Letters 3/15/07

March 14, 2007

Pathfinder parable
There once was a proud chicken farmer who had 144 good laying chickens. His farm was located on 22 acres of choice land, and had different buildings to house the different kinds of chickens. Once in a while a chicken would leave the yard and would wonder down the Path to the lake where the Cedars grow. A staff of employees kept track of the chickens and when one of them wondered down the Path, someone would always Find Her. The staff also kept track of the chickens on computers, making sure they all ate the right foods, therefore producing some of the finest eggs in the state of which the farmer and the community could be proud. They even chipped in and bought a vehicle to deliver the eggs.
After 30 years it was time for the farmer to retire. He wanted his chicken business to continue, as the town folk liked his finished product. He found a friend who had a large cattle farm and gave him the chicken business. He thought that if his friend could run a cattle farm, he certainly could run a chicken farm. For over three years the chicken farm needed a little help and the cattle farmer gladly assisted, using less than one percent of the cattle farm’s budget of $35 million. He felt the community needed these fine eggs.
But then something tragic happened. It became time for the cattle farmer to retire and someone new took over both businesses. Another three years went by before the new manager decided to get rid of the chickens, destroy the buildings and sell off the land to developers who planned to build condos, which meant money in his pocket.
The new manager kept all the chicken feed, computers, the vehicle and other equipment which the staff bought and paid for over the years. The staff was unhappy with the decision to eliminate the chicken business. They felt the cattle farmer was unfair in taking all the equipment which was paid for by staff members. They also felt the public needed to know how special the chickens were. Every day that went by was disturbing to the staff as the new manager was unreasonably harsh in his demands. Some say he knew how to run a cattle business but didn’t know didly about chickens.
I have been called “one of the unwashed masses” of Northern Michigan by the cattle farmer whom I have never met. According to him we all fall in that category. Please don’t be angry at him. He needs our prayers. We need to pray that his mind will be opened so that intelligence and smarts can filter in, and pray that his heart is open to love and understanding. When you go to church this week, remember the cattle farmer in your prayers.

Don Montie • Northport

Cuba si! Embargo no!
George Foster, in the 2/22 Express article, “...Vacation Paradise..?,” urged readers to consider vacationing in Nicaragua. George does this despite the recent election of yet another bogeyman of mainstream America media: President Daniel Ortega.
Indeed, the Bush administration’s policy of unilateralism and obsession with Iraq have contributed to the recent election or re-election of leftist leaders throughout Latin America. Michelle Bachelle (survivor of Pinoche’s regime) in Chile, Hugo Chavez (survivor of the U.S. backed coup in 2002) in Venezuela, Luiz Inacio Lula (longtime union leader and founder of the Workers Party) in Brazil, and Evo Morales (indigenous union leader) in Bolivia have all been elected on Bush’s watch on a platform of anti-globization and opposition to American expansionism. Bush, while thus far failing miserably to beat the Middle East into submission to Washington’s will, has succeeded beautifully in building an anti- “Washington consensus” coalition in Latin America.
Fortunately, Rep. Charlie Wrangel has recently introduced a bill, HR 654, that points the way toward positive re-engagement with Latin America. This bill would eliminate travel restrictions to Cuba, and provide a vital first step in ending our pointless economic embargo of that neighbor. “Communist” China, a country involved in the harvesting of human organs from political prisoners, of course, is now a major trading partner.
Similarly, trade volume with Vietnam, a country we fought a disastrous war with for over a decade, is now approaching an annual value of $10 billion.
On April 15, 46 years, nearly half a century, will have passed since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro is near death. The time is long past for ending the Cuban embargo. Call your representatives and tell them you support HR 654.

Matt Malpass • E. Jordan

Building a democracy
Democracy is an idea that can only be realized when it is homegrown. It happens authentically when a culture reaches the critical mass of intellectual conviction required to inspire its native sons and daughters to rise up, even to the point of spilling their own blood, to achieve freedom and autonomy for themselves and their descendants. Its value is guaranteed by its price.
Strong democratic nations cannot be built from the outside in, but must arise from the inside out, under power that is developed from ideological struggle and the reasoned consideration of competing world views.
Democracy thrives in fertile soil, and to complete the metaphor, this fertility can only be assured by a culture’s adoption of reason as its rule, and the realization by the majority that democracy and religious dogmatism are impossible bedfellows.
Seeds of democratic change must be planted and watered, but unless the fertile ground of an educated and rational populace is present, its chances of success are dramatically diminished. When an enormously asymmetric effort is required from an outside agent (such as superpower military intervention) to effect “regime change,” it begs the question of whether the product of the enterprise will be viable, moral, or desired.

Mark Meyer • TC

Don‘t leave Iraq
We certainly cannot leave Iraq. I would argue that we should not leave, ever! That is a very valuable place for our countrymen to be!
There is ample entrepreneurial opportunity. And, an American presence of citizens around the world would surely be a good thing for our image! It is our restraint and cowardice that has the world knowing nothing of us but what our media show them.
It would also benefit our financial livelihoods to seize the opportunities that a wide open world offers. Our troops are in Iraq to make the prestigious Persian world one of what its potential promotes! We cannot let the bullies have knives! And we especially ought not be afraid to twist their wrists now that we’ve got such a firm grasp!
Tell it like it is? Well, what percentage of the troops that have been deployed have we heard from? From my perspective, a trip to Iraq is appealing. I’ll get to visit the Fertile Crescent. I’ll get to meet new people of a culture that intrigues me. I’ll get to learn a new language, or two! ...one of which is quite close to the original language of the Bible - a book that I’m very interested to read in its un-altered form! But most importantly, I’ll insist that Iraqis get the same good rights to life and liberty as do I. I’ll train to police the streets of Babylon. And I’ll get paid extra!
I’m willing to face the risk of harm that is likely less than going to Los Angeles with a blue shirt on. And almost probably find treasure that has been coveted for as long as the world has been universally agreed upon to have existed. Haha!
Don’t sit at home and watch the same news you complain about for being biased and overly sensational, refuse to vote, and then tell my leaders that I don’t want to protect the women of my country by spreading American human rights and peace and freedom and by serving in the Army for which you’re afraid to sign up! Now that we’re in Iraq, we certainly cannot leave. We certainly should not leave! And even if we do leave, I’ll go back and apologize on your behalf for having done so!

Army Private Jack McKenna

End corporate welfare
It’s time to put an end to all this welfare that you and I have been paying. Did you know the $171 billion farm subsidy (welfare) bill is up for renewal? This program benefits mostly global agribusiness corporations, not poor, small farmers. In fact, these multinationals use a share of the money to buy out small family farmers!
Let the markets determine the price of corn, wheat and sugar. You and I are paying for the continuation of what’s known as the largest corporate welfare program ever. As a big fat thank you, $53 million was donated to mostly Republicans in 2002. And we need to stop calling welfare other names to make it more “acceptable.” It’s still welfare. This delusion of giving Big Business tax breaks and incentives as a way to spur growth is ludicrous. Exxon and General Motors are in business to make money.
There is nothing wrong with that, but I don’t want to subsidize them. Please understand, if they don’t pay their fair share of taxes, you and I have to make up the difference. Is that fair?
Exxon Mobil Corp, one of the most profitable companies on the planet, received a share of the $14.5 billion in tax breaks given last year to energy companies, a nice return on the $367 million it and other utility owners spent to lobby congressmen.
And you should know that large corporations, not small businesses, are the most likely welfare recipients. Let the markets decide if your business is viable.
We must put an end to this farm bill and corporate welfare. Let’s keep government subsidies out of our businesses; it’s corrupting our country, and we cannot afford it.

Gerald Gertiser • Johannesburg

Stop sulfide mining
There is a real and dangerous threat facing Michigan and its most precious asset, our environment. The proposed metallic sulfide mine in the Yellow Dog Plain in the Upper Peninsula is a bad idea for all of Michigan.
The Yellow Dog watershed is an area still yet to be discovered by most of the population, and should be preserved for all generations to come. There has never been a metallic sulfide mine that has failed to pollute its watershed.
Clean waters and wild lands define the Michigan lifestyle. It’s the Great Lakes and the U.P. wilds that make Michigan the state we love. The direct effect of mining would trickle down through the entire watershed of the Great Lakes. So mining would not just affect the small area of the Yellow Dog and Huron Mountains (the oldest standing mountains in the world), but also our state’s number one resource.
The legacy of sulfide mining is acid mine drainage. It poisons water forever (2,500-10,000+ years). The industrial development required to mine it on State land, in
Michigan’s wildest area, will destroy that wildness forever.
We all need to fight to protect our great state. Say NO to sulfide mining in Michigan!

Jason Hamelin • Suttons Bay

The Slavery of Freedom
Re: Random Thoughts, March 1. There seems to be a contradiction in you position in the “Puff of Freedom“ article. On one hand you oppose any government restrictions on smoking in public, and on the other hand say one‘s freedom to an activity (fist swinging) must not infringe on another‘s space (or nose). The issue transcends restaurants and bars. Anyone who has been to the beach, walked downtown, entered a mall store, attended the Cherry Fest or stood in line has involuntarily inhaled tobacco smoke.
There is a reason pools don‘t have a urinating and non-urinating section. Is the air we breathe any different? Obviously someone has to surrender their freedom to some degree. Should it be the initiator of a behavior or the passive bystander?

Bill Hagan • Traverse City