I am a fairly liberal, 73-year-old suburban white guy. I am a father, grandfather and Vietnam War veteran. My minivan sports both Chicago Cubs and Black Lives Matter bumper stickers. My dad, my father-in-law and I all went to war to preserve our right to free and fair elections, as well as the peaceful transfer of power.
As were the vast majority of Americans, I was deeply troubled by what happened at the U.S. Capitol. I look forward to the progress and unity promised by the new administration. That being said, I would like to temper our victory lap.
More than 70 million fine Americans, for their own legitimate reasons, voted for the other guy. They are our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members. Only a tiny percentage are extremists. Let’s recognize those with different political stripes to be our brothers and sisters as we move forward.
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The Chicago Tribune publishes letters from readers reflecting their thoughts on news and Tribune content. Letters reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily the Chicago Tribune.
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Stop bashing the vaccine rollout. We’ll get it right. Be grateful for the former administration’s efforts to marshal the funding and resources to accomplish what was thought to be impossible.
Censorship with too broad a brush is a dangerous path. Most of us are capable of sorting fact from fiction. Outside of a few dangerous positions, let people say and believe what they want!
More than a few Americans believe the recent election was stolen. While most of us do not give credence to this position, we should all agree that even one fraudulent vote is one too many. Let’s conduct investigations at all levels to ensure uniform compliance.
Implications of racism are powerful accusations. While far too many are justified, some are not. Many among us have made poor decisions out of ignorance, self-preservation or bad judgment. I’m not talking about George Floyd’s death. Rather, think the Central Park woman, the St. Louis couple and the New York false report about a stolen cellphone. Every transgression is not a crime. We have missed many teachable moments for ourselves and our children.
Violence as a form of expression should be strongly condemned, be it insurrection, vandalism or property destruction. We should defend the right to peacefully demonstrate. However, we should never relinquish our public institutions to hostile takeover.
Lastly, if we truly want to move forward together, let’s ditch the moral righteousness. We are not the sole keepers of all that is right and just. Let’s compromise once in a while.
— Ed Morman, Naperville
The power of the center
After the election, I heard many political pundits stressing that “the center held,” meaning that the political extremes couldn’t overturn the will of the majority. Given the expressed strength of the center, isn’t it time that the political establishment resist the siren call of the extremes of both parties and spend more effort addressing the concerns of the center?
If the pundits’ observations are correct, the center saved our democracy and hence deserves more attention. If the extreme left dictates the agenda for the next four years, the center may abandon the political process, and the country will bounce between the two extremes until the system collapses and one of the extremes gains absolute control.
In addition, the center must become more active, thereby assisting both political parties in moderating their extreme wings.
— Bruce Chrisman, Glen Ellyn
The value of kindness
Do you want to be honored and admired by everyone you know? I can tell you how.
Each time you help someone and are kind and caring, your body releases neurochemicals such as endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. These chemicals are responsible for your feelings of happiness each day.
We are what we do, not what we say, not what we think, but the acts we perform.
All of the chemicals will give you a great rush. The more you do, the better you feel, and the more you feel it, the more you will do; it’s cyclic. It is what I call the “grand addiction.” It is the way we evolve, how we learn to live together and help each other, to our mutual benefit. It is a quantum leap in our evolution.
It is all positive, a way to make the world a better place for us, a magnificent difference in the way we live. If you practice kindness and caring each day and approach each challenge in that manner, you will become revered.
You can do it as a volunteer or choose it as your life’s work. This will reward you with happiness and contentment. Once you learn it, it becomes easier to achieve, and you will live an amazing life.
I know it’s possible because I have done it. It began for me at age 12 in 1958 and has continued to this day. Working together, we can change the nation.
I have described to you how you can make a quantum leap in human evolution. I have stated the way you can achieve the leap simply by doing the things we probably already do.
— Jim Ewart, Elk Grove Village
Stopping demagogues
We’ll almost certainly see Congress scramble to legislate ways to prevent another demagogue from reaching the White House. My two cents: First, include a way to lessen the election controversy. Establish a mail-in ballot date that’s a week or more ahead of Election Day, while voting in person still happens on the first Tuesday in November. That way, all vote counting can end the same way on the same date. Have a big public awareness campaign.
Second, the Founding Fathers mandated a minimum age requirement of 35 for the presidency. They had no problem establishing an age rule to better ensure maturity in the ultimate office. Why don’t we add a similar restriction that a president must have served two or four years in a prior legislative or executive office?
That restriction would bar the next Donald Trump, Kanye West and other unqualified celebrities.
Finally, get civics back in the classrooms and stress it like it’s never been taught before. We are a nation of laws, and we have three branches that check and balance each other. We’ve stood head and shoulders above the rest of the world precisely because of this system.
Maybe 20 or 30 years from now, the Trump era will be pinpointed as a time Americans almost threw it all away. With any luck, that will be asserted without controversy.
— Art Collins, Aurora
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