Past opinions provide perspective

Looking Back reviews opinions published in The Spokesman-Review during this week in history.

Pristine streets, Jan. 1, 1941

Believe it or not, there was a time when Spokane street maintenance was held in high regard. Take the following S-R editorial, for example:

“The cleanliness of Spokane’s streets and the excellent work done in maintaining good traffic conditions in all weather is due to the painstaking efficiency of the department of public works, which merits the grateful commendation of the citizens for the manner in which this important service is performed.

“The care given by the department to the city’s thoroughfares contributes to the attractiveness of the community and is a frequent cause for complimentary comment from those who contrast the appearance of other places its size.

“It is not only care for the appearance of the streets, but the promptness and efficiency with which the department deals with conditions that make their use difficult or hazardous that deserves commendation. It is important work well and thoroughly performed.”

Y2 OK, Jan. 4, 2000

There was much fear and loathing about the rollover to a new century. Things turned out OK, as an S-R editorial noted.

“Not for the first time and not for the last, the prophets of doom were mistaken. The lights came on, the computers booted up – including some surprisingly obsolete ones – and the much-predicted collapse of civilization failed to materialize.

“Dang. What are we going to do with all those 55-gallon drums of drinking water? Not to mention the generators, the basements stocked with Billy Bob’s Second-Coming Freeze-Dried Family Food Supply and the innumerable books and videos on how to prepare your household for The Coming Y2K Disaster.”

It went on to say: “The lessons were evident in last weekend’s marvelous journalism by Peter Jennings and the rest of the crew at ABC’s television news. Following the sunset around the world, they beamed live New Year’s Eve images from a rainbow of cultures. Bare-chested tribesman danced in the New Zealand sand. Skyrockets poured from the Eiffel Tower. A correspondent spoke movingly of Africa’s poverty, from a quiet refugee camp in Somalia. New Yorkers danced in blizzards of neon-lit confetti. Contrary to some predictions, the satellites and power stations that made all this possible kept working.”

It concluded: “In the century to come we surely will face challenges larger than a widespread programmer’s glitch. Another Hitler might arise. Pollution might hurt the Third World as it industrializes. Cynics and power grabbers might corrupt democracy. People might use marvelous new communication devices, like the Internet, to popularize fear and hate. Humankind will muddle through if we heed the wisdom in ABC’s images of a new millennium’s dawn: The world is full of creative people who’d rather dance than kill, who’d rather fill the London sky, once seared with falling bombs, with the light of celebration.”