LETTERS

Destiny in an obituary

The tragic story of an anonymous American citizen-how do you want your obituary to read?

“I lived a happy childhood until I was a teen. Then I began drinking my parents’ booze and using their prescription drugs. Soon after, I became an alcoholic, quit school and began to work for minimum wage. A coworker and I began experimenting with marijuana, which led to meth, which led to cocaine addiction. Trying to support my bad habit, I robbed a bank, killed a teller, got caught and was sentenced to death. They hanged me this December.

“I had the same 24 hours in a day as everyone else. In the greatest land in the world, the land of opportunity, America, I laid waste to the greatest resource, my life, my grand potential for the human race, wasted dreams, poverty and hopelessness among the land of plenty, prosperity and happiness.

“This was my destiny, a rope around the neck. I will not be having a very happy New Year.”

What will be your destiny at the end of this year? How will you live your life? Hope you have a brighter and more productive future than this citizen.

I’m glad this wasn’t me … but for the grace of God go I.

THOMAS F. KNIGHT Little Rock

A day for listening

I have come to the conclusion that there is a reason we humans have two ears and only one mouth. This is so we hopefully would use our ears twice as much as we use our mouth, speaking only half as much as we would listen. I have this deep belief that if we just closed our mouths and opened our ears, and by extension our brains, for long periods of time, the world just might become a better place. Consider what one misses when the mouth is working: the second part of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, James Taylor singing anything, birds doing their own thing in the yard, the wind simply blowing in the trees, your dog or cat trying to tell you something important. So much in this world to enjoy and appreciate is missed because we insist on blocking it out with our own noise.

It is for these reasons that I am hereby proposing and advocating an International Everyone Shut Up and Just Listen Day-a day given over to absolutely no self-produced noise of any kind. A day given over to enjoying and relishing what the world has to offer, free from contamination on our part.

Personally, escape from excessive noise bombardment is why I seek solace with my grills, especially when the only sound is the wondrous sizzling of something about to be delicious meeting the charcoal.

So, lobbying for International Everyone Shut Up and Just Listen Day has officially begun. State and federal legislators may expect to hear from me (ah, the irony of that statement!). I invite all those who wish for some peace and quiet to join me in this worthy endeavor.

DAVID KELLEY Fort Smith

On plurals and y’all

As an Arkie, born and raised, I just want to comment on “y’all.”

Y’all means “you all,” meaning two or more people. Example: Y’all come back.

When we speak to one person we say you. Example: You come back.

Never in my 69 years have I heard anyone say “all y’all.” LOL!

HATTIE PARSLEY Fayetteville

What could go wrong

Tony Potochnik writes that the Republicans are hysterical over Obamacare. He is correct. I believe the Republicans see Obamacare for what it really is, and they don’t like it.

Although I totally disagree with his statement that we rank 26th in the world in “our general state of health,” there are certainly problems that need to be addressed. Here’s my challenge for his point of view. God forbid, you have cancer. In which country would you would prefer to be treated?

Here’s Obamacare in a nutshell. You have 40 million people (the estimates range from 30 to 50 million) who do not have health-care coverage. How do you fix this problem? Should you expand the existing Medicare and Medicaid programs to cover them? That would require a substantial increase in taxation.

The Democrats’ apparent solution: Pass Obamacare and let the middle class pay for the people who cannot afford health care.

The reason that the middle class will pay for it is that you really can’t hurt the folks who are really rich. It seems the Democrats have been trying for years to make them suffer. It just won’t work. Sure, you can make them pay more and they will hate it, but you can’t hurt them. The real money that can be had apparently is in the middle class. Let’s redistribute their income to pay for this wonderful program.

So, rather than expand the existing programs to resolve the problem and cover a small minority of people who need coverage, let’s change (remember Hope and Change?) the way that everybody receives and pays for health care.

What could possibly go wrong?

GORDON GONDEK Little Rock

Of tea and sympathy

I sympathize with Tea Partiers’ complaint that they are “Taxed Enough Already.”

Unfortunately, they fail to ask why. After all, good government costs money; money must come from somewhere.

The United States is considered one of the best governments on Earth; it deserves support. However, Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most successful investors, complained he pays only about half his secretary’s tax rate.

Mitt Romney paid 13.9 percent in taxes on $20 million income, scarcely more than a third of the 39.6 percent maximum income-tax rate much-lower-income folks pay. We make up this shortfall.

Multibillionaire Sheldon Adelson (a casino owner) transferred about $8 billion to his kids at zero estate tax, using the tax code to avoid 40 percent in taxes on the assets. That’s $3 billion made up by us!

Also, the effective corporate tax rate (share of profits actually paid in taxes) averaged less than 20 percent, much lower than the top corporate statutory rate of 35 percent.

As much as anyone, Tea Party folks need decent, reasonably priced health care, but low-income subsidies cost money. What’s not to like about allowing kids to stay on their parents’ health care until age 26? Or not allowing insurance companies to reject a cancer claim because a person had unreported whooping cough at age 3?

Polls show the “Affordable Care Act” is well-liked, but not “Obamacare”-despite being exactly the same thing. Why is that? Unlike ACA, Obamacare has suffered enormous negative advertising, bankrolled by hugely rich tax-avoiders.

W.J. BRAITHWAITE Little Rock

Editorial, Pages 75 on 12/29/2013

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