tCmag: When you see all the unrest and r ioting in our neighbor hoods, do
you think our values as a nation and our national pride have just gone to hell
in a hand basket?
BC: I am by nature an optimist. I think we are going to pull through this
and the only way to do that is to education our children, our future. Children
have been taught to be xenophobic because their parents are. The whole
power of a totalitarian government or individuals like Hitler or Stalin is
basically fear. Most wars are fought for either land, religion, greed or out of
fear. If you look at old pictures of a KKK rally you will see, and very
prominently, children with guns and in white robes. If you get to the children
early enough you can indoctrinate them into anything. We have to teach the
children love and inclusivity. If we can teach our children and our citizens to
be inclusive and loving then we got something. But, sadly, we have not been
able to do that. Nowadays, the idea is if you don’t agree with me you are my
enemy till death and that is where we are currently here and around the world.
We’ve got to be alert but unfortunately most of us are asleep. Education is
key. I had a Texas public school education and I knew everything about Texas
from 1945 on but absolutely no idea about the rest of history. Thomas
Jefferson said, “History is the fiction written by the victor’s”.
tCmag: As a hor se lover, what’s your take on the Bureau of Land
Management’s roundups and efforts to eliminate an American Icon, the wild
mustang?
BC: I’m not a big fan of the BLM. I was talking to a Lakota Native American
and he said now you folks can see what the government has done to the land
and its people. There are some ranchers that are ready to go for a gunned
rebellion. This won’t work and that tactic will come to no good end. We can’t
be these bad guys on the range. But you can fight for justice in the courts
sometimes. As far as the mustangs go, I believe there should be management
of the herds on the ranges, where the mustangs belong. Not in BLM long term
holding facilities. I think the BLM adoption programs alleviate some of that
but we should go in and do what we do with domestic horses; geld some and
leave most of the stallions viable under a controlled environment.
Management of the herds on the range is what’s needed. If that were done
then we could have free roaming wild mustangs, burros and bison.
tCmag: When, why and how did you ever decide to become an actor as opposed to a lawyer and politician like your father or a school teacher like your
mother?
BC: I’ve always wanted to be a movie actor. By the time I was seven, I knew
that’s what I wanted to do. I think from a very early age my parents doubted
my sanity. My father said, “Very little of what Barry does surprises me,
shocks me, yes, but doesn’t surprise me”.