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WHEN HOPE IS AN ILLUSION Today, the richest people own and control a great
deal of the world while making up less than 1 percent of its population.
These outrageous people preach to us that if we will only follow them,
things will get better and better. What is troubling, intellectually to them and
economically to the average citizen who earns less than $150,000 a year, is
the fact that even though we are helping them to get richer and richer, we
don’t seem to be getting anywhere near utopia. The filthy rich need
to blame someone or something. What they blame is anyone or anything they think
stands in the way of them getting more money — and the final areas in
the world where there is still a high concentration of wealth that they
don’t own are the governments of the world. The plan thought out by the late economist Milton
Friedman to get that final chunk of wealth is called Free Market
Capitalism. The richest people in the world believe, with all
their hearts, that if they can get people to give up all their remaining
power, which is collectively held in the systems of governance, that all
the final roadblocks will be eliminated to that utopia they see just
outside their reach. If they can just be allowed to control everything
without constraint, then their natural benevolence will rain down on us
all. This is an old idea that’s been tried again and
again throughout the last 10,000 years. This is the reason behind most of
history’s wars, disease, pestilence, and poverty. As long as there
are a few powerful, they will fight each other, using their human masses to
prove their point to one another. Power always gives the illusion to a
person that they are right. But government is only a problem when we don’t
work our butts off and make it work for each other, every day of our lives.
When we leave it to a few, it will serve only a few. The wealthy want to
sell us an illusion, because it is all they have to offer. This illusion is
disguised as hope, but hope is a good thing only when it is not based on
selfishness. Our hopes should be for one another, just like our efforts to
govern ourselves. Lee Jankowski Griggsville
RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT In this day in age, we see many things that are
wrong. The most important thing I see is that we Americans have lost our
way. This great country was founded as a land of liberty
and freedom. The government that was created for us by us is a
constitutional republic. It was never and should never have been perceived
to be a democracy. As a republic my personal liberties and freedoms are
protected, as a democracy they are not. In a republic the people are not
allowed to control others’ lives by rule of law, as it is allowed in
a democracy. I do not like democracy — it is the creation of
power-hungry masses that wish to control and regulate every aspect of my
life. It was not the founding father’s wishes for us to tell people
how to live their lives. It is unconstitutional for us to tell someone how
fast they can drive; where they can smoke; if they can drink alcohol; how
they build their home; how they raise their children; if they can use swear
words or not; rob them of their wages, just to give it to a person who does
not work; they have to get immunized; when they can get married; when they
can have sexual relations; what is proper to say and what is not; if they
can have an abortion; if they can keep their children. In order to have freedoms and liberties, we cannot
and must not deprive anyone else of those rights reserved by us for us in
the U.S. Constitution. The federal, state, county, and local governments
are constrained by the Constitution. They are not allowed to force us to
live in a certain way. They are not allowed to rob from us by taxing us to
death. They are not allowed to control our personal lives. Yet, day by day,
I see so many rules and regulations passed and enforced upon all
individuals in this country. We Americans are no longer free, but there is a
candidate for president who can help get us back on track. If you value
your personal freedoms over the public good. If you value your liberty over
serfdom. If you are wondering why you feel so controlled when we supposedly
live in the “Land of the free, and the home of the brave.” If
you want to give freedom and liberty a chance, then look up
www.ronpaul2008.com. See what this man is all about. See if you have the
same idea of how this country should be. If nothing else at least read the
Constitution of the United Sates of America, and see for yourself where we
have gone wrong. Shane Schackmann
Springfield
FRED THOMPSON FOR PRESIDENT I like what I hear from the Thompson camp —
Fred has been and will remain a conservative and not pander to the liberal
left like so many members of the Republican Party have done of late. Too
many members of our so-called conservative brotherhood have remained silent
while the relentless character attacks from the left have done nothing but
divide our great nation and give aid to our enemies. I believe that Fred Thompson is the one candidate out
there who will stand firm on his principles and ideals, something that this
country needs at a time like this. Bill Brooks Springfield
AN OLYMPIC-SIZED MESS According to news reports, retired Speaker of the
House Dennis Hastert says he’s talking to Mayor Richard Daley about
assisting him to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. Hastert has just
left a huge mess behind in Washington in order to join the worst imaginable
management team for the Olympics. Certainly Hastert is no Peter Ueberroth
or Mitt Romney, both of whom expertly managed past efforts of this
magnitude. Imagine the opportunity for an Olympic clown act with the likes
of Mayor Daley, Cook County Board’s Todd Stroger, and Gov. Rod
Blagojevich on your team! The Olympics require the spending of Olympic-size
funds, while Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois are deeply in debt already.
Besides, Chicago has a well-deserved worldwide reputation for corruption. Who in their right mind would trust these people with
spending all those billions? The Chicago press should do a public service
by giving a clue to the Olympic Committee that these modern-day
wheeler-dealers are no Daniel Burnham, the man who masterminded the 1893
World Exposition that brought Chicago such acclaim. No, our
“experts” of today are much more like Tony Rezko —
experts at channeling public funds to cheesy political friends. This bunch will give us a Greek tragedy. Stop the
craziness before it’s
too late!
Jack
Roeser
Carpentersville
CRITICIZING HILLARY, NOT BILL I have read Norman Hinderliter’s response to my
Dec.13 letter and I have re-read mine and I think Hinderliter saw only my
name and the word “Clinton” before he wrote his response.
Nowhere in my letter did I refer to anyone as “left-wing,”
“radical,” or “psychotic.” I did refer to Jim
Hightower as laughable and possibly destructive, but that’s as close
as you get. I also made absolutely no reference whatsoever to former
President Bill Clinton. I talked about current U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. I
realize it is easy to confuse the two. You get one you get the other. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (not former President Bill
Clinton) voted to authorize the current war in Iraq and her daughter is not
serving in the armed forces. I do not criticize Chelsea for choosing to
remain a civilian. What she does with her own life is her own business.
Honestly, the further the Clintons stay away from the military, the happier
I am. I just get tired of liberals who criticize President Bush’s
daughters for not wearing the uniform but say nothing about Democrats like
Hillary Clinton, who vote to authorize war and whose children are not in
the military.
Robert Huck Springfield
This article appears in Dec 20-26, 2007.
