His valuable insights
Karl T. Kimball's letter offers valuable insight regarding utopian ideologies. He writes: "Utopianism is the belief that an ideal society can be perfected, which goes against human nature and therefore is always doomed to failure."
He applies the insight to show that frustrations in reaching socialism's goal of a radiant future leads to "the use of the coercive power of the state" and ultimately to "poverty, enslavement and death." Regrettably he stops there.
If his insight is a universal truth, it applies equally to religious and capitalist utopias.
Karl Marx would have been appalled at the totalitarianism of Stalin's socialist utopia. I believe Adam Smith, who imagined a "simple system of natural liberty" where "every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way," would be similarly appalled at the corporate capitalism of the Koch brothers' billionairiate.
So let's abandon utopian ideologies for pragmatism and solve problems within contemporary social contexts. Currently, corporate industrial capitalism is destroying the global ecosystem. I believe it must be abandoned or significantly altered if the social order is to survive in a recognizable state. Is this a problem that can be solved by individual effort, by corporate effort, or by the combined effort of cooperating global governments?
DAVID SIXBEY
Flippin
Reminder of the past
It was good to see the article about the young airman's remains finally coming home after the crash of his Air Force C-124 on Mount Gannett, Alaska, on Nov. 22, 1952.
It also really hit a note with me because one month after that crash, on Dec. 20, 1952, another C-124 crashed and burned on takeoff from Larson Air Force Base, Moses Lake, Wash. Eighty-seven airmen were killed, at that time the worst airplane loss of life in history. Most of the survivors were sitting in the rear of the plane.
Most were catching a ride, or "hop," on this training flight heading south and east to eventually get home for Christmas. For some unknown reason my previously approved leave had been canceled and I was really upset, having never been away from home on Christmas. So my seat on the flight didn't happen, and at first I didn't know why the ground shuddered early that morning.
I had ridden on the C-124 as a passenger several times before and had always sat right up behind the pilots. By a quirk of the military but I'm sure more by the grace of God, I was spared and spent my first Christmas away from home but, more importantly, we spent it giving thanks and mourning the loss of our fellow airmen.
LOU COCKMON
Little Rock
Destruction of schools
I am very concerned about the Department of Education taking over the Little Rock School District. The Department of Education did not seem interested in controlling poor districts like Pine Bluff. It seems it chose and continues to choose to ignore the will of voters.
I am afraid that the department's appetite will not be sated until it has destroyed every school in Arkansas. Can the people stop the Waltons?
GAVIN O'CAIN
North Little Rock
Social Security taxes
Taxing Social Security is and always has been a contentious issue. As a professional tax person I hear this all the time from taxpayers who have to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits.
Social Security by itself is not taxed, but if people would turn over their annual statement they would see the simple math that determines whether or not any of their benefit is taxable and how much. I had an elderly taxpayer this year who argued that he had to file a return because he received Social Security and it was taxable and that this law happened under the Clinton presidency, to which I stated it was in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan, and he proceeded to argue with me on that point.
So I looked it up and this is what I found: "Social Security benefits were taxed for the first time with the passage of the 1983 Amendments to the Social Security Act. Beginning in 1984, a portion of Social Security benefits have been subject to federal income taxes." So this happened during the first term of Reagan's presidency.
If you divide your benefit in half then add taxable income as well as tax-exempt interest and it exceeds $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 for married joint filers, you will have to pay tax on a portion of your Social Security, but never on more than 85 percent of it--only on the amount exceeding the threshold, not all of it.
JUDITH K. ZITKO
Hot Springs Village
Cheerleading's a sport
While reading the paper, I rarely see anything about cheerleading. I'm a cheerleader so that's what interests me the most. Then I started to think. Maybe people who are not cheerleaders or have never been a cheerleader just don't care. So this made me think even more and this time I did my research.
Neither the NCAA, NAIA, nor the NJCAA recognize cheerleading as one of their athletic teams. But why can't it be? These organizations not giving cheer the credit it deserves just make it harder for us cheerleaders to receive good scholarships, which I believe is extremely unfair.
The definition of the word "sport" is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Most cheer teams go to competitions and compete against other teams and it takes a great amount of skill to win. And it's pretty good entertainment, if you ask me.
I believe cheerleading has all the "requirements" to be a sport, yet it's still not considered one. How fair is that?
TAMIA DENSON
Sherwood
Editorial on 04/27/2016