Being conservative, how ‘confrontainment’ divides us, and more: letters to the editor
‘Being conservative’
Being conservative is about encouraging values and policies based on common-sense morality, responsibility and accountability that originate from natural law, which constitutes a working, happy, manageable society. Such ideas originate from essentials in being a healthy human being – order and unity. These permit societies to operate more efficiently, be environmentally friendlier, run education and healthcare effectively, decrease crime and with healthy levels of individual freedom, generate incredible, compassionate economic prosperity.
Trump, being a non-politician who cares about our country’s security and economy, is the strongest president in US history! He has generated the greatest economic boom in decades with the highest employment rates in 50 years and has deregulated countless restrictions, helping to bring back the great feelings of being American.
I welcome all ethnicities but bring skills, speak our language, be able to support yourself, be crime-free and only enter legally. As for healthcare, let’s abolish this mess of employer-provided insurance, raise wages accordingly and bring healthcare into the same category as other services that are based on competition and supply and demand.
But first, take control of our own health personally. It is more than good luck and coincidence that I have made it through 61 years without being hospitalized and spend about $700 on my healthcare. Insurance corrupts the economics of healthcare. Put your premiums in the bank and take care of your health! - James Steamer, State College, PA
‘We need accountability’
It’s interesting to read the post-election analyses citing various causes of, and solutions for, today’s ideological divisions. Experts opine that the largely urban/rural divide that defines the modern electorate results from one or the other party’s inability to appeal to certain voters. This misses the point.
It’s that America’s ideologies are determined more than ever by what people are told to believe and by whom. We are separated by a sophisticated and channelized broadcast media, exploiting a binary ideological marketplace, defined by Left and Right brands. This wasn’t quite so in the 1960s.
Rural America, for example, has become a conservative media monoculture dominated by two corporations, iHeart Radio and Sinclair Broadcasting. There is little else available there. They sell confrontainment disguised as news, catering to and radicalizing their audience in the process.
A cross-country car trip will reveal that the AM dial contains almost entirely right-wing talk shows. This has been the case for decades. Much of this content consists of provocative lies calculated to sensationalize debate. As in professional wrestling, this demonization sells.
It’s impossible that a generation of Americans raised solely on vitriolic propaganda can believe anything else. They have no alternative. In urban America, one at least can find alternative broadcast media. Not in rural Kansas. And these propagandists lie completely unrestrained.
Until this systematic lying is no longer treated as protected speech, our divisions will remain, no matter how we try and unite ourselves. We don’t need censorship. But we do need accountability. And soon. - Paul Barsom, State College, PA
‘It’s comforting’
Congregation Brit Shalom held a service to remember the 11 Jews murdered in Pittsburgh. It was a warm, moving service attended by more than 700 community members of all faiths. I want to thank them and the many others who have expressed grief, horror, and outrage over this hateful, anti-Semitic act. It’s comforting to know that there are so many wonderful, caring people in State College who share our pain and stand with us. - Susan Werner, State College, PA