The 50th anniversary of statehood is about over. If there's a lesson in the anniversary, it may be this: Nobody in 1959 could have predicted how dramatically Alaska would change in the next half century. Change right down to the Last Frontier isn't as cold as it was in 1959. Was there anyone at statehood who had even heard the words "global warming"?
Actually, the population didn't grow as much as several experts predicted. We are still under a million Alaskans -- although we no longer are the least-populated state.
But our economy has been transformed, we are more closely tied with "the states" (as the rest of the country was called before statehood), and we are far more affluent, collectively anyway, than we were in 1959.
Who knew. Who knew in 1959, when military payrolls and the earnings of civilian employees of defense agencies accounted for one-third of all Alaska income, Prudhoe Bay would become the engine of the Alaska economy and finance ever-expanding government. Who knew in 1959 communication with the rest of the nation by telephone would only cost a tiny fraction of what it did then (not to mention who knew about the computer revolution.) Who knew in 1959 we would stop paying a state income tax and become recipients of annual government checks thanks to the Alaska Permanent Fund.
For that matter, who knew the Alaska Legislature would become reliably Republican by the next century. The first Alaska Legislature was made up almost exclusively by Democrats -- the voters' reward for Democratic leadership in the fight against absentee business interests and the battle for statehood.
What will Alaska be like on the 100th anniversary of statehood? If you are in school or college today, there's a good chance you will be around in 50 years to find out. You also will be around to find out if the gas line was -- or was not -- finally built. So make your predictions now, put them in a safe place and enjoy the next 50 years.
-- Michael Carey