Hanson's right: Literature merits continued teaching
As a now-retired, longtime teacher of high school English, I applaud Victor Davis Hanson's piece on canceling Homer. He understands quite well the reasons for continuing to teach children and young adults literature that exposes the human condition. Wise teachers are well-equipped to sort out the messy parts for their students and create positive outcomes.
Randy Hamm
Bella Vista
Over-the-top behaviors could lead to destruction
I am deeply concerned about where our country is and what we are becoming. We have completely lost all semblance of a polite society. We encourage and promote the targeting, both personally and professionally, of people with opposing views, while overlooking the faults of those with similar views.
The name calling and insults voiced on the House floor during the impeachment process signifies just how far we have fallen. The no-holds-barred behavior of members of the news media, who seem to be more focused on gaining personal recognition than on reporting the news, has added to the decline. Commentators and guests seem to have no qualms about name calling, making fun of and disparaging people they view as less than. In the past, these behaviors would never have been acceptable.
Individuals are now being called Nazis on a regular basis. Even the president-elect made a Nazi reference when speaking about members of the House of Representatives. Have we, as a society, forgotten what the Nazis actually did? They tortured and killed 6 million Jews in the most horrible ways, killed 7 million Soviet citizens (some of whom were Jews), 3 million Soviet prisoners of war, 1.8 million non-Jewish Polish people, 312,000 Serbs, 250,000 disabled people living in institutions, 250,000 Roma (Gypsies), and 1,900 Jehovah's Witness. Using the term Nazi for the purposes of insulting a person only serves to greatly cheapen the horror of what the Nazis did.
Have we really come to such a low point that one person is hated so greatly that anything and everything is now acceptable behavior? I hope not because if we have, God please help us all before we destroy our country from within.
Kathryn Catlin
Harrison
Congress needs limits on terms, new party
Our government is broken. The so-called leaders of our country, regardless of political party, are not leaders at all. They are entrenched pawns of monied corporations and their lobbyists, and wealthy idealogues who want to determine the future of our country.
In my simple way of thinking, there are only two things that will fix this problem. First, term limits on Congress. Career politicians are interested in themselves first, the country second. Second, a viable third political party to compete with the two existing parties that are entrenched in their own ideologies regardless of what is good for the country as a whole.
Sadly, until these two fixes happen (a pipe dream probably), I don't see any significant change in the direction of our country.
Pete Rathmell
Garfield