To the editor:
"Systems do collapse and are replaced by others. The state is only here because people choose to believe in it, because they trust its systems. This then, is the threat of crime to modern society; not that it will overcome civilization with violence, but that it will undermine trust in, and thus the viability of, the system."
— Carolyn Nordstrom, Global Outlaws, June 20, 2007.
Carolyn Nordstrom could have included the trust we invest in our money, our financial systems, our judiciary, our elected officials, our political parties, our goals in education, our standards in medicine and health, news media, and what our country professes to support.
At this point, the only concept we can agree to support is our money.
We have duplicitous financial systems; our judiciary has lost track of what constitutes a person; many of our senior elected officials seem to want to stay in office forever even if they have nothing to show for their efforts; our political parties have forgotten what it means to support a republic and promote democracy.
Our goals in education for K-12 education have sunk to the level of training students, instead of teaching them to be independent and able to analyze what they are told. We continue to lose ground in medicine and quality of health.
Much of our news media seem to be mere proselytizers for the powerful; what our country professes to support is an insult to all who served to protect the welfare of us all. I notice, far too often, sarcastic comments, innuendo, and generally derogatory exclamations online. It is a common situation at many online sites.
I have no difficulty recognizing the possibility that I could be in error or that I misunderstood something. Yet, what I frequently read would make even Moses cringe in disbelief after his visit to the Mountain.
Arthur Thomas
Gloucester
