Reject repressive thinking
For years, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of hope and opportunity for foreigners wanting to emigrate here. Many of them left their homeland because of strife, poverty and the desire to live a better life. What happens when America is reminiscent of the repression from your previous country?
This is what Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector, felt after being transferred to Columbia University in 2016. She said, “I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and energy, to learn how to think. But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think.” Park said a school staff member told her that the classic literature writers she enjoys “… were racists and bigots and are subconsciously brainwashing you.”
Recently, Xi Van Fleet, who left China during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, criticized the support of Critical Race Theory at a Virginia school board meeting. She says there are similarities between the CRT ideology and what she saw in China. “I can’t really just say what I mean, even though the other side can say whatever. To me, and to a lot of Chinese, it is heartbreaking that we escaped communism and now we experience communism here,” she said.
Today, we see many people crossing our southern border in search of similar dreams that Yeonmi Park and Xi Van Fleet had. Repressive thinking and ideologies haven’t worked in other countries. There’s no reason to think they will work here.
Kevin Landry
Lewiston
Collins and infrastructure
With the support of Sen. Susan Collins, this could be a big year for infrastructure in Searsport. Recently, Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, submitted directed spending requests to fund much needed reconstruction on Route 1 ($9.2 million) and maintenance dredging in the Port of Searsport ($1.65 million).
She also recently visited the two sites with Maine DOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note and Searsport Town Manager James Gillway to gain a deeper understanding of how these two projects are crucial for area residents, visitors and businesses. Revitalizing the Searsport village area of Route 1 will greatly benefit our community, which serves as a hub for tourists on their way to Acadia National Park each year. Additionally, the Port of Searsport is one of Maine’s three major seaports. This funding will help ensure that Mack Point remains viable after maintenance dredging has been postponed for more than 12 years now.
We are so fortunate to have Sen. Collins going to bat for small towns like Searsport in Washington. Please join me in thanking her for supporting our community.
Mike Thibodeau
Winterport
Icelandic approach to child welfare
As a clinical social worker, I spent one summer in Iceland as an exchange substance abuse clinician. I was impressed by a then-practiced response to child abuse and neglect there.
The child welfare authorities removed children and placed them with relatives or foster families immediately when danger was a concern. Then it was up to the parents to prove they had resolved the behaviors and issues that endangered their child.
Plenty of free services were available but the parents had to seek them out and effectively use them vs. having a social worker make such arrangements. The parents would then be the ones to solicit a court hearing to present their arguments for returned custody.
Jane Fairchild
Orneville Township