Reading Suggestion: The War of the Senses (Rick Bass)

Part of my efforts here include bringing interesting essays and articles to your attention. This is one such essay which can be found on the Orion Online site (publishers of Orion Magazine). I would be very interested to hear comments about this piece.

The War of the Senses: The Battle for the Heart of America by Rick Bass
"In the weeks following the presidential election of 2000, I began to keep a chart, a table of hours spent defending the homeland against the assault of the new administration...
" ...All I had really wanted to do, in escaping from my work in the oil industry to this outback of Montana so long ago, was to leave behind the world of politics and policy and disappear into the senses: to the sound of the Yaak River gurgling and the honking of geese. Is it not this way for all of us in some measure, or are we truly a nation divided, beset by a war of values? Do the boys at Halliburton know what I am talking about when I speak of such things? In addressing them, to what might I compare such a sensation, such a desire? To the bliss of a noncompetitive government contract? To the physical heft of two bags of gold, one held in each hand?"

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