• Socialism, fascism in a handy slogan • Defining marriage • Environmentally friendly reusable bags need TLC • Go for GOOOH Socialism, fascism in a handy slogan I’m responding to Ms. Brooks from Iowa, who cites me for wrongly equating
• Socialism, fascism in a handy slogan • Defining marriage • Environmentally friendly reusable bags need TLC • Go for GOOOH
Socialism, fascism in a handy slogan
I’m responding to Ms. Brooks from Iowa, who cites me for wrongly equating socialism to fascism, and asks how both could co-exist in an Obama second term.
I say they’re two sides of the same ‘far left’ coin, contrasting with American conservatism on the right, which upholds individual liberty, private property, self-reliance and charity. It also recognizes that belief in God as the highest authority is crucial to having a just society, and insists that our federal government be limited in power.
Socialism, contrarily, requires faith in the Almighty be subordinate to reliance on a pervasive government apparatus providing security and sustenance for all in exchange for most freedoms. Hence, all can devote themselves to pursuits more pleasurable than life’s daily struggle.
As government isn’t composed of angels, but mere mortals like the rest of us, with vices as well as virtues, the result is inefficiency, ineptitude and corruption. As problems snowball, the demand for more ‘shared’ sacrifice from, and control over the masses (socialism’s belittling term for ‘We, the People’) inevitably follow.
As seen time and again, its a system hog-tied to failure. After declining for decades, Europe — where socialism’s been perfected — now faces economic collapse and upheaval. Historically, such conditions usher fascism which (as defined by Jonah Goldberg) “… takes responsibility for all aspects of life, … seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, … by force or through regulation and social pressure.”
Given all this — and placing dictionaries aside — here’s a slogan for ya: “Conservatism (right) seeks to stave off the Tyranny (Facism) to which Socialism (left) paves the way.”
Aloha!
Steven Souza, Koloa
Defining marriage
Kimo Rosen says “Marriage is defined as a union between a man and woman, not a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.” (May 20 Letters.)
Yet according to Merriam-Webster it is defined as “1a: the state of being married; b: the mutual relation of husband and wife, wedlock; c: the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family. 2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected; especially the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities. 3: (n) intimate or close union.”
I see nothing there that restricts it the way Mr. Rosen suggests.
Words are defined by people. I remember when I was a kid, a “faggot” was “a bundle of sticks used for kindling.” The word “niggardly” meant “stingy” or “miserly.” However, in recent years, people have been criticized, reprimanded and even fired for using them as correctly defined.
I have never heard of any objection to gay marriage that was anything other than religious. Most who object point to the Bible, yet the Bible actually gives instructions on how to treat your first wife after you have taken on a second. Solomon supposedly had hundreds of wives. An objective look at history will show that marriage has never been defined only as being “between one man and one woman.”
It’s time to move on.
Brian Christensen, Lihu‘e
Environmentally friendly reusable bags need TLC
With all the recent debate regarding plastic bags, this is an opportune time to remind shoppers of good sanitation practices regarding reusable shopping bags.
Repp and Keene reported in the May 9 Journal of Infectious Diseases the first scientific documentation of norovirus transmission via a reusable bag.
In October 2010, a young soccer player who was experiencing norovirus infection symptoms returned home without rejoining her teammates. She did leave them packaged food and fresh grapes that she’d kept in a reusable grocery bag that was stored in the bathroom she had used. Vomiting and flushing the toilet produced aerosolized viruses that landed on the bag; touching the contaminated bag transmitted the viruses to their hands; and the viruses were ingested when the sealed packages were opened and the food eaten.
Their chaperone and seven other soccer players reported similar symptoms within 72 hours of returning home. This report strongly advises users of reusable grocery bags to wash their bags regularly to reduce the risk of contamination.
Aurora A. Saulo, Professor, UH Manoa, Honolulu
Go for GOOOH
This country is broke. $15 trillion in debt and growing at more than $1 trillion annually. Indebtedness, illegal immigration, massive unemployment and the career politicians in Washington think they can spend our way out of the mess we are in. The same incumbents who got us in this situation are re-elected every two years.
GOOOH is a system for selecting candidates to the House of Representatives that are pledged to stop this madness. Citizen Representatives who are not bought by special interest money or big party agenda and will support term limits.
The GOOOH selection system has put candidates on the ballot in three states for the U.S. House; candidates who are under contract that specifies how they will vote on the major issues of today.
Help replace the current politicians with someone who will return our government to the constitutional republic it once was. Go to www.goooh.com.
Roy T. Newsom, Granbury, Texas
