Unfettered Letters

United we’ll stand

Listen. Or better, look. Look 70 years behind us. See what kind of people propelled America.

Manufacturing and industry erupted and withstood global crises. It was impelled by moneyed innovators who could combine natural resources with amazing technology, if  they remained unquestioned in a free market.

Pulled into this cool synthesis by necessities, we Americans provided heat-pressurizing boilers and escaping smokestacks of these enterprises. Sweat, yeah. Blood and tears, sure. But commonality grew across fences and through walls erected around America. So did pride. And, when taken and defended, pay and benefits that assured mortgagers, grocers, doctors, growers and builders, who also professed for us.

Oh! That’s what I’m getting at. As we write our chapter, careful what we ask of others. We’re a mixture. We interrelate. Knock our united front, and it will fall. I don’t know where, except down.

I’d rather stay up and together than down and … somewhere.

John D. Colle
Blue Springs

Wise words from long ago

Our forefathers were blessed with wisdom that is lacking today. A case in point in the quotation from Patrick Henry so many years ago:

“The Constitution is not an instrument for government to restrain the people. It is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interest.”

Wisdom of the long ago, but very apropos today. Certain truths last forever.

Don Airington
Kansas City

Celebrate freedom with the Greeks

“Freedom or Death” is a slogan that both Americans and Greeks uttered in their respective revolutionary struggles. The two peoples also share an identity based on Western civilization, which started in ancient Greece. Thomas Jefferson called ancient Greece “the light which led ourselves out of Gothic darkness.”

The American people have been on the side of Greece since its War of Independence, starting in 1821. During that struggle, philhellenic committees were established at East Coast colleges to help the Greeks. Americans helped the Greeks fight for their freedom because of their connection to ancient Greek ideals and their Christian religion. Those committees are still a part of the fabric of American higher education today as fraternities and sororities.

The Greeks of 1821 had felt the weight of almost 400 years of Ottoman oppression and had enough. They longed to freely practice their religion and to freely educate their children in their own language.

Today is Greek Independence Day. It is a day of celebration not only for Greeks, but also for all freedom-loving people who strive for the dignity inherent in self-expression and self-determination.

Thimios Zaharopoulos
Shawnee

Roaring '20s redux?

The headline "Just a recession ... or what? We're at a loss for words" (3/7, A-1) hit the nail on the head.

We in the U.S. seem to be revisiting some of the causes of the Great Depression and have failed to heed them.

The overinvestment in the stock market in the "roaring '20s" boom was much the same as the boom in housing and electronics. Investment in 401(k)s creates artificial value that can't be sustained when the boom ends.

Not enough money chasing the production of goods results in stagnation or deflation. In the '20s it was low wages of workers. Today I don't know. Credit used up? Banks don't lend?

American banks made bad loans in the '20s to Latin America and Europe over World War I, which couldn't repay loans. Today we have subprime defaults.

With all the reforms of the '30s - the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. - to regulate markets and banking, we still went south. What happened with our congressional banking committees since the S&L scandal? Our huge bureaucracies?

They failed. Greed and stupidity win hands down.

James L. Atkinson
Kansas City, Kan.

Socialism vs. freedom

Terri C. Hayes (3/8, Letters) says it's OK to call her a socialist. OK, Terri, you are a socialist. Terri wants the "freedom" for all Americans to have government-run health care and other government programs. Terri, freedom is the right to choose. There is no freedom in the government providing a single choice.

Socialism gives freedom to the government. Democracy gives freedom to the people. Be careful in choosing how you wish to be labeled. The two are not interchangeable and cannot intermingle. One is worth fighting for, and the other is not.

The two are opposites and always will be. One is a win for the people, the other a win for the government. Unfortunately, there is a growing number of people in our country like Terri who are not students of democracy or the great teachers of our past. They accept socialism as a solution.

Abraham Lincoln warned, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Terri, do not confuse freedom for the government with freedom for the people. Freedom is easy to give up. It's getting it back that costs lives.

Brad Seitter
Overland Park

Returning England’s gift is a bust

I recently heard that President Obama was going to return a bust of Winston Churchill to England. It was a gift from England after the 9/11 tragedy. It had been in the Oval Office since then, and he had it removed and returned.

Is that not a slap in the face of our closest European ally?

Maxine Thayer
Leawood

Learning from consequences

Reporter James Fussell is right on (3/7, FYI, “The success of failure; Cushioning the falls — for our children or our banks — might cause more harm in the long run”). History is important to understand what happened and the consequences. It is useful to learn from these consequences and change the behavior that caused the bad outcome.

The word “outcome” was popular in the ’90s, as in “outcome-based education.” There, no one was allowed to fail, and the brightest or hardest-working students were held back to wait for all the others.

When will this world ever learn that there is a right and wrong, hard work and honesty pay off, and consequences are the result of dishonesty or laziness? Not in this bailout society, whether in school or government.

Jan Langley
Kansas City

Congress needs term limits

Our country is following the path of the old Roman Empire. It thought it was big, but it finally fell. I’m not saying our country will fall, but if it doesn’t change, it may.

We have people in the Senate and Congress who have been in too long. It’s time for two-term limits and new, qualified people to represent us. These people have been in so long they can’t see the real world around them. It’s time for change for the country and people, not for big money in their pockets. They also want an increase in pay. Makes a lot of sense the way things are at present time, doesn’t it?

There are good people in both parties, but we need better representation from both. Maybe we would get it if members of Congress knew they didn’t have lifetime jobs.

Mike Miller
Independence

Why just a month for black history?

I have always thought that black history should be taught all year, not just one month. Every culture should be taught daily. Monday, black history; Tuesday, white history; Wednesday, Indian history; Thursday, Asian history; Friday, Italian history — not necessarily in this order, but you get the point.

Keep the clock running teaching the same thing again. Why take one month to draw attention to your frustrations, hurts and idiosyncrasies? The curriculum should be written so that it is integrated and inclusive.

Our children are growing up in a society that belongs to them, and they are claiming their inheritance. They must be well-rounded individuals, able to function because they are well-versed in all cultures.

February is the month that many good things are happening, and I am proud. But on the other hand, many depressed feelings are coming out.

We are Americans, worthy of our citizenship, proud and dependable in spite of our past history. Move forward, America, with faith, dignity and respect for all mankind.

A.B. Scott
Kansas City

Carter years worse

Why is it that The Star and other news organizations never challenge the statement used by politicians and liberals alike when describing our current economy as the “worst since the Great Depression?”

Do you not remember the double-digit inflation and double-digit interest rates of the Carter years??

True, we are in a real recession, as we have been several times since the Great Depression. However, to call this the worst simply is not true.

But don’t worry. The statement about the economy being the “worst since the Great Depression” will eventually come true as President Obama guides us into the depths of economic hell. But even that will take 12 to 24 months.

David Scott
Lee’s Summit