This is Viewpoints for Friday, January 8, 2016
A compliment
I enjoyed reading the rebuttal by Bill Curry to my recent submission on technocracy. He started by calling me a "conspiracy theorist." I thank him for the compliment. Researchers, psychologists and social scientists, mostly in the U.S. and United Kingdom, say data indicate that, contrary to those mainstream media stereotypes, "conspiracy theorists" appear to be more sane than people who accept official versions of controversial and contested events. This pejorative term was originally coined by the CIA to silence those who questioned the official story of the JFK assassination.
Next, he called my "theory" nonsensical and can be easily debunked, yet did not cite one example. In case he missed it, I used the exact quotations from a book written by Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the modern architects of technocracy. In addition, I quoted other notable people.
In the well researched book I recommended, "Technocracy Rising," by Patrick Wood, the following are chapters in the book: "The Trilateral Commission," "Transforming Economics," "Transforming Government," "Transforming Religion," and "The Total Surveillance Society." (Common Core is the indoctrination component). If Curry would invest a couple of bucks, he may experience a major paradigm shift as most who read this book do.
When Curry comes out with his book debunking this subject, I surely will pick up a copy, as I enjoy exploring all points of view. My criticisms will be based on facts rather than emotion.
Unless you live under a rock, how can one not see that we are being subjugated by global and corporate interests? Unless you understand how it is being implemented, how will you recognize this Trojan Horse of global transformation?
-- Kathy Solomon
Perry
Dead horse
John Bennett's most recent plea to give up meat and dairy products has moved me. I eat pizza every Sunday; the next four slices will be in his honor. The next time I eat a hamburger steak, it'll be for him.
In all seriousness, since Bennett wants to give advice for a New Year's resolution, I think he should resolve to get another hobby. He's beaten the dead horse of the no meat/vegan lifestyle so much, the horse is now glue.
-- Dave Whitaker
Danville
Comments about national leadership
I am an independent voter. I do not vote simply because he/she is a nice man or woman, or even because I have always voted this way. I vote on the issues. I am particularly in favor of term limits. It is career politicians, I believe, who have been responsible for the political gridlock we see in Washington. These career politicians are more concerned about their own welfare than the welfare of our country.
After two terms of a Democratic president, I would normally be voting for a Republican. But at this time, what policies can the Republicans collectively agree upon amongst themselves? Consider the following:
A) Religious liberty. We hear members of the religious right talking about religious liberty. Do they mean Christian liberty only? Will other religions have their liberty too? Muslims consider it sacrilege to draw cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, or to burn the Koran. I have heard members of the religious right say on radio that both of these are acceptable because of "free speech." Will the religious right consider it free speech if a Muslim burns the Bible publicly, or burns a wooden cross with a figure on it? Or, will they use different standards and consider these as hate crimes.
The founders of this country had very good reasons why they wanted to separate religion and politics.
B) Taxes. I am a small-businessman. My tax burden has increased under both the Democrats and Republicans. Yet the very rich, sometimes called the "1 percenters" have had their tax burden reduced under a Republican president. Supposedly, this was to stimulate job creation. More Americans work for small businesses than big businesses. Will a Republican candidate for the presidency accept the tax cuts for the very rich as a failed experiment and replace the taxes for the very rich to help reduce the deficit? Then, increase employment by reducing taxes for the small-businessman?
C) Health Care. "Getting rid of ObamaCare" is a rallying cry to many Republicans. In view of the many votes and taxpayer money spent on lawyers arguing against the Affordable Health Care Act, what serious candidate will now argue for its repeal? It is, whether we like it or not, entrenched and here to stay. How much more will the taxpayer have to spend on lawsuits and Washington lawyers, to try and repeal it? It is good political rhetoric to say, " I will get rid of ObamaCare." But, political rhetoric is all it is at this point. The Republicans will lose a lot of votes from people who now have health care, if they have a candidate who tries.
D) Immigration. The Republican Senate is prepared to accept a pathway to legalized status for illegal immigrants if certain criteria have been met. The Republican House does not seem to accept legalized status under any circumstances. We have heard cries of "Amnesty for the illegals" from Republican members of the House. Can any Republican candidate bring these viewpoints together?
Unless and until the Republicans have policies that most of them agree on, they will have no serious candidate for the presidency I can vote for. During the coming round of primary elections, let us see if the Republicans can stop shooting themselves in their own feet.
I may not agree with all of President Obama's policies, but his presidency has steered us through a financial crisis much better than the rest of the world. The growing debt and big problems this country has been developing under both political parties for many years. If both parties would compromise instead of expecting the "others" to compromise while "we stick to our principles" then perhaps the golden years of America may stretch further ahead of us, instead of being behind us.
-- Barry McLeod-Hughes
Byron
Pot calling the kettle
When I read Frank Gadbois' letter published on Friday the Jan. 1, I had to laugh. Oh sure we see the same names nearly every day, but he really shouldn't be complaining about that when he himself had already had one letter published on the day before. The limit is one letter per week but I guess it doesn't apply to some of the regular writers.
-- Mike Ganas
Macon
Frank sends in so many letters sometimes we lose count.
-- Editors
Am I a Republican?
I am NOT a Republican. How do I know?
I do not want to take away your voting rights.
I do not want to control consenting adults in marriage.
I do not want to control women's bodies.
I do not want to defund public education.
I do not want to defund Planned Parenthood.
I do not want to take veterans benefits from them.
I do not want to destroy an employees union.
I do not want to treat every Hispanic American as if they are illegal.
I do not want to treat every Muslim as if they are a terrorist.
I do not want to take away Medicare/SSI benefits from eligible citizens.
I do not want to take away Medicaid from the poor.
I do not want to take away food stamps from the poor.
-- Carl Pirkle
Byron
This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 8:04 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Friday, January 8, 2016 ."