In reading Lynn Wright’s letter to Michael Sandeen (Sept. 12) I remembered a letter I once wrote in The Signal encouraging political partisans to openly bash their own. I thus found Mr. Wright’s letter refreshingly honest, and agree that California’s Republicans are out of touch with the needs, interests and values of two-thirds of its voting population, that would be Democrats and independents.
I often wonder if even ALL of the Republicans in California fully espouse every policy in the Republican “catechism.” I found that I didn’t, so I left the party. Looking into the Democratic Party I felt the same, so I couldn’t join them, either. So here I am today, breathing clean, nonpartisan air, unfettered by “brands.” I am thus saddened by the fact that someone as intelligent and articulate and HONEST as Mr. Wright feels the need to choose a side. Oh well.
But more to the last sentence in Mr. Wright’s letter, which caught my attention as much as his admirable candor, I have my own responses (I just couldn’t help myself). Here’s how a person who has disavowed the concept of sides, a “political apostate,” if you will, sees the three items that he listed:
1) Climate Change: Better to prepare than prevent. I think I have read enough to understand that the climate is changing, that humans either caused it or are major contributors, but that we have already passed the point of no return. This thing is going to run its course. Try to think of yourself as one of the first colonists on Mars. I think it will help prevent wasting time and resources.
2) Gun Control: I stated my case on this matter in a previous letter entitled “How to Build Your Arsenal.” (Aug. 24). There’s only one way to end gun violence and that is to ban them entirely, but that ship sailed nearly 250 years ago, and as Rick Barker once put it, “laws are after-the-fact instruments.” In a way, it’s sort of like climate change. It’s part of our lives now so best be prepared for it, as preventing it is pretty much impossible.
3) Mob Attacks on the Nation’s Capitol: I could be a sarcastic simpleton and say something like, “Boys will be boys,” but I won’t insult your intelligence with such a crass remark. The answer, in my opinion, is that the United States is an experiment that is still in the lab. We are testing the boundaries as much as we are testing the concepts themselves, and in the end we may end up blowing the whole thing up. And yet, my mind keeps going back to that climate change thing. I think I’m beginning to see a pattern here.
The common thread in all these unpleasantries, as well as many others, is the species itself. It’s US. So, in the spirit of Mr. Wright’s letter to Mr. Sandeen, I would love to hear how he feels about THAT. Mr. Sandeen and Mr. Wright appear to be struggling with the “symptoms.” I want to see how they would deal with the “virus” itself.
Perhaps there is something in the book “How to Build a Better Human,” by Gregory E. Pence, that might be of some help.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
