Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code of Honor
A cowboy never takes unfair advantage - even of an enemy.
A cowboy never betrays a trust. He never goes back on his word.
A cowboy always tells the truth.
A cowboy is kind and gentle to small children, old folks, and animals.
A cowboy is free from racial and religious intolerances.
A cowboy is always helpful when someone is in trouble.
A cowboy is always a good worker.
A cowboy respects womanhood, his parents, and his nation’s laws.
A cowboy is clean about his person in thought, word, and deed.
A cowboy is a Patriot.
One could be forgiven for thinking that a) state legislators have too much time on their hands, or b) they’re just feeling kinda impotent and overwhelmed these days. Rather than dealing with issues that actually really do impact people on a daily basis, sometimes legislators get a wee bit off track. Oh, sure, their hearts are in the right place, I suppose, but in an era of rising deficits, economic woes, and increasing suffering, the Oregon Legislature is contemplating House Concurrent Resolution 14, a bill that would enshrine the “Code of the West” as the state’s code of moral conduct. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to live a good, moral life and set an examples for others, of course…but I can’t help but wonder what spending tax dollars on passing HCR 14 will accomplish. Will it fund our schools better? Will it assist the unemployed? Will it address our Third World health-care delivery system?
And which version of the “Code of the West” will have the force of…well, if not law, then a of pretty good idea? Given that much of our cultural knowledge of cowboys comes from old John Wayne and/or Gene Autry movies, is the “Code of the West” something real…or just an imaginable moral code taken from a dusty Hollywood script?
Given the struggles this country faces today, I suppose there’s something appealing in a simple concept like the “Code of the West”. When times get tough, people generally want to keep things simple, to return to a time when (at least in their memory) things worked.
First chronicled by the famous western writer, Zane Grey, in his 1934 novel The Code of the West, no “written” code ever actually existed. However, the hardy pioneers who lived in the west were bound by these unwritten rules that centered on hospitality, fair play, loyalty, and respect for the land.
In a time when “law” was often an abstract concept, those who lived and traveled in the West often had to rely on a shared sense of decency for survival. This is why there’s no written or generally and widely accepted “Code of the West”. A quick internet search will reveal as many different versions as you care to read. Though they’re all variations on a similar theme, trying to codify an unwritten code into a formal set of moral guidelines means relying on something more akin to a Hollywood script than historical documents.
“When a cowboy joins an outfit he throws his bedroll in a chuck wagon. When he does that he gives his loyalty 100 percent to the outfit. It’s a cowboy thing. If you don’t like the way an outfit is run, you grab your bedroll, pony and ride on down the trail,” explains James Owen, a former Wall Street investment manager who reinvented himself as the man behind the Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership in Austin.
Building upon boyhood memories of watching Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and other white hat guys, Owen wrote a book titled “Cowboy Ethics: What Wall Street Can Learn From the Code of the West.”
To his surprise, the Code took off like a ranch dog after a stray calf. Last year, Wyoming became the first state in the nation to adopt the Code of the West as its official code. This year, the Montana Senate passed similar legislation, which now awaits action in the House.
Rep. Tim Freeman, a Republican from Roseburg, thinks Oregon should follow the Code of the West, too. And not just because we have a governor who wears a big buckle and cowboy boots.
“The idea is to say to other legislators and to the public: ‘This is what we are,” says Freeman. “I believe most of the people in this building follow these values.”
I can understand the appeal of something simplistic that’s rooted in concepts of honesty, integrity, and decency. There’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to see those values supported and advanced in both the public and private sector. Still, from where I sit, this seems to be something Republicans in Western statehouses have latched onto in order to convince voters that they’re actually doing something, that they stand for something. They might not be addressing the real problems facing their constituents, but by voting for resolutions giving an official imprimatur to the “Code of the West”, they’re engaging in symbolism that feels good but doesn’t deal with the very real issues they were elected to address.
For those of us who were Boy Scouts, the “Code of the West” should sound very similar to something we all recited many a time- the Boy Scout Oath.
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Like the “Code of the West”, the Boy Scout Oath is a laudable code of conduct…even better since no taxpayer money is being spent on promoting it. There’s certainly nothing wrong with trying to advocate for living the Golden Rule…which is really what the “Code of the West” or the Boy Scout Oath or any other formalized moral code of conduct is. The rule of law which we live by is simply a much more formalized and codified version of the same idea. Without the rule of law, we would live in chaos, and so we have a vested interest in ensuring that all of us internalize a code of conduct that stresses respect for others and the willingness and desire to do the right thing.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with the idea behind the “Code of the West”…as long as you don’t believe it’s anything more than an outtake from a Hollywood Western. I suppose we could all stand a little bit more decency and respect in our lives. I’m just not certain that spending time and tax dollars on a resolution that won’t even carry the force of law is a wise and prudent use of scarce public resources. Beyond that, I can’t help but wonder where the Tea Party outrage is…given that resolutions like HCR 14 spend tax money for no tangible purpose?
Oh…and I almost forgot…HCR 14 will share the stage in the Oregon Legislature on Monday with House Concurrent Resolution 19, which will authorize a “Ronald Reagan Day”. That should tell you everything you need to know about the move to enshrine the “Code of the West” as Oregon’s moral code of conduct. One resolution honors an actor who played a cowboy, another honors a moral code largely constructed from scripts of old Hollywood Westerns. No politics at work here, eh?
Your tax dollars at work. Or not.
