Readers write
Right uses fear-mongering about socialism
So, according to right-wing media, we voters only have two possible outcomes in November — the current dictatorship or communist socialism. Somehow, all other rational choices have been eliminated, and all Democrats are evil socialists.
We’ve seen over the past two years of GOP governance that their elected officials will capitulate despite war, economic disaster, world ridicule, erosion of human rights, cruelty and possible international war crimes, health care dismantling, skyrocketing national debt, weaponization of justice, historically massive corruption and blatant bribery.
But apparently, if you are not on board with all that, you are a socialist and will destroy our country. Be afraid!
Pay no attention to the fact that all previous elected Democrats in our lifetime didn’t turn our country into communist Russia. Or that social programs save millions from homelessness, financial ruin or death and have exceedingly low rates of fraud or abuse.
A narrative that socialism and not Venezuela’s highly corrupt government and financial mismanagement led to their collapse? What rational mind thinks that makes sense? And who honestly thinks that in our firmly entrenched capitalistic country (overtly swayed by big business money), America will instantly do a complete 180?
Resist the fearmongering.
TIM DORECE, MARIETTA
Morals, tech and politics can uplift and degrade each other
Renowned New York Times columnist David Brooks asserts that the moral problems of our nation are far worse than its political ones. He argues that “modern society is suffering from a fundamental crisis of meaning, character, and moral formation rather than a traditional political divide”… and that “the loss of a shared moral order has left generations feeling isolated, leading them to use tribal politics as a substitute for community.”
This is a compelling viewpoint, considering rising discontent, unprecedented concentration of wealth and the divisive chaos of AI-corrupted disinformation. But the mutual influences of complex interactions among morality, technology, and political activities must be scrutinized, realizing that each can uplift, degrade or moderate the other. We continue suffering a degradation of moral standards, brazenly propagated by normalized political corruption and ruthlessness. But this reckless political malfeasance was made possible by a gradual decline in moral values, further facilitated by demoralizing uses of technology – foremost social networking. Moreover, information gathered and monetized by the creators of algorithm-based technology has generated enormous wealth, making Big Tech’s opportunistic agenda politically dominant.
The prospects of midterm elections are disturbingly vulnerable to these disruptive influences, including efforts to discredit the legitimacy of Georgia’s voting results.
DAVID KYLER,
SAINT SIMONS ISLAND CENTER FOR A SUSTAINABLE COAST