Letters: Truth-seeking conservatives need to step up; Wrong time for ‘Space Race’

Truth-seeking conservatives need to step up

I know there must be millions of conservatives who are aghast about the takeover of the Republican party by the narcissist Trump. Conservatives who believe in the rule of law, the preservation of democracy, conservatives who believe in the truth. This is the time to stand up for those principles. We desperately need you to form a new conservative party, one that stands firmly for the truth and democratic principles. Please consider running for office, especially in contested states, and the formation of a national party. At first you may be a spoiler. That is what is needed at this juncture, but later you can rebuild your party into something you can be proud of. We now see how vulnerable our democracy really is, when norms are violated, lies are consistently told and a large group citizens who have lost their sense of security and feel powerless, blindly follow a leader who redirects criticism, names scapegoats, vilifying people of color and immigrants, and promises a rise in white power. But this man has no regard for truth or democracy or anything but power over others. It is the same nature as other narcissist leaders like Hitler. Accomplishing what is needed will be impossible with too many leaders standing with deniers of truth. We need to deal with critical issues like climate change, but with united and fanatical subgroups of republicans willing subvert democracy, use threats and violence, foment antidemocratic groups and resist the peaceful transfer of power, we may lose everything.

Wrong time for ‘Space Race’

“Moon-rush?” Seems so. It has been nearly half a century since our astronauts worked on the moon. Now, our new Space Force mission is to, well, take the next step. The competition is much greater than before: China, Russia, Arab Emirate, Israel, Japan, France, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan have entered the “Space Race.” But, the U.S. continues to have the most ambitious moon efforts. The plan is for us to build a lunar-orbiting space station, known as “gateway.” Astronauts will transfer from gateway for descent to the surface of the moon, and establish an outpost.

But, is this a good time to focus our attention and wealth on outer space? To fund an expensive Space Force? To take attention away from COVID, politics, economy, and a long list of crises? Let’s focus our efforts to build a stronger democracy, to partner with countries around the world to beat deadly viruses, to strengthen our economy, and lastly to build a lunar station.

Republicans are socialists, too

An accusation that Republicans love to hurl at Democrats is that they are “socialists.” Do these Republicans understand what American Socialism, also called “Democratic Socialism,” really is? Are they confusing it with Soviet Socialism, from the old USSR days, or modern socialism in North Korea or Venezuela?

Socialism, or socialization, is any structure whereby a governmental agency (federal, state or local) collects funds from the general public via taxes, and uses the money to provide a service back to the population at little, or no, cost at the time of delivery. The arrangement has been authorized by the people, through their representatives; hence “Democratic Socialism.”

Everyday examples include public schools and highways (state level), Social Security and Medicare (federal level), and public libraries (local level). Nearly all Republicans embrace, and enjoy, these benefits provided by the socialization mechanism, but decry “socialism” in general. One wonders why.

Maybe it’s a knee-jerk reaction to Democratic social issue proposals. Maybe they just don’t understand the term. Maybe they do understand, but want to turn public opinion against the proposal by using a loaded term from the past.

The difference between Republicans and progressives is not that the progressives accept socialization and the Republicans reject it, since both do accept it. Both are willing to use the mechanism for education, highways, and libraries, and even for retirement and health insurance plans (at least for the elderly); progressives want to use it for additional things.

Come on, Republicans! You’re socialists, too. Admit it.