Welcome to another edition of the Friday mailbag a day early. We have so many great letters, and I can’t fit them all in on Friday. Below you will find some sent recently by subscribers of this newsletter or our publications. They are edited for space and clarity. Look for more tomorrow.
“I want to thank you for your insightful and thoughtful letters from the editor in our Waukee Living magazines. I always enjoy reading them, and the latest issue celebrating couples with long-lived marriages was no exception. Both your words at the beginning, the advice you had solicited through the years, and your honesty about the joys...and trials...of growing old with someone else were very timely. My husband and I just celebrated our 35th anniversary, and our union is so much richer than we could ever have imagined in our earlier years. Blessings to you.” - Natalie
Happy anniversary, Natalie, and thank you for the kind words. - Shane
“The following is from the book ‘Lake Wobegon Virus’ by Garrison Keillor, Arcade Publishing, 2020, pages 51-52 (Politics in schools, Feb. 21, 2023): ‘Schools are run by the government, and they teach you what they want you to know. Goddamn government is a gang of collectivists who send the USDA and the milk inspectors in to regulate every tiny detail of life along with the liquor laws and zoning regulations and the weed control people and drug laws, to where it gets so that a man can't breathe, can't turn around without there's somebody there saying which foot to put in front of the other. Young kids grow up nowadays with no idea of freedom. None. They're like cattle in the chute. People who stand up for their rights, we're a dying breed. Big corporations, big government, it's all the same psychology, and it's meant for poultry, it isn't meant for me or you. Anyway, that's how I see it, and when you're on my land, then you can see it that way too.’ I always believe in presenting alternative opinions.” - Gary
Lake Wobegon, here we come. I will pick you up at 7. - Shane
“I take issue with your assertion that the response to the pandemic was motivated primarily by a hatred of former President Trump and a desire to vote him out of office (Politics and education, Feb. 21, 2023). In the early days of COVID-19, we didn’t know what was causing it and how it was being spread. What we did know was that people were dying of it by the thousands. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it may be that some closures and restrictions were excessive and unnecessary. But they may have also saved countless lives, and, in the end, that should outweigh any economic or educational considerations. I very much agree with you, however, that hatred and polarization has had a very toxic, destructive effect on our society, and that we would be far better served by approaches that seek consensus and compromise, rather than swinging wildly from one extreme to the other.” - Elizabeth
Primarily? No. But for an alarming number of people, the response to the pandemic was motivated by a hatred of former President Trump. I simply cited two examples. I agree that, for most, it wasn’t. Even so, we still have a lot of work to do to find any type of consensus or compromise. Beware of swinging pendulums. - Shane
“All I got to say is we spend more money on education than any country, and we are now 37th and 39th in math and science in the world (Education and politics, Feb. 21, 2023). We were first in both 30 years ago! Throwing money at it for years hasn’t helped!” - Richard
From what I can see, we are still going to be throwing a lot of money at education, just to different catchers. - Shane
Have a thoughtful Thursday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com
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