Great Work #6: Las Vegas, NV

 

They tell me that the 20th Century was AMERICA’s CENTURY, and if that is the case I will venture, without equivocation, that Las Vegas was America’s greatest work in those bloody 100 years. An economic powerhouse, built on sin, greed, extravagance and entertainment. Las Vegas which roughly translates to ’Fertile Valleys’ is a city that lays claim to the undisputed heavy-weight title: ’Entertainment Capital of the World.’ Is there a more accurate symbol of America, a stronger manifestation of the American Dream, or a better example of the damn ingenuity of the American Iconoclast? A look at the 103 years of Las Vegas history is to look at the 20th century history of America.

          

•  1905 -Becomes a Railroad Town
• 1911 – Officially becomes a City
• 1917 – U.S. Enters WWI, LV becomes an important depot shipping out metal for the war effort.
• 1931 – Gambling is legalized.
• 1936 – Hover Dam completed.
• 1938 – Los Angeles Gangsters, specializing in illegal gambling, flee a police crack- down and set up ‘legit’ business in Las Vegas.
• 1943 – Las Vegas helps produce 5 million lbs of Magnesium, for Airplane wings, everyday. Essential the ‘wings’ of the WWII allied force.
• 1946 – Bugsy opens the Flamingo backed by East-Coast mobsters. Las Vegas ceases to be a symbol of the Old West and transforms into a city of glamour and extravagance (run by the mob).
• 1955 – The Moulin Rouge Hotel/Casino opens as the first establishment on the strip  where black entertainers, staff and guests are not restricted.
• 1957 – Topless Showgirls Arrive!
• 1960 – All Jim Crow laws are lifted. Business matters more than race.
• 1969 – Howard Hughes pushes along legislation that allows Corporations to buy and run casinos. He soon becomes the largest property owner in the state.
• 1989 – The Era of Mega Resorts: Mirage builds a 54 ft working volcano, 3 years later the MGM Grand houses a 33 acre theme park and 12 themed restaurants.
• 1999 – 37 Million Tourists visit annually, making Las Vegas the most visited place in the world.
• 2005 – Clark County becomes one of the fasted growing places in the country, with some of the fewest water resources, welcoming around 5,000 people a month and 38 Million tourists a year.

Ahead of the curve and right on the mark. I recently visited Las Vegas for the first time and I must say I was ennamored with the place. I went to see my friend Libby, the Celine Dion of the future, who helped show me how special the place really is.

 We go in droves, past dancing water-wasting fountains, through  desert heat– though no desert in sight, finding ourselves in front of a machine that  promises $1,000,000 for only a nickel.  And capitalism wins. The Card shark triumphs. The casino adds a new wing.  And we feel happy to have tried.  We walked in thinking “Why couldn’t it /shouldn’t it / wouldn’t it happen to me?” But we know we don’t have a chance, accept our free drinks and are grateful for the free parking. I think, in a way, it’s much more honest than the get rich quick schemes I often wander towards, late at night on TV.  A place made on money, not commerce or industry. Something out of nothing. A mirage.

 Our greatest work.