Agree to disagree
Monty Python once addressed the nature of arguments, an assessment that I feel is much needed. After paying to have an argument, Michael Palin’s character walks into a room where John Cleese greets him. They begin bickering, and Cleese simply contradicts everything Palin says. Palin finally breaks down and says: “An argument isn’t the same as a contradiction … an argument is a collected series of connected statements to establish a definite proposition.”
Palin goes on to say that “conversation is an intellectual process, whereas contradiction is the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says.”
Our intellectual processes have diminished into gainsaying anything that we disagree with. This saddens me to a very deep extent. I find that we all just want to butt heads when we disagree. Why do we feel the need to fight when we feel the slightest bit threatened by words?
We can learn all we want from traditional methods, but experience doesn’t always follow reason or tradition. We all come from different perspectives. Just because someone’s opinion seems wacky doesn’t mean it has no relevance.
We can accept the chaotic nature of life and still have structure. Not everything needs to be black and white. We are starting to accept this more and more. This does not give people the right to bend any aspect of life to their own liking, it means leaving elbow room for your fellow man.
Though we may take one side and someone else the other, we can still be civil.
Aaron Parks
Caribou
LePage’s war on solar
Gov. Paul LePage is waging a war on solar energy in Maine. LD 1649, An Act To Modernize Maine’s Solar Power Policy and Encourage Economic Development, has passed the House and Senate and faces an almost certain veto by our bought-by-fossil-fuel-interests governor.
If LePage’s veto is not overridden, the Maine Public Utilities Commission will decide how to deal with net metering, which determines compensation for producers of solar electricity. All three commissioners have been appointed by LePage, and if given the opportunity, they are expected to weaken or kill net metering.
What is at stake is the survival of the solar energy industry in Maine. If net metering is eliminated or weakened, companies will be forced to close their doors, good paying solar jobs will be lost and Maine will continue to lag behind other states transitioning to clean energy.
The only way to stop this from happening is to override the veto. At this time both the House and Senate lack the votes to override. Please contact legislators and tell them to stand up for Maine companies and workers and for clean energy.
Mike White
Georgetown
Heath mistaken
Michael Heath’s April 14 Bangor Daily News OpEd shocked and appalled. I was quite surprised the BDN chose to publish it. Folks who claim to have the power of the truth within their grasp are often mistaken.
The legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States has, contrary to Heath’s understanding, elevated and ennobled our society. We have joined other countries around the world who are enabling humans to strive toward an even more virtuous existence based on love, empathy, fairness and equal freedoms for all.
I expect the narrow mindset of folks like Heath might perhaps be broadened by reading a great variety of literature, study at higher-level institutions and travel. Let’s get him a “free hugs” T-shirt.
Sally C. Jones
Bangor
Remittances don’t help
Immigrants to the United States sent $68 billion in remittances to their families in Latin America last year. I understand their desire to alleviate the poverty of their families in their native lands. But unlike immigration from the past, that $68 billion earned from American jobs is not being spent in American communities. No one suggests we stop this money flow. But it raises the question, should we increase immigration in the future as bipartisan elites are promoting, increasing this financial loss to local businesses?
Remittances increase consumption in poor countries. But this money does not promote the political reforms and structural changes that poor countries need in order to provide their citizens with good jobs and fair government. In fact, just the opposite. Remittances alleviate the pressure on corrupt and wealthy elites to share the wealth and tackle poverty in their countries. How convenient.
What would we think if our politicians encouraged America’s poor to run to Canada, defy their immigration laws, provide documentation to help them get driver’s licenses, open bank accounts, use Canadian public services, and then scream “racism” and “hate,” if Canadians began to demand that their immigration laws be enforced?
Julie Tosswill
Hope
Reduce carbon emissions
Earth Day is a good time to reflect on how we each affect the environment. Climate change and ocean acidification are critical issues facing us, and it is urgent to take action. Most experts agree that a global carbon tax is urgently needed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and slow climate change and ocean acidification.
Meanwhile, many of us can take personal action and help to make the transition to a world where the use of fossil fuels is minimized. We can reduce our personal carbon emissions with improved home insulation, better gas mileage, flying and driving less, and purchasing fewer goods. We can also purchase 100 percent Maine-sourced renewable electricity.
Even with such actions, almost all of us will cause the burning of substantial fossil fuels to support our lifestyle. We can help to reduce the effect of this by buying carbon offsets. One source of these is CarbonFund.org. This nonprofit organization sells carbon offsets where the money is used to reduce carbon emissions, using several different approaches. You can choose the approach that you prefer. One approach is to fund renewable sources of electricity that replace electricity generated from fossil fuels. Another is to prevent deforestation. There also are projects that result in more efficient use of electricity.
Maine Green Power offers Mainers the option to use local renewable energy to power their homes with a fixed $3.75 or $7.50 added to their monthly electricity bill. In addition to helping the environment, buying Maine Green Power also supports good jobs within our state.
John Tjepkema
Orono