4 Wednesday, November 11, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N The homeless: call them by name Jeannette J. Harding Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday. To the Editor: Recently read an article on the divide between those involved politically and those watching from the sidelines, which assumed those not involved politically must not care and will not vote. Quite the contrary. Minor example can be seen in a Home Owners Association of over 100 owners one finds there are usually around six who will get involved or run to be on a board and another five will help out in various ways. But if asked, everyone has opinions because they care. Think about how hard it is to get folks to run for office in any town, includ- ing Sisters. Are you volunteering to join the various boards and committees? Does that mean you do not care? And is there any doubt, after reading The Nugget once a week, that people truly care politically? The vast majority of U.S. citizens of any party are referred to as the Silent Majority (SM). For decades the SM was and remains the centrist voters. Only since the 1980s have the silent ones gotten so sick of politics that apathy started setting in and they voted less and less and less. Then it all came to a head in the 2016 general election, showing how very bad it can get if we the public do not take our voting rights seriously. Much was wrong with that election but for this let- ter, note that over 10 million regularly vot- ing voters, did not vote. For this election, the Silent Majority have been in shock for the treatment of immigrants from around the world, children pulled from families at our borders and have watched the escalating suppressive treat- ment of BIPOC. Across the nation, the SM (polled over decades) think that there should be single-payer health care, that we should address the climate crises, that marijuana is not a narcotic, that women have the right of choice and equal pay for equal work, that LGBTQ should have rights to marry and also be treated equally, that education should not put a person in debt for life, that prisons and public schools should not be privatized and that separation of church and state is fundamental to any democracy. The centrists are paying attention. Today, the Silent Majority is revived and they suc- ceeded in quietly breaking voting records in every state. Susan Cobb s s s To the Editor: I get so frustrated when Trump support- ers say that Democrats want Communism in America. Not since the hysteria of the 1950s Red Scare has there been so much misunder- standing about the difference between com- munism and socialism. Communism is basi- cally anti-capitalism wherein everyone sup- posedly shares equally in wealth and work, but is usually corrupted by vicious dictators kept in power by violence and favoritism. Under communism the common person is usually poor and deprived of personal self- determination and opportunity. Under democratic socialism, capitalism flourishes but the needs of the common people are supported by society, to assure quality education, housing, food and health- care are available to all. Individual choice, opportunity, and hard work are prized and equality is one of the highest priorities. Are there challenges to making all gov- ernment systems work? Yes, of course, none is perfect, but much of the mod- ern free countries of Europe are socialist democracies. So, get out your high school government texts and re-read the chapter on different models of modern systems of government. Sharon Booth s s s To the Editor: Veteran9s Day originated at the end of hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany that went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918;