Letters: Voting is a sacred power; Misleading study draws concern
Voting is a sacred power
My husband volunteered at the American Indian Powwow held in College Township recently. He brought me home a button which reads: “Use Your SACRED Vote.” It is at once perfectly succinct and 100% accurate. It is a call to action for you and me. It identifies voting as a sacred obligation to the nation. Voting is the right that protects all of our other rights — but only if we cast our ballot.
Voting is indeed a sacred power. We elect representatives who accept the responsibility of governing on our behalf. We expect much from those who hold our gift of power. If they abuse our trust, our recourse is to respectfully disagree. If they persist, we vote against them in the next election.
It is our obligation as citizens to remain engaged and to provide suggestions for improvements directly through civil and respectful discussion with our representatives. We remember, and we must remind them: we used our sacred vote to elect them. We pay attention to their actions and their words.
Check your voter registration now (don’t wait!) to make sure you are ready to “Use your SACRED vote” in Centre County. Go to centrecountyvotes.gov. It will only take a minute, but the results can last a lifetime.
Find contact information for your U.S. government representatives:
www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Find contact information for your PA state government representatives:
Misleading study draws concern
On Feb. 28 the CDT’s Extra edition included an article titled “Study: Fueling gas-powered cars is cheaper than charging EVs.” It appeared there again on Feb. 29, along with the printed paper. The title confused me because I’ve owned a Bolt EV for 3-plus years and it’s been incredibly cheap. The article claims that 100 miles of fuel for the Bolt “was estimated at $12.55 when charging mostly at home.” Let’s look at real numbers. My Bolt averages 3.3 miles per kWh or 30 kWh per 100 miles and is charged using a regular 120V outlet. Currently in State College we pay ~$0.15/kWh so this costs $4.50 from the grid. I installed solar years ago, locking in a kWh cost of ~7.5 cents so my true 100 mile cost is just $2.25! A single gallon of gas costs more today, and installing a backyard oil derrick+refinery to lock in a low gas cost for decades like rooftop solar allows is simply impossible.
The Anderson Economic Group wrote this study. They have been publishing misinformation like it for years. The Detroit Free Press wrote about one of their previous similar studies in 2021. After it was debunked that paper wrote a followup article stating “That study is an outlier. Many studies show the opposite to be true.” I’m sure it’s possible to get gouged for $12.55 to fuel an EV, but the normal experience is far cheaper than gas. I’m disappointed that the CDT has published this misleading study twice and wonder who funded it and its dissemination.
Does America need a ‘strong man?’
America has reached a crisis point where the flaws in our democracy have been made abundantly clear. Some have given up on democracy and are ready to put a “strong man” in charge. But would any of us really prefer to live under authoritarianism, where power is concentrated in leadership with no accountability? Leadership with ultimate control over the government, the law, our civil liberties ... ourselves? Leadership which demands blind submission to authority?
In spite of its deficiencies, in any thoughtful comparison life in a democracy would be overwhelmingly preferable to life under an authoritarian government. Democracy raises voices. Authoritarianism silences them. Democracy encourages citizen engagement. Authoritarianism demands submission. Democracy is based on the systematic rule of law. Authoritarians are the law. Democracy offers hope. Authoritarianism offers fear.
If the fruit of our democracy has been imperfect, perhaps that is a reflection of our own flaws in the way we practice democracy. We can’t blame democracy for the misuse of the democratic freedoms it provides. And we can’t blame democracy for underperforming when so many who enjoy its benefits feel little obligation to invest themselves in it in return. We must understand that democracy cannot operate on autopilot. We must either be engaged in democracy or lose it.
However dissatisfied we are with our government, the answer can’t be to trade democracy for authoritarianism. For those inclined to throw the baby out with the bathwater ... be very, very careful what you vote for.
Area of agreement
A certain Terry Kordes of Port Matilda writes frequent letters extolling a common, parsimonious, mendacious, sybaritic huckster campaigning to retake the U.S. presidency. While I find Kordes’s political choice reprehensible, I fully support him when, as in his latest letter, he encourages like-minded citizens to canvass and advocate actively for the candidate they support.
In short, unlike his preferred candidate, Terry Kordes believes in democracy, and I applaud that side of him.