Sharp social commentary that comes accompanied
with equal parts intelligence, insight, mirth and self-deprecation, is its own
art form, part of a grand tradition not monopolized by any one political party.
Aspects of David J Swift’s take would delight hardcore admirers of P.J. O’Rourke,
Dave Berry or even Hunter S. Thompson.
Most people know Swift around Jackson Hole for
what he does behind the lens, having witnessed the broadest range of social
engagements, from cocktail parties and weddings to fundraisers, wakes, art
openings, music gigs (Swift himself is a musician) and bizarre scenes that come
with living in a touristy region drawing people from around the world.
Many years ago, Swift wrote a widely-read column, PopCult for the then Jackson Hole News. Mountain Journal is delighted that he’s chosen to
come out of retirement and write about whatever suits his fancy here with
digital ink.
MOUNTAIN JOURNAL: With camera in hand, you have been a
documentarian in Jackson Hole and beyond, across several decades, of people and
events along the time-space continuum. Where have we been as a culture in
Greater Yellowstone and where are we headed?
DAVID J SWIFT: In 1976, following a two-week assignment in
Jackson, I surveyed the valley with the exquisite wisdom of any 27-year-old and
declared it “Little Big Town.” A surfer of Compton, California, I decided to
stick it out the next winter to learn to ski. Forty-one years later, “Little
Big Town” seems on the mark. We have a high profile internationally, not only
for our ability to attract big shots en masse but for
our above-average knack for making the correct decisions in the destiny-control
department.
Where are we headed? Wyoming wore its Western Libertarianism well
when the Republican party respected its intelligent, insightful members and
kept its drunken, cranky lunatics at bay. Now GOP is rather like opioid
addiction: a destructive habit that too many Wyomingites don’t have the will to
overcome or confront. Even the most enlightened Jackson Hole Republicans
haven’t the courage to announce the obvious, that the current President of the
United States is a very sick man. This bodes ill.
MOJO: How does Jackson Hole, in your humble
opinion, regard the rest of the ecosystem? And if there is anything
intriguing about the north and western provinces which is to say, the great
states of Montana and Idaho, particularly the distant frontier known as
Bozeman, Livingston and Paradise Valley, what would it be?
SWIFT: I am loathe to apply a single mindset to a community.
Diversity, etc. But judging from electoral preferences the past two
generations, a muscular conservationist ethic is embedded in our culture. As
long as I’ve been around, local conservation efforts have been mindful of the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a whole. I think that’s also the case in
sleepy, emerging hamlets like Bozeman. Farther afield, we start wading into
pockets of the Fox News Hate Cult and the know-nothing politics they enjoy. One
certainly can call white nationalist enclaves “intriguing."
TWO LEGENDS: David J. Swift seems to know everyone in Jackson Hole. Here, years ago, he took a photo of a special guest musician joining Billy Briggs, player in the Stagecoach Band and legendary skier who made the first ski descent of the Grand Teton. Moment was documented for posterity in a gig at Turpin Meadow Ranch.
MOJO: We revere you, going back to your days penning
PopCult. It always featured astute observations about society, goings on, music
and oddities that captured your interest. What will you be exploring in
your column for Mountain Journal?
SWIFT: That's a lovely way to describe my decades of wisecracks. I
am pretty lousy at things like LDRs and exaction
fees. (I vigorously support office-seekers who are good at them.) I’ll do what
my editor orders: write about popular culture. Two recent developments have my
attention. One, the perfection of propaganda to where most people can’t even
think straight anymore. Two, the perfection of addictive behaviors: toxic
pharma consumption; toxic food consumption and the mind control
voluntarily found in our glowing screens. I write this during a two-week road
trip when I am consciously avoiding the pleasure of a Facebook “Like” despite
the urge every five minutes. It’s a powerful drug.
MOJO: If you were to describe Jackson Hole, what
it is about its identity today, where it fits into Wyoming and some of the lessons
we might learn from it? What comes first to mind?
SWIFT: A certain selective ignorance first comes to mind. The last
two generations of leadership in Jackson Hole (which, by bizarre coincidence,
parallels my residence) has been largely a best-and-brightest affair. The rest
of Wyoming considers Jackson Hole too snooty, too rich, a collective of
self-righteous liberal jerks — while taking for granted our healthy-community
traits like pathways and not letting greed win every political battle. They
love our pristine lands while mocking the vision and hard work it takes to
maintain pristine lands.
MOJO: For
you, the role of journalism is.....? And how would you rate the
performance of local and national journalism today?
SWIFT: National journalism is healthy today except for TV news,
which as Jon Lovett pointed out “speaks a dead language.” The biggest threat to
journalism is the consumer. “Media bias” cannot exist any more than “water
bias” can exist. It’s a nonsensical concept and therefore very useful to
propagandists. When a consumer whines about "media bias” he is merely
admitting “I never learned how to read comprehensively and think through tough topics.”
The quality of local journalism varies, of course, depending on
who’s paying for the ink, and why. Small town papers will always be beholden to
the richest advertisers in town.
MOJO: Name three eccentric things about yourself
that will steadily be revealed in your column and oh, by the way, it is truly
great to have you on board.
SWIFT:
1. My humor is probably too dry despite last winter’s record
snowfall.
2. Far be it for me to dis a person for wanting a well-earned buzz
— I like mine — but alcohol preys on the stupid. On social media, it’s shocking
how many people treat getting wasted as a proud accomplishment. Mormons did not
ban alcohol because they were prudes. Mormons banned alcohol because they were
experienced. The libertarian West embraces the principle of adult
self-medication, de jure if not de facto. As
resort-town economics bring more stress to the proles, booze will finish off
more lives.
3. I shared this question with a couple of friends. Both sweetly
offered that I tend to judge people and events with a generosity of spirit, and
that I find humor in most things. I like to think this is true. On the other
hand, I am convinced we, the human species, are hosed.
