Failure long foreseen
Re Brexit: Years ago when the European Union was an active glimmer in the politicians' eyes, my husband and I rendezvoused at a Paris train station with a German friend who was joining us for a vacation. Coming from Germany, he was late meeting us because he had difficulties changing train stations in Paris.
Frustrated, angry and ranting, he proclaimed in a strong German accent, "Those stupid French. They can't even speak English."
My husband and I looked at each other, burst out laughing and predicted: "The European Union has no chance of success."
MARILYN GOLDSMITH
Conway
Protect environment
I believe the environment is a valuable gift that has been presented to us. We need to take care of it. Currently it is being polluted by extraneous factors such as global warming, plastic pollution, the increased use of nonrenewable resources--just environmental deterioration in general.
To fix this, we must do what is beneficial to the environment, and not worry so much just about the economic benefits. The extended use of nonrenewable resources is a topic that is widely being debated. Though fossil fuels are a valuable source of energy, are relatively inexpensive to extract and can also be stored and shipped to anywhere in the world, I still maintain that burning fossil fuels is harmful to the environment.
Many people are concerned about an economic crash if we switched from nonrenewable resources, but the extended use of these resources can be very detrimental to the environment. The use of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into the air, which is in the long term very dangerous.
Of course I'm not suggesting an immediate switch to renewable resources, but we certainly need to start making the changes now. There are many benefits for using renewable resources, the obvious one being that they are sustainable and so will never run out, and pose less harm to the environment and us.
A decision needs to be made to solve this major global problem, because if we don't, we might not have the time or a planet to do so.
MEGHANA BOLLIMPALLI
Little Rock
Dictatorship dictum
Monarchy is the dictatorship of the one. Oligarchy is the dictatorship of the few. Democracy is the dictatorship of the majority. All dictatorships (governing bodies) operating without constitutions to protect the rights of minorities invite anarchy.
Paul Ryan, a well-educated student of Ayn Rand, should recognize cause and effect in the Democratic sit-in. And then, recognizing the fate of the Russian czars in the 20th century, he should take the advice of a Russian czar of the 19th century: "Better to give reforms from above than to have them forced on you from below."
LEN WHITE
Fatetteville
Have last days begun?
OMG! Britain elected to leave the European Union; America could elect The Donald as our next president. Heaven forbid.
NEALUS WHEELER
Mountain Home
Be careful with wishes
The law of unintended consequences is unforgiving and indiscriminate in its fury. Voters should be very careful what they wish for.
One of the longest periods in Western European history without a world war may now be in jeopardy, bringing to mind Albert Einstein's quote: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
If other nations begin to exit the European Union, those words may become very meaningful to us all.
If you thought Friday's stock-market fall after Brexit was scary, consider the likely result if El Trumpo Grande is elected president. That market drop might make June 24 seem like a minor dip by comparison.
The lesson for all of us should be that elections have consequences. Brexit is the result of a terrible political miscalculation by (soon-to-be former) Prime Minister David Cameron, who will likely live forever in history's list of the infamous. Democracy can only be successful if the electorate is both educated on all the issues and engaged. Many in the U.K. were neither, letting populist rhetoric lead them down a path that in the long term has almost nothing going for it. It's hard to be isolated societally while remaining a member of the world community economically.
Any of this sound familiar? Let's hope we do better in November than our mother country did.
DENNIS BARRY
Little Rock
Facing consequences
"Brexit" should serve as a cautionary tale for the American electorate. Multiple news agencies are reporting statements by some people who voted for the U.K. to leave the European Union that they would have voted differently if they had known the "leave" side would actually win. This from The Independent: "Electoral services workers have reported calls from people asking if they could change their decision after Friday's result became clear, while some publicly admitted they intended to use a 'protest vote' in the belief the U.K. was certain to remain in the European Union."
Elections have real consequences. Each vote counts. If you want to protest, make a sign and protest. Don't cast a "protest vote." The polling station will not let you come back and vote the other way after the election is over.
STEVEN HERRINGTON
Hot Springs
Delusions and politics
Al Case had a letter published in which he said, and I quote, "In a presidential election, any halfwit who reads his or her Bible would most certainly defeat an astrophysicist who does not." Case further stated that he believes that "a large percentage of Americans are delusional and would have it no other way."
Speaking of delusions, on what rational basis does Case believe that either halfwit running for president this year has seriously read a Bible? There's a delusion for you.
BRENT BAILEY
Ward
Editorial on 06/28/2016