Attitudes on dissent
Three major governments exhibit their attitude toward dissent in the world today.
Vladimir Putin of Russia usually assassinates his chief competitors. Not openly, of course.
Xi Jinping of China directs the full weight of his bureaucracy against his dissidents. One exiled dissident, Yu Jie, stated, according to a story printed in the Democrat-Gazette, "In front of the world, Liu Xiaobo is being murdered by Xi Jinping. Yet not a single Western political figure is condemning Xi Jinping."
Our politicians are probably not even aware of the bold and articulate stand Liu Xiaobo took against Chinese government suppression of dissent in both his speeches and his writing before he was tried and convicted of exciting subversion and sentenced to 11 years in prison back in 2009. When I visited his hometown of Chang-chun in 2010, no one even knew that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize and was not even allowed to travel to Stockholm to accept it before he went to prison.
Back in the Nixon era, former Sen. J.W. Fulbright stated that political dissent was not only a right, but a duty.
Today, regardless of their stature, Donald Trump tweets against his political dissenters all kinds of vile words. There is no question about how he feels toward a free press which has revealed his apparent complicity with the Russian oligarchy to wrench the presidency from its duly elected representative.
I mourn for a brave dissenter, Liu Xiaobo, 61, who died Thursday.
BILL B. RHODES
Mountain Home
Why I'm a Democrat
I'm writing in response to a letter by Ashton Miller--you know, the man who stated that he does not provide health insurance for his employees, that his grandfather buys a new Mercedes every other year, and who calls the people who support universal health care "crybabies." The arrogance and Richard Cory-esque attitude exemplified by this person help explain why there so many angry liberals today.
Many of us did not plan to be poor. I'm 70 years old and will never drive a Mercedes, but I would almost kill for any type of car when I wait for the bus in inclement weather. I am intelligent and very well-educated, but due to a combination of factors (some my fault) I've ended up living on only Social Security. I'm lucky enough to have Medicare, but I'm sure the Republicans would love to get rid of that. It seems our senators from Arkansas blindly follow the inept 45 wherever he leads and do not represent our interests.
I raised three children (very imperfectly) as a single parent, and would love to have a part-time job even at my age. There are many people like me, and we are not "crybabies" or lazy.
For these reasons I will always be a Democrat. It appears Republicans only care about the wealthy, and I think they are despicable.
CATHERINE LAMB
Little Rock
The Ayn Rand world
I read Mr. Ashton Miller's letter with some amusement. I recall this is not the first missive from him espousing an Ayn Randian view of the world. The last one I recall had to do with outlawing college education for those without the means to go first-class or some such tripe.
I suspect Mr. Miller is what we called in the Army a s***-stirrer, and that his letters are written with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
At least I hope that is the case.
TIM BUCKLEY
Fayetteville
Once, we had a leader
As the song goes, "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end."
We used to have a president who thought before he spoke. Didn't cuss or fuss or act like a thug. Didn't push people aside to get in front, had our allies' respect and trust. He cared about the poor and minorities and didn't attack facts as "fake news." Didn't spend his time tweeting and bragging. Had substance without being loud, and his sanity was never in doubt!
ROSE GOVAR
Maumelle
Not so overburdened
A letter from Joe T. Tucker raises the issue of tax rates across income groups, apparently commiserating with high-income taxpayers' tax burden.
The figures that Tucker cites, from the Pew Research Center, are based on figures provided by the Internal Revenue Service in their "Statistics of Income" report. The income figures are based on what is reported on individual income-tax returns, something called "adjusted gross income," or AGI. But AGI omits many significant sources of nontaxable revenue sources, e.g., municipal bond interest, employer contributions to retirement plans, other nontaxable fringe benefits, etc.
A more serious flaw is that the analysis only considers federal individual income taxes. It omits payroll taxes (e.g., Social Security) as well as all state and local taxes. An analysis by another group, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, includes a broader measure of income as well as a broader range of taxes. The results, by income (low to high) and tax rate (taxes as a percent of income): Lowest 20 percent of taxpayers by income pay a 19.1 percent tax rate; second-lowest 20 percent of taxpayers: 23.1 percent; middle 20 percent of taxpayers: 27.5 percent; fourth 20 percent of taxpayers: 30.8 percent; next 10 percent of taxpayers: 32.3 percent; Next 5 percent of taxpayers: 33.0 percent; next 4 percent of taxpayers: 33.4 percent; highest 1 percent of taxpayers: 34.1 percent. The overall rate is 31.1 percent.
The top 1 percent, with average income of $1.8 million, pays 3 percent more of their income than the average taxpayer. One possible interpretation is that "the rich" are not overburdened compared to their less well-off taxpayers.
MIKE WATTS
Little Rock
Must change mindset
We are in agreement with the need for "victory over violence." That victory is not simply convincing the perpetrators to change their behavior.
True victory will be the changing of a mindset.
A symptom is something that indicates the existence of something else. A root is the basic cause or origin of something. I submit to you that a mindset that has been framed in such a way that human life is no longer viewed as sacred is the root of the violence we are experiencing.
Does our cry that "all lives matter" include the moment of conception? Is it colorblind? Does it pull down strongholds related to gender, special needs, sexual orientation, age? Until all human lives really matter, can any life matter?
If human life is not sacred, can anything be sacred?
We cannot undo the past, but we can apply the power of love to the present, for transformation. Be transformed by renewing of our minds, and the root formed will produce the symptoms of a mind that views all human life as sacred.
LOU TURNER
Jacksonville
It's a different swamp
Re the president's campaign promise that he would "drain the swamp": Guess he got close; he replaced it with a cesspool.
CHARLES ISGRIG
Pine Bluff
Editorial on 07/14/2017