Dr. Rounds, Meet Dr. Lilly
I have been slightly irritated by a lot of the dirt talk coming from Caleb Rounds’ “gardening” column. I haven’t responded when he has pushed my buttons before, and for some reason, I feel compelled to read what he says in the next column. I guess I’m just curious to see if he is able to continue talking the same kind of dirt. I can’t take space to respond to the volumes of non-compostable crap I’ve read here. I just want to address the most recent audacious entry in his column, “Taking Spring on Faith” (May 8, 2014).
First, I question the idea that we have to have faith because we, as conscious beings, have doubt and need spring’s reaffirmation to give us faith. It seems backwards to say our doubt is mollified by a spring that has always been. More to the point, the statement he made regarding other animals, that “they have no consciousness” and thus have no faith, is definitely Hall of Shame material. What about dolphins who have saved drowning people for millennia? Did you all know dolphins also get intoxicated socially? They pass around a puffer fish; look it up.
Besides these examples of consciousness in other animals, might I suggest reading some Thomas Ernest Seton (founder of the Boy Scouts), or maybe some Dr. John Lilly or Jane Goodall? Also consider that, because of man’s conscious efforts and machinations, we can’t have faith that spring will always be.
No Whining, Independents! Run! Vote!
Regarding last week’s letter to the editor from Evelyn Dougherty, Chair of the Mass. Coalition of Independent Voters (“The Independent’s Plight,” May 29, 2014): What independent voters need to do is start registering as candidates for public office and voting for independent candidates. That is the way to get the attention of political parties, not by complaining about party primaries.
The two major parties will work together with regard to one thing: keeping independent voters from participating in elections. The Republican Party will oppose participation of independent voters in primary elections, and the Democratic Party will oppose participation of independent candidates in elections. That is just the way political parties are. George Washington said that was the way they would be in his Farewell Address in 1796.
Better Ways to Skin a Duopoly
The purpose of a primary is for a party to nominate its candidates. After some people work to build a party, non-members should not be allowed to simply show up on primary day and determine who someone else’s candidates should be.
Evelyn Dougherty is mentally trapped in the two-party system. A political party is a group of like-minded people who run candidates. So the solution is to form a party with people with whom you agree and run candidates.
The election laws were made by the major parties to keep themselves in office and to keep everyone else off the ballot. They accomplish it through brainwashing and voter apathy. Not many party members vote in a primary. Most people do not even know that the period just ended when candidates must collect signatures to get on the ballot.
The citizens would be better served by reducing the signature requirements for candidates to get on the ballot. Another reform the duopoly will never pass would be Instant Runoff Voting. With this method the voter would rate the candidates in order of preference. The candidate with the least number of votes would be eliminated in each round. With computers, this would be very easy to do.
