Letter to the editor;
A word of, I don’t know, encouragement, comfort, hope.
I’m not saying the National Guard in Los Angeles is not deeply troubling. I’m not saying white supremacist groups are something to take lightly. I’m not saying the idea of nuclear war spreading from Ukraine or Iran is to be ignored. On a more mundane level, I’m not saying the economy isn’t in real trouble. Most importantly, I understand there is a real threat to our democracy and way of life.
But, I lived through a time when members of the Ohio National Guard shot and killed 4 unarmed college students, when members of a white supremacist group bombed a church – with people in it, killing four little girls and wounding many others, when the threat of nuclear war was 90 miles away, when with a naval blockade of Russian ships just off our shores, World War 3 was as close as one sailors slip of their trigger finger, on a more mundane level, when annual interest on a home mortgage was 18%. AND THAT TIME PASSED.
I know there are many valid, “Yes, buts” in response. And maybe things won’t just pass this time, but they have before, when it could be said, rightly or wrongly but credibly, in very real ways, things were worse.
Gordon McAllister
