Opinion
Letters to the editor, Aug. 1
TBO.com
Published: August 1, 2012
Welcome reprievePublished: August 1, 2012
In his July 25 letter to the editor, Brian Nelson blames the country's maladies on immigration, public assistance, insurance companies, banks and overpopulation.
He said the "true" middle class (whites) produces two children, while those lower on the rung (minorities) have produced two to three times as many. Nelson also declared: "The Obama administration is poised to turn our country into a socialist nation. How they feel this is helping the middle class is beyond me." If this guy gets a Social Security check, he needs a reality check.
My response to all the deluded Republicans out there is that the main conflict is not man against world, or nature, or society. We live in a complex time and that simplistic notion of scapegoating minorities is not a rational solution, so turn off Fox News. The conflict lies in how the people can unite to equitably distribute wealth in an industrialized nation, with plenty of natural resources.
Should we the people allow private companies to continue pumping out crude oil and sell it as their own, or does that commodity belong to all of us? Norway and Venezuela have publicized their oil profits and provided health care and education with the funds.
A Socialist Party would be a welcome reprieve from this nonsense.
Kristen Lawver
Holiday
Getting a head start
I have great respect for small business owners. Anyone who comes up with an idea, develops it, risks his or her personal finances and, then, manages the business to a success, deserves respect. Perhaps, no more, or no less than anyone who makes the most of his or her educational opportunities, invests in his/herself, reports to work every day and gives an honest day's work for the pay received.
However, an irritating attitude expressed by too many business people, especially venture capitalist multimillionaires, is thinking they have hit a home run in life when actually they started on third base. Their business was either handed to them by family; they just happened to be standing in the right place at the right time; or they got their start or were sustained with the help of government grants or contracts.
Gerald Goen
Tarpon Springs