'Responsible growth' needed
to prevent harm to region
I appreciate the spirit of Alice Walton's June 16 essay, "NWA can shape housing future with bold action," and very much hope the phrase "responsible growth" is a guiding principle.
A resource to consult is the population of Southern California refugees who have lived in the area more than 15 years. Among us, there seems to be a consensus that Northwest Arkansas is on the road to making many of the same mistakes that have done so much damage to quality of life in Southern California.
Through the late 1980s, the Del Rosa area of San Bernardino, Calif., was lower middle class but quiet, stable and basically safe. Around 1991, three high-density apartment complexes went in on Date Street, and within two years the entire area was destroyed. The crime rate rose dramatically, stores closed, street litter gathered, and the schools turned into a cross between prisons and mental health facilities. The land developers, real estate agents, political activists and local politicians didn't seem to care.
In the absence of realism about human nature, idealism and sentimentality almost always lead to big problems and, sometimes (as in the case of San Bernardino), disaster. It was absolutely heartbreaking to witness the destruction of a city I loved.
I personally don't subscribe to the "growth is always good" religion, but I hope its evangelists will proceed with caution and wisdom.
Preston Jones
Siloam Springs
People of faith have
much to consider
In recent days we have witnessed an amazing turnaround in American politics and policy. The president had used scare tactics to generate support for his immigration policies, and in an attempt to silence the president's critics, the attorney general appealed to one of St. Paul's less-convincing teachings (most people stopped believing that kings rule by divine law a long time ago). But the words of both men were drowned out by the cries of infants and children being torn away from their parents. Public outcry, including impassioned statements from Christians and other people of faith, forced President Trump to reverse his policy -- sort of.
But the public debate over immigration and the status of infants, children, and the Dreamers who were brought here illegally by their parents, is far from over. I hope and pray that my fellow Christians who are followers of Mr. Trump will ponder the events of recent days in light of the words and deeds of Jesus, who knowingly broke the law in order to heal sick people on the Sabbath and who said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs."
Bob McMath
Fayetteville
Commentary on 06/25/2018