It is being said that China is likely to take over the spot as No. 1 economic world power soon. And probably the bleeding and blaming hearts will want to blame the president--but the "blame" is a lot older than that.
I remember seeing America's infatuation with "cheap imports" begin to undermine our economy--maybe not the beginning. I'm not that old. And I have to admit to being a party to it, too. Walmart advertised cheap and American-made--we heard cheap, but ignored American-made. Soon American-made wasn't cheap enough for us. Falling in love with being able to buy two instead of one, we began to make China rich. And the quality kept getting better.
When I began to be uneasy about the imbalance, it was already hard to find American-made in the stores. American greed (not that we're greedier than anyone else, but it's here that matters in this discussion) had pretty much made us dependent on imports. The Chinese were poor, but not stupid. Of course they took advantage!
Our present POTUS tries too-little-too-late to fix the imbalance, and for his probable failure, some will blame him for the whole.
There's something musical and poetic about the sound of "American arrogance." We don't like the inference, however. It's part of the problem that the arrogant are not able to see their arrogance. Admitting to it would go a long way to eliminating it.
DAPHNE BEREND
Subiaco
'Nones' on increase
Terry Mattingly, in his always timely Saturday Religion column, notes this past week the rise of the "nones" in American religion. Deeper in the column, he describes the precipitous decline in membership among the mainline generally progressive Protestant churches. He notes that researchers are "baffled" at the connection between current American values moving left and the coincident decline within these progressive churches.
Baffled. It would not appear to require much research to recognize that if what one receives inside a church is indistinguishable from the culture outside the church--then why go to church? Christianity has always been in significant part counter-cultural. It seems that those Christian churches which remain so will survive.
STEPHEN HOFFMANN
Little Rock
Tired of negativism
Like many people, I am tired of all the negativism in the news, when in fact there are many good things happening in our state, such as the honoring of members of the Democrat-Gazette's staff for their excellence in reporting; Rep. Rick Crawford's securing freight train service to a small city that will boost their economy; residents of Fair Park Boulevard improving their yards and homes to return their street to the beautiful avenue it used to be; and our amazing first lady Susan B. Hutchinson giving a lovely speech at the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and then personally planting a yellow rose bush with the Girl Scouts.
LINDA BELL
Little Rock
On issues that matter
Recently, former Rep. David Jolly, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2014 to 2017, said during an interview that if we want to have any real change in this country on issues that matter, we need to vote out every single Republican in the House, Senate and White House. He did not mince words; they were clear.
Just how bad is it that a ranking member that served in the Republican Party is calling for every single Republican to be voted out?
Let's look at a few issues; take any issue that matters. Mass shootings--Republicans apparently couldn't care less but are offended when we want guns out of the hands of crazy people. Tax cuts for the rich--that has not helped me or anyone I know. Climate change--they say it isn't happening, yet we are seeing weather patterns we have never seen before, and they deny new technology. Which is better: the technology we have now or that from 100 years ago; 100 years ago or technology in 10 years? Affordable higher education--our nation cannot go against other nations if our work force doesn't even know how to read, let alone design new technologies. The primary reasons nations like the Republicans' favorite, Venezuela, failed is not because of socialism but because the government didn't adapt with the times and they stagnated, just like the Republicans here are doing.
What's your issue that affects you today?
DANIEL GIPSON
Cherokee Village
Can get things done
Most of the time, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at Donald Trump. Often I start to laugh over some of the outlandish things out of his mouth (no climate change, or buying Greenland, for instance), and then I find myself weeping. His role in furthering the divide of the country into white or "the other" is appalling; I only hope my antidepressants will last until someone else gets elected.
I have pondered this for 2½ years, and now I think I finally have an idea that might help. The chant "lock them up" finally made sense. Why don't we lock Congress up until it comes to an agreement to work together? Since the members are not doing much and Trump doesn't seem to pay attention to them (or the Constitution), why not? There will be no TV, no cell phone and no communication devices to or from anyone else. Guards will monitor any suspected outside communication. They will stay until they can come together as a body.
The goal is simple. Party affiliations are off the table. State issues are considered and plans developed. Decide as a group what needs to be done for the nation to prosper and be safe. Universal friendships must be repaired. Issues such as trade, race relations, and gun control will be discussed. If there is no bloodshed by the end of each day, drinks may be served and replays of The Big Bang Theory can be watched. They stay until there is agreement to work together as a legislative body. After a solemn pinky swear, they will be released to: Run the country!
GWENNETH PRICE PICARD
Little Rock
Editorial on 08/27/2019