Month: August 2021

The Tyranny of Stereotypes

Recent campaigns were notable for the widespread use of alternate facts and stereotypes. This is the fuel that stirred up intense divisions between political parties and within families. Stereotyping also helped maintain the Jim Crow system, or discrimination against any minority or immigrant community. As the United States looks to fulfill its responsibilities to those who helped us in Afghanistan, we can expect new stereotypes to emerge.

One of the oldest stereotypes still in use is the cry, “socialism,” a great pejorative and conversation stopper. Technically, socialism in economics is the government ownership of an industry. After WWII, Britain nationalized the coal industry, and a few countries in South America nationalized some extractive industries. Which industries do Republicans think Democrats want to nationalize at risk to our democratic, free way of life?  To be honest, I think the American steel industry is safe. 

What Republicans really mischaracterize as socialism are programs designed for the common good or, as stated in the preamble to the Constitution, “to promote the general welfare.” Broad social programs would include education, infrastructure, law enforcement, and Ben Franklin’s Post Office. Social Security has been a prime conservative target since the 1930s. Often in public opinion, Social Security is confused with public welfare and is labeled as some kind of an “entitlement program” sometimes by the very people who are receiving the benefits. Like any insurance policy, beneficiaries pay into Social Security as they progress through their earning years. Your car, life, and home insurance work the same way. Everyone pays in and, when needed, beneficiaries receive an appropriate payout, after the insurance company takes its profits and executive salaries.

In recent years, conservatives have tried to update the “socialism” stereotype by shifting the discussion to “freedom,” as though the two ideas are in opposition. They argue that health insurance purchased from a private company will somehow set you free, while Medicare represents socialistic imprisonment. It is hard to argue that an impersonal for-profit provider, who can reduce your benefits because of its definition of “pre-existing conditions,” is providing freedom.  You get what you pay for, and freedom isn’t on the private health insurer’s menu.

The more progressive point of view supports and enjoys freedom in the form of good schools, safe roads, strong infrastructure, and health care for all.  These are common goods that can launch a career, get you to work, and enhance your well-being. Who among us does not deserve these benefits? We also support a strong (not “defunded”) police force, whose tool kit can be improved by adding a mental health professional to the crisis response team, as is being implemented now in the town of Culpeper.

Of course, a surefire way to defund the police, the schools, the fire department, or public health is to have the legislature cut their budgets. This is the tactic of Culpeper’s House of Delegates representatives, who always vote against the budget and take no responsibility for the consequences. They hide behind stereotypes and ideology so that they don’t have to make the hard decisions that are needed to build and maintain a strong community. If Culpeper is short of deputies or has schools with leaky roofs and ventilation, roads and bridges in dangerous disrepair, and contaminated water and food supplies, the responsibility falls on those who vote against the budget. That’s why we are told elections have consequences.

Please vote this November. Local elections are extremely important for the prosperity of our community. Early voting, by mail or in person at the Voter Registrar’s Office, starts Friday, September 17.

David Reuther
Culpeper

David Reuther, a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, is a past chair of the Culpeper Democratic Committee. These are his personal observations. This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Culpeper Star-Exponent newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

Solar companies only out for big profits

To the editor:
I would, first, like to invite any and everyone that would like to see Louisa remain an actual rural county of cool forests and farms, quiet homes and small businesses, a delightful draw for tourists and not a roasting hellhole of eroded soil and industrial solar plantations to show up and let the board of supervisors know your thoughts on Sept. 7; better yet, call them before then and still show up.

Next, I would like to ask (and for you, too, to ask) our board of supervisors, planning commission and Economic Development Director Andy Wade just how many thousands of acres of trees will be felled, how many millions of solar panels will be installed before your plan is complete, our economy developed, our “tax base” sound but our county a giant heat sink, a solar parking lot, and ruined. How many acres? What is your plan? I see NO PLAN, just more greed for a few and nothing for the good of all the residents of this county. Nothing! Zip!

As another slap in the face, you are hiring an Israeli company to do the install. Are there no American com-panies that can put a rack of solar panels on a pole and wire them up? Has anyone looked into at least using an American company to ruin our county?

As a reminder, Israelis have already cut down all their trees, created a desert, are fast running out of water and while quick to scream “antisemitism” at the slight-est insult are even quicker to steal from and oppress their neighbors in the Middle East. This company’s lack of concern for the residents of School Bus Road shows us that their long-term concern for the quality of life in Lou-isa County is zero; their only goal is money to Israel.

It has long baffled me that the railroad that runs the length of Louisa County never comes up in develop-ment discussions. Plans are currently in the works for passenger service from Rich-mond to Charlottesville (I’d bet there will be passenger trains through Louisa before there is water leaking out of the James River pipeline). The train used to stop in Louisa. It could again, to take commuters back and forth to RVA or C’ville or bring tourists here to access Mineral, Louisa or Lake Anna, or wander the trails of Cooke Forest Park.

Call and ask Andy Wade if he’s working on any of that? Ask him or your board member what their plans are, or if they have any actual plans. Just how many trees will it be ok to destroy? How will they clean up Northeast Creek Reservoir when the tap water is orange from solar plantation sediment. How long will the power be out when the next storm takes the lines down? And remember, with solar panels on your roof, you’d still have power.

Hope to see you at the meeting Sept. 7th – we all deserve better.

Lew Holladay
Louisa

This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Central Virginian newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission. 

Veterans deserve proper care after jet fuel exposure

To the editor:
For many years our Air Force veterans who were routinely exposed to jet fuel have been found to later develop neurological disorders. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has refused to acknowledge the connection between the exposure and the diseases. The veterans who suffered as a result of exposure have been denied support or benefits. This is in spite of the connection being widely recognized.

I want to thank our congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, for her fight for justice on this issue. She has introduced the William Collins Jet Fuel Exposure Recognition Act and continues to press for its passage in the House of Representatives. This bipartisan act would make it so veterans with this exposure would have a way to claim the connection.

This is especially meaningful to me and my family because William Collins is my husband. Bill served in the U.S. Air Force and was exposed to jet fuel on a regular basis. Later he developed Parkinson’s disease. The VA refused to acknowledge any connection between his disease and his time in the service and he has received no help for it.

This disease has impacted our lives in many ways and we are pleased to have a congresswoman who has listened to veterans on this issue and is doing something about it. This will bring not only medical
help, but also peace of mind to the thousands of veterans who have been affected.

Cathy Collins
Mineral

This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Central Virginian newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission. 

Vote for Reducing Fossil Fuel Dependence

To the editor:
“Code Red for Humanity.” That is the name of the report that came out last Monday. Made by top scientists at the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it was an update on the danger that human-caused climate change poses to the world. We will reach dangerous levels of climate change earlier than they previously thought.

In addition, we have heard this past week about the possible collapse of the Gulf stream, the ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico up along the East Coast of the United States and then to Europe. This would cause some catastrophic changes to the weather worldwide.

We are now experiencing unusual weather patterns right here in Louisa, although nothing as bad as the wildfires, heat waves and flooding occurring in other parts of our country as well as the rest of the world. These are expected to worsen and become more frequent. When we hear about and experience these changes and try to imagine the future that scientists predict, our natural reaction is to deny that it could happen to us. Or to feel overwhelmed and helpless. We would like to ignore it and hope it goes away like so many predictions of doom.

But this is now well-documented as being caused primarily by carbon dioxide that goes into the atmosphere when we burn gas, coal, gasoline, and other forms of petroleum. However, the report also said that it may not be too late to keep the worst outcomes from happening. But we have to do it now. But what can I do? I can reduce my personal use of those fuels and that’s all good. But anything significant must be done at the state and federal level. These fuels need to be made so expensive that we will all look for alternatives.

This November, ask the candidates what they will do to wean us from these fuels. Let them know it is urgent and that they must act now. What has our delegate in Richmond, John McGuire, done? He has voted against every piece of legislation designed to reduce our dependence on these fuels. His opponent in November, Blakely Lockhart, though a newcomer to politics, has vowed to make it a priority.

We can’t just throw our hands in the air and give up. Each of us needs to make the phone calls, find out the facts and demand action. And it’s not hopeless yet.

Lynn Engler
Louisa

This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Central Virginian newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission. 

Keep D.C. issues out of local politics

To The Editor:

 A recent letter the editor, in favor of a local candidate for county Supervisor campaigning as a Republican, begins by quoting the 2nd Amendment. Oh, good grief, why? Blowing dog whistles designed to inspire political tribalism will not do one thing to improve debates about our local land use, water supply and business development.

Local elections in Louisa used to be non-partisan. Our local candidates did not claim a party. Sadly, that has been changing in recent years. Tying local politics to political parties is a terrible idea because local issues do not follow the national fault lines dictated by D.C. power struggles. 

Please consider supporting local candidates who keep things local. Louisa candidates for re-election, Bob Babyok and Fitzgerald Barnes, have never claimed party affiliation, and that is to their credit and our benefit.

Eva Schatz
Mineral

This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Central Virginian newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission. 

Supervisor has been solid in many areas


To the editor:

Fitzgerald Barnes may have saved my life. He spearheaded a campaign to get the Blue Ridge Health District to run a series of COVID vaccination clinics locally at Louisa County Middle School. They vaccinated thousands of locals, including me.

I’ve been here 32 years, and I remember Fitz working on many issues that have brought good things to the county while protecting what we value most. He has worked for Patrick Henry District residents but has been a leader in making the county a better place to live, work and attend school.

Early on, Fitz supported creating first-class parks and recreation facilities and offerings. Citizens made clear in comprehensive plan meetings that they wanted more recreational opportunities for children and adults. Over 20 years ago, there was a referendum on the ballot to fund a swimming pool. Voters passed it, but the board delayed building it for 10 years. Fitz’s support was instrumental in getting the pool built and improving athletic fields and programs. He has always been a supporter, then and now, of the parks department.

He’s also been a consistent supporter of the public schools, improving them and aspiring for excellence. He has supported increasing teacher pay to be more equitable so we can retain good teachers. The latest project on the board is building a vocational center, a much-needed addition for students who do not intend to go to college but still need skills to make a living.

But that’s not all, as they say. Fitz has supported bringing broadband to the county, and helped create the broadband authority, which has spurred the development of broadband by installing towers and leasing space to private internet providers. Once it was clear that there was a market in Louisa County, private towers also started going up. The struggle continues with fiber development by local utilities. Barnes has been on the frontlines of this, helping negotiate the contract with Central Virginia Electric Cooperative to provide fiber networks across the county.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. That’s always been a Barnes priority. He’s been instrumental in bringing several large employers to Louisa. He worked to develop the Zion Crossroads area and Route 250 as places for companies to build warehouses, job facilities and mixed-use residential. Fitz helped bring in local employers like Walmart and its distribution warehouse, Lowes, the Ferncliff Business Park and, coming soon – an Amazon warehouse.

With more jobs, facilities and broadband come more people. This draws medical facilities, restaurants and grocery stores to the area. Our west end is growing to accommodate those who live there and those who live in the broader county. I can now go to the doctor, get medical tests, and have physical therapy locally at Zion Crossroads. Then I can have lunch at Rhett’s Grill before heading home.

We all love the idea of getting more good restaurants, more and better retail shopping and grocery stores. Fitz is working on it. He is committed to keeping those developments in areas designated for growth, instead of sprawling everywhere and ruining the rural character of the county we love.

As a Louisa resident, I think that Fitzgerald Barnes should not only be re-elected as Patrick Henry supervisor, but we should elect more supervisors like him who want to work for the people instead of a party. Let’s elect supervisors who work for all the residents of Louisa County.

Joanna Hickman
Louisa
This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Central Virginian newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.