Unity threatened
EDITOR: Unum, the sculpture deliberate to stand prominently in Old Courthouse Square, was chosen to embrace “themes of welcoming and inspiration, while relaying the Santa Rosa values of innovation and cultural inclusivity through its integral text,” which former Art in Public Places Committee chair Lisa Puentes mentioned “will bring the community together … as a gathering place, a beacon for connecting with each other.” Love it, however …
Unum’s accomplice in the sq. shall be new bronze castings of Ruth Asawa’s 1987 bas-relief fountain sculpture. Asawa was an esteemed, a lot honored American artist and power in artwork schooling. The legacy of her artwork, dedication and big coronary heart may be seen at ruthasawa.com. Santa Rosa shall be honored by reinstallation of her work.
Love it, however the metropolis artwork committee determination exhibits that the metropolis’s imaginative and prescient of unity is threatened. Instead of Unum standing beside the Asawa fountain to type an integral expression of Santa Rosa values, the absence of the Japanese language on Unum could be everlasting proof of a betrayal of fleeting speech about cultural inclusivity.
The metropolis’s leaders want to be truthful to the visionary concepts and phrases by revisiting the poor selections for the languages of Unum.
ASHER R. SHEPPARD
Santa Rosa
A debacle in the making
EDITOR: The CalCare single-payer well being idea is idealistic however not attainable. If, as proposed, California authorities assumes duty for California’s medical care, taking away Medicare, Medi-Cal and personal insurance coverage whereas making an attempt to finance it with increased taxes, will probably be a catastrophic failure.
This idea is offensive, naïve and idiotic. California authorities can’t efficiently handle something. Just suppose again about the debacle of unemployment checks going to criminals, the Department of Motor Vehicles backlog, the data know-how debacle at the courthouses, the debacle of high-speed rail and on and on.
Just ponder — do you really need California authorities managing your well being care and insurance coverage? I believe not.
AUDREY J. CHAPMAN
Sonoma
A better option
EDITOR: I learn with curiosity the Close to Home column by sheriff candidate Dave Edmonds (“Time to fix the broken Sheriff’s Office,” Sunday). He wrote that the Sheriff’s Office he labored in for 30 years is systemically damaged and that he’s the “only candidate who knows how to run this office.” To show this, Edmonds encourages readers to examine resumes of the candidates. I did.
I discovered that Kevin Burke earned a juris doctorate from the UC Berkeley School of Law, changing into a prosecuting legal professional after regulation college. I discovered that in his 15 years as a police chief, Burke earned a grasp’s in public security from Johns Hopkins University and led a police division his group revered. Wow, there actually is not any comparability right here.
After inspecting the respective resumes, Burke appears to have a much better probability to create a Sheriff’s Office we may be pleased with. Electing somebody with confirmed experience looks like a more sensible choice.
JOHN FRIEDEMANN
Healdsburg
America’s ‘deep state’
EDITOR: America has a “deep state.” That a small minority exerts extreme management over our financial system is just not ideology; it’s a reality. After World War II, for 40 years, the advantages of America’s elevated productiveness was shared by all. Greed turned normalized. Corporate and particular person wealth focused authorities efficiently, ending, for the backside 90%, our financial system’s sharing of its productiveness.
Since 1980, enchancment in incomes and authorities help for the backside 90% virtually stopped. Hatred of presidency took root. Taxes on firms and the rich supporting our authorities have been minimize in half. The advantages of U.S. productiveness trickled up. The wealthy acquired a lot richer. In 2020, the CEOs of the largest U.S. corporations obtained 351 instances as a lot as their common staff — a ninefold improve since 1970. The mixed wealth of some now exceeds half our inhabitants’s. America has achieved the biggest earnings inequality of any developed nation, as class mobility, the “American dream,” has fallen behind most.
Capitalism offers for freedom in a democracy for all, besides the poor. Distribution of wealth has change into problematic. Inequality, when unfair, destabilizes a society. Aristotle mentioned that 2,500 years in the past. Freedom and democracy may be improved, by taxing the wealthy. Government can “make America great again.” Build Back Better will assist.
ROBERT D. McFARLAND
Petaluma
Social media’s injury
EDITOR: David Brooks wrote a column about our nation’s widening divisions, which seem to be getting worse (“Why are so many of us behaving so badly?” Jan. 16). He completed by saying he didn’t fairly perceive it and had no solutions as to what was taking place. He did point out, in a single transient sentence, social media or politics as the typical suspects. I believe if he seen our nation earlier than 2004 when social media turned common, and after that date, he might have solved his personal quandary.
Not solely is social media extremely manipulated, it fosters all the false conspiracies on the market — that are then unfold by friends, making them one way or the other far more plausible. It additionally fosters narcissism — everybody desires to be “liked,” which finally leads to selfishness and anxiousness.
I hope Brooks reads this; possibly it is going to assist along with his anxiousness.
MIKE TUHTAN
Sebastopol
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