Heath Haussamen
We have so many problems in New Mexico, but we also have so much potential. Here’s to hoping that, during our 200th year of statehood, we look back at the time when New Mexico was near the bottom of every positive list as a thing of the past.
I traveled much of New Mexico in the last two weeks to visit family, making the trek up to Bloomfield and Farmington before heading into Colorado. In the last two days, I’ve traveled all the way through New Mexico from Raton in the north to Las Cruces in the south.
The trip reminded me of our state’s diversity and beauty. On the day that we celebrate 100 years of statehood, I thought it was important to pause and reflect.
I spend a lot of time criticizing government in New Mexico. There’s lots to criticize; we remain near the bottom of most positive lists, not because we don’t have the ability to do better, but because we don’t choose to do better.
And yet, there’s a reason I remain in the state in which I grew up: I love New Mexico.
We have stunning beauty. We have true racial diversity. We are blessed with so many resources. We are blessed with so much potential.
Let’s not forget that Microsoft was born here. Big dreams are common in New Mexico.
But it’s important to remember that Microsoft left for Washington State before it became the software giant that changed the world. There’s something buried deep in New Mexico’s psyche that let Microsoft go. It’s the same something that leaves us at the bottom of so many positive lists. We know how to dream big, but we often don’t follow through.
We have the potential for so much more.
From a bomb test site to a launch pad for spaceflights
As I traveled through New Mexico recently, I thought about its potential. I passed the roads that lead to Spaceport America. I drove through massive, windy plains in the northeast that are a potential source of energy. I passed the oil and gas infrastructure in San Juan County that’s part of an industry that powers state government.
I was in awe of the undisturbed beauty between San Ysidro and Cuba, between Las Vegas and Pecos, and elsewhere. I thought about our racial and religious diversity. I thought about our connection to the land.
I got glimpses of our future as I drove alongside the Rail Runner’s tracks south of Santa Fe, as I passed through our state’s urban center, and as I glanced off toward the spaceport behind our southern reservoirs.
Of course, the latter also reminded me of our scarcity of water and the problems that lie ahead. And, as I passed the spaceport, I thought about the lack of vision that let another state snag Microsoft and all the jobs and economic impact it has created.
We have so many problems in New Mexico. But we also have so much potential. Here’s how the Las Cruces Sun-News summed it up:
“In its earlier days, New Mexico was desolate enough to be deemed a good place to test an atomic bomb. Today, New Mexico is a site of a spaceport nearly ready to send civilian passengers on sub-orbital flights.”
I don’t know whether Spaceport America will be successful, but I know that, sometime in the near future, some region is going to do what it takes to become the center of the commercial space industry – an important one in the 21st Century for its economic potential but also because of how it could move humanity forward.
New Mexico has a serious shot at being the center of that industry.
During our 200th year of statehood…
Perhaps the difference this time is that, 100 years into statehood, New Mexico is taking that shot. We’ve followed through on the vision of becoming the center of the commercial space industry. We just might succeed at doing it.
We need to apply that same vision, drive, and follow-through to so many other areas, including additional economic development possibilities, education reform, combatting poverty and protecting our children.
We have the resources to do it all, if we put our minds to it. Here’s to hoping that, during our 200th year of statehood, we look back at the time when New Mexico was near the bottom of every positive list as a thing of the past, as something we study in history books.
It’s certainly possible.