Rebuild nation through service
Please pass on to Bertha (Cooper) my sincere appreciation for her column. I am delighted that someone in this crazy world thinks like I do. Absolutely refreshing that maybe there is some hope for our future.
A good start would be term limits and representatives would be ineligible to seek re-election if they do not balance the budget. We have lots of enemies, but the biggest is our national debt. Running the nation on an unpaid credit card has its limits which I fear will come sooner than later.
If the rest of the world gets off the U.S. dollar, our currency will be worthless. They are moving in that direction because our dollar is becoming worthless with inflation.
As a 76-year-old retired Army officer, I am distressed to see the course our nation is on. We are a house divided. I am not sure how long that can continue before we do ourselves in or our enemies beat is to it. Ukraine is not just fighting the Russians to protect their country. We will be next if they fall.
Yet there is a significant number of people that feel we should just ignore the rest of the world. To those I say, the rest of the world does not ignore us.
They are jealous of what we have. Instead of wanting what we have they want to bring us down to their level. You do not see people lining up on the borders of Russia and China to move there.
A big reason we have a lot of problems is because most have no skin in the game. We need to bring back the draft — not only to fill the ranks of our undermanned and underappreciated military, but to fill shortages on the police, prison guards, nursing homes and medical staffers.
Everyone should serve their country in some capacity for at least two years. Also no one should be able to run for office without having served in some capacity.
No one should get a student loan without serving the country. That service could offset some of the loan.
Lloyd Ballard
Sequim
Freedoms ‘taken for granted?’
What is important to the average citizen voter in our U.S. democracy? Freedoms, civil rights, safety under the rule of law, health care, education, economics, jobs and wages, opportunities, what? Are all these things taken for granted?
About one-third of eligible U.S. voters do not vote. U.S. non-voters rank 31 in this statistic and 36 in global democracies. Why? When voting is the only real power we have. Are some eligible citizens too lazy, too busy, or just don’t care about voting? Why?
We are privileged to live in a democracy! Many U.S. immigrants risk their families and their lives to move to the U.S. to avoid autocratic suppression. And many have lost their lives in pursuit of our democratic way of life.
I believe one should listen very carefully to what Donald Trump publicly promises, if re-elected — namely, pardon most of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists; consider charging the retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with treason; eliminate the free press, as enemies of the people; deport or imprison immigrants, and appoint a cabinet totally of loyal sycophants, among other concerning “promises.”
It’s difficult to believe a majority of eligible-to-vote U.S. citizens would prefer to live in a Trump autocracy like Russia, China, Iran, Syria, North Korea or Hungary.
Can you imagine losing your freedoms and civil rights, after living for most (all) of your adult life in a Democracy? I cannot!
Richard Hahn
Sequim
