Wednesday's Letters to the Editor

Where to start

Dear editor:

I hate guns, to put it lightly. I served two tours in Vietnam and 20 years in the Air Force without carrying a loaded weapon. I do believe that if you want to have a gun, go ahead. Those that want to do away with the Second Amendment are not well informed. Let's just say that there was a way to do away with all guns, cannons, bazookas and other weapons of war -- do you believe that there would be no more killing?

How did people get killed before guns? You know how many people you can kill with a machete? You will never stop the killing; you can, however, limit it. Here is how you do it:

  1. Bring God back into schools and have the children try to live by the 10 Commandments.

  2. Start the system that if you kill someone (except accidental) you will have an execution hearing and will be executed within two days. That will stop most copycat incidents.

  3. Ban all violent video game and movies.

  4. Have special tax provisions to bring the father back it the household. Most incarcerated prisoners had no father figure when they grew up.

  5. Last, but not least, make sure that each child has a good education. School choice will help immensely.

So let's not worry about the Second Amendment. Just learn to love your fellow man and help them as much as you can. Let's start there.

Dan Lewin

Hot Springs

After fossil fuels

Dear editor:

I appreciate Jack McKinney's listing all of the ways we are dependent on fossil fuels.

He may be right when he says that without them we would have to revert to using wood for heat. Coal is needed in the manufacturing process involving many products, and gas and oil are certainly necessary in our present dependence on combustion engines in automobiles, etc.

But should we not be looking at alternative sources of energy? Should we not be concerned about the amount of pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, no matter whether it is in the United States or in some other part of the world? The earth turns and the atmosphere keeps circulating over our heads, bringing pollution to us from everywhere. Instead of complaining that we are doing more than our share to find solutions to environmental problems, we should dig in even more deeply to help those nations we see as dragging their feet to understand what a desperate future we are all facing.

I can say it quite simply, but many will reply that I am a fear monger: Unless we find answers in the next few years to the problems of environmental pollution and resulting global warming, the problems that now we see just the tip of will grow to the point that humankind will disappear from the earth. And fossil fuels are causing much of the problem.

But let's take another approach. I am working on a play that will deal with earth's conditions in some 60 years. I selected that number by figuring the number of years for each generation from my grandson to my great-great-grandson. The play will deal with problems in three areas: clean air, clean water, and housing. What will the earth be like in 60 years? Will my offspring be able to breathe air that is not deadly? Or drink water that is not toxic because of lead and other pollutants? And how about the materials for building and the space to build houses -- space that has not been flooded by rising oceans, and space that has not already been taken by an expanding population?

I know that many still do not believe that bad things are happening. Many believe that God will provide answers.

My play will try to show two things: The burden of healing our world is upon our shoulders; and all the fossil fuels and minerals we depend on so heavily will play out in just a few years. The earth is not making any more. Our offspring will wake up one day and wonder where these things went. And more than this, they will ask why we did not do something about this possibility while we could, and make alternative plans.

C.G. Smith

Hot Springs

Editorial on 08/14/2019

Upcoming Events