Though I was once an ardent proponent of New Year's resolutions, my tendency now is toward recognizing New Year's opportunities.
Opportunity is a wonderful word with an even better definition. Opportunities create possibilities to do something, in infinite supply.
I especially like Merriam-Webster's wording: opportunity is "a favorable juncture of circumstances." Finding favor is always a welcome discovery. Whether through luck, happenstance or divine blessings (or all of the above), when positive circumstances align for advancement or progress, chances of success improve.
Creation is the spark of all life, and creativity fuels life's most innovative, extraordinary moments. The way we look at things affects the way we see them, and those with "opportunity vision" can truly see beyond barriers, naysayers and time.
Arkansas wrote a new chapter in history this week with the inauguration of its first female governor, and Sarah Sanders' speech promptly stressed opportunity.
Many will remember that the Arkansas state motto used to be "The Land of Opportunity." With a new chief executive overseeing a new Legislature and a new calendar, there's hope to also inaugurate a new perspective.
Stubborn issues typically dominate politics: reducing crime, improving schools, creating jobs. But some, perhaps many, of the forces shaping those challenges are beyond the control of government. Ultimately, at the root level, one of the greatest obstacles to achievement in those areas is shifts in that glacial formation of mass citizenry we call population.
The census is far more than a mere counting; it's a monumental decennial indicator of where and how our population glaciers are shrinking, sliding and surging.
Every census tells us something new, but politicians remain mired in framing that data within the old tried-and-true campaign clichés.
Perception may be reality in campaigns, but reality is actuality in the daily grind of life in our cities and counties. "Tough on crime" is only a personality trait where crime is very low. "Better schools" only applies elsewhere for parents in high-performing districts. "Reducing unemployment" isn't a tangible remedy where good jobs are plentiful.
There are a lot of places in Arkansas where residents enjoy safe neighborhoods, good schools and prosperous economics, meaning that many campaign pledges and policy talking points really only relate to select locations.
What if a new perspective was grounded in, and guided by, opportunity at the most foundational level--before demographics, before divisive categorizations--of sheer population?
We know from the 2020 Census that half the counties in Arkansas lost population. Nearly half (and many of the same counties) also lost population in the 2010 Census.
Troubling as that may sound, it's not unprecedented, as a review of county populations spanning previous decades reveals.
In the 1960 Census, 68 of our 75 counties lost population; the state as a whole lost population in that count. By the 1970 Census, the state's total population had grown back and then some, but a third of the counties still dropped again in population.
The 1980 Census saw 69 counties increase in population--a complete reversal in only 20 years--as the state population grew by 19 percent. Then nearly half (35 counties) lost population in the 1990 Census.
Only seven of the 68 counties with a population loss in 1960 saw consecutive declines four decades in a row, but a dozen counties that shrank in the 1990 Census had still gained residents compared to 1960.
Since 1990, 19 counties have lost population in all three Census counts (2000-2020), including the same seven from 1960 now suffering from a 70-year slide. But eight of the counties that lost residents in 2020 are still more populous than they were in 2000.
The point is, for the large majority of counties, population can and does fluctuate over time, which presents a prime opportunity for a declaration of determination: to make the Natural State the Natural Choice for interstate emigration.
More specifically, to commit to grow the state's population by at least 15 percent in the 2030 Census.
That'd be the largest statewide population increase since 1980, with the high likelihood for a repeat scenario in which a rising census tide overall also lifts most county head counts.
Several circumstances are more favorable now than in 1980, including disgruntled residents leaving high population-density states and metros in droves these days. Working remotely is more popular than ever, allowing employees to work for companies located in high-cost living areas while residing in more affordable smaller communities.
Many localities have begun aggressively recruiting remote workers with cash bonuses, housing deals and other financial incentives.
The state could offer matching funds to Arkansas communities that want to woo remote workers--with 5X or 10X matching to towns in counties that lost population last census to spur regrowth.
Fifteen percent growth means fewer than 40,000 new folks annually over eight years (including the existing retiree stream). There must be tens of millions of middle-class working families feeling trapped in high-cost, high-crime urban locales. It's unimaginable that if given the chance--and sweetened by seed money or a down-payment on a new home in Arkansas--some tiny percentage wouldn't flock to enjoy the beauty and benefits of our Natural State.
Dana D. Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.