As I finished reading this morning’s letters to the editor (Nov. 26) I kind of smiled while shaking my head, thinking how amazing it is that given so many diverse and often opposing needs and interests that our city, county, state and our country somehow manages to keep it together. I mean, we don’t actually have civil wars where lines and weapons are drawn, cities are destroyed, and people (millions of people) are killed. To our credit we somehow manage to avoid large-scale chaos and mayhem. Pandemonium is another word I like the sound of … it literally means “the home of all demons.” So, if I had to rename Washington, D.C. …
Anyway, I find our ability to remain “relatively” civil impressive. It proves to me that the “crazies” are actually in the minority, a very small (but very loud and very annoying) minority. Mainstream media (basically a digital magnifying glass) makes them look a lot larger than they really are.
I first became aware of this when I was the board president of our homeowners association. We had a handful of angry, unreasonably demanding extremists, but for the most part everyone else just wanted to live their lives. Part of our job as board members was to find the least expensive way to either appease or silence the extremists while asking ourselves what happened to them when they were growing up. We also found that some people you just can’t please — so you start to ignore them.
This is what happens when you fabricate a quilt using cuts from different clothing. The trick is in blending and harmonizing colors and patterns that would normally clash. I think the Founding Fathers did as good a job as could be done, given the nature of this beast called “man.” So, the one thing that I am most grateful for is the fact that I was born here — as opposed to anywhere else.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
