My Topics of the Day

Guest Opinion

By Richard Robbins | Aug. 17, 2024

I have been musing on several topics with friends, family, and others in our community. They are topics “of the day” and all based on curiosity. What do you think?

Line 5: Why are we allowing the owner/operator of Line 5 to build the tunnel? It seems to me that we are allowing a private, for-profit company the right of way to control what goes into the tunnel and who can use it. I asked this question of Lester Graham of Michigan Public Radio, and he seemed to have no clear answer.

Will Enbridge allow a competitor to run a competing pipeline in the tunnel and charge lower rates? I suspect not. Why not have the State of Michigan build the tunnel and lease out the space in the tunnel to Enbridge and potentially other competitors to ensure the consumers of whatever goes through the tunnel are not restricted due to a monopoly ownership? It would not increase our state taxes; these projects are built with money from bonds and paid back with the fees charged by the users (i.e. Enbridge and others).

What about other things that could run through the tunnel? Telecommunication cables? Natural gas? Not sure of the restrictions on these other things, but it seems that the citizens of Michigan should own/manage this right of way, not a private company.

A great example is our Mackinac Bridge. The citizens of Michigan own the bridge and user fees maintain it. We then can manage the risks of construction to ensure that corners are not being cut and our Great Lakes are secure from a potential major environmental disaster out into the future.

Be Curious, Not Judgmental: The “darts scene” of Ted Lasso (if you never saw Ted Lasso, you won’t get this—and if you haven’t seen the series, I strongly recommend you watch it) introduced me to this Walt Whitman quote. It has stuck with me for the better part of two years.

Though I fall off the wagon frequently in not applying this advice, I am getting better at practicing its use in my everyday interactions with people. What is furthering my understanding of its effectiveness is my current reading of accounts of the life of Benjamin Franklin. Another way I have heard this advice is in the saying, “Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.”

Constitutional Change Needed: We are certainly all aware of the focus on our rights as Americans provided by our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and all the constitutional amendments. We hear of them constantly from the entire spectrum of the American population as, “(fill in the blank) is my right as an American!”

Let’s call for a Constitutional Convention to add the Bill of Responsibilities. How about you have no rights unless you fulfill certain responsibilities? Let’s start with voting. No rights without participation in the voting process. Next, how about being held accountable for your own actions? I don’t have this all baked, but the point is a functioning democracy provides rights to its citizens, but those same citizens have responsibilities to the democratic society.

Loud Vehicles: Why do we not have a uniform national policy/law on how loud any licensed vehicle can be? Does that sound too difficult? We continue to enforce our clean air laws that have gone a long way to providing all of us cleaner air. Why is the sound in that air not considered as important to regulate?

Loud noise coming from mostly individual modified cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles in the form of engine noise, sound speakers too large for anything other than the “look at me!” purpose, are pervasive only because we have allowed them. We have the power to address this uniformly to create a more pleasant environment in which to live.

Homelessness: If you poll Americans, you will find that the overwhelming majority—I hazard to guess 90 percent—are willing to lend a helping hand to those that need a hand up and out of homelessness. What many are frustrated with is there does not seem to be a process to identify those that are “working the system” and unwilling to work when they have the capacity to do so. If there was a process in place to do so, I suspect there would be even greater participation in providing true help for the needy.

We also need a federal financial commitment to a long-term—or sometimes permanent—and uniform approach to providing housing and mental health care as well as physical care for those who are determined to be mentally ill. This is the humane thing to do, and it cannot be a local/regional burden.

Just a few things to ponder and get all our creative thinking juices flowing.

Richard Robbins is a recently retired resident who grew up in the Detroit area. He and his wife Barbara have lived all over the United States before selecting Traverse City for its beauty, culture, bike trails, and walkability.