of a larger regional incidence),
  
• high use of antidepressants,
  
• excessive focus on image (e.g. lots of unnecessary boob jobs),
  
• too many girls feeling they must have orange skin, streaky hair, straight A's, and zero independent personality to compete for a husband (mainly a BYU thing),
  
• overly hierarchical, robotic business culture,
  
• people afraid that being genuine or authentic would make them unfit for the Stepford society or the anti-Stepford society or would reflect poorly on their celestial candidacy or countercultural elitism,
  
• lakes, streams, and parks ruined by trash and total environmental disregard,

...I could continue, but I think that covers most of my main complaints. There are others that are common throughout our society and the world, of course, and there are many issues which stem from these (or maybe from which these stem), but this list includes the ones I notice as being more uniquely "Utah"-ish everyday problems when I compare it to other places I've lived in.

But yes, there are positive aspects to Utah as well. Utah's great for people not bothered by the above. I would like to see those things change, maybe because I do see potential for Utah and also wish I liked it more so I could be more excited about the idea of staying.

So a few things I like about Utah include:

• access to beautiful national parks,
  
• pockets of international flare, including some really good, really affordable restaurants you might be surprised to find in smaller suburbs,
  
• family orientation keeps things real and makes for wholesome-feeling community with some positive values,
  
• a relatively high concentration of people with basic values and backgrounds similar to my own, some of whom actually are open-minded and authentic,
  
• if there were a war on our turf, Utah would not go down without a major and extremely well-organized fight *grin*,
  
• relatively resilient-seeming economy,
  
• I can shop at the stores I like with 45 minutes and be sliding down a waterfall in the mountains in another 45, and
  
• there's an airport nearby that is affordable and can get me to most family and friends within 4 hours,
  
• really good health care (in the rare occasion I should need it),
  
• I have good friends here and within just a few hours' drive,
  
• I like the weather here a lot, with plenty of sun and four seasons,

...OK, I'm done. So Utah's not some heaven on earth, in my opinion, but it's not all bad. There are certainly worse places to live, but it's just not the haven of all that is good and holy that some seem to believe it to be.