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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2011)
letters TO THE EDITOR KITTY RESPONDS Thanks so much to EW and its readers for honoring me as one of the “Best of Eugene.” I am very appreciative. David and I were remembering our favorite was the more than a decade ago when we were named the “best power couple.” I think that’s when he was deputy superintendent of Eugene Schools and I was a state representative. Kitty Piercy Eugene IMPOSING EDIFICES Being at heart a civic-minded fellow I take up the task of calling your attention to the fatal fl aw in our government. It’s all quite simple once you have the obvious pointed out. The last place you want to put your government is in an imposing edifi ce. This never works. A glance at the ziggurats of Mesopotamia, the Acropolis of Athens, the Forbidden City of Beijing, tells you why. People start working in these places and say to themselves, “Hey, this is really cool. Look how important I am hanging out in this imposing edifi ce.” Before you know it they want a career seeking solutions to the problems of their people. Of course they rapidly realize that if they did indeed actually solve a problem they would be out of work and have to go home and herd goats. So they fuss around sustaining problems in committee and exert considerable ingenuity creating more problems so they can hang out and feel important. Occupiers have the right idea. Our government should occur not in imposing edifi ces but encampments of fl imsy tents. Then the mood of government workers would be, “Hey, let’s get this problem solved. I, for one, am anxious to go home and herd goats!” David H. Tyson Eugene ANARCHY VS. CHAOS Regarding Gabriel Yospin’s letter (“Defunct Anarchism,” 11/3), it is very telling when someone makes the leap between anarchy and violence. No doubt some anarchists were violent, including Emma Goldman and Luigi Galleani, whose followers perpetuated the 1920 Wall Street bombing, but I doubt anarchists have racked up a better body count than the violence carried out by mindlessly obedient slaves to the centralized State known as war. Anarchy does not mean violence; it comes from the Greek word anarchia, which means literally without a leader. It is a pejorative word that depends on — and tells the world — how much or how little you trust your fellow human beings. Many believe without a centralized state there will be constant violence and people will take each others’ stuff and eat each other; anarchists believe — correctly — that society would be better without the centralized state that is all too easy for the 1 percent to control. Anarchy does not mean chaos; it means replacing centralized government and bureaucracy that is easy to control with truly democratic decentralized organization that is impossible to control. Peter Kropotkin called this the folkmote system, which in archaic English means “gathering of ordinary people” and it is utilized in slums all over the world and by the Zapatistas in Mexico. Anarchy does not mean violence, it means thinking for yourself, and trusting your fellow human beings to work together cooperatively to the point where no government is necessary. Warren Weisman Eugene MOST INFLUENTIAL DEANS Thank you for Anita Johnson’s tribute (10/27) to both Derrick and Jewel Bell. Derrick Bell became dean of the UO School of law long after I graduated. Nonetheless, I was able to work with Bell and learn from him as we worked together on matters of mutual concern. His intelligence and elegance were remarkable. When UO law grads are asked about the school’s most infl uential deans, Wayne Morse and Orlando Hollis are appropriately listed. But Europe’s Never-Ending Crisis This Saturday! 11am-4pm 1$785$/)22'6 Prof. Barry Eichengreen, one of the world’s foremost expert on international monetary arrangements and financial crises, will deliver a free public lecture on the “Europe’s Never- Ending Crisis.” Individuals Nourishing Community Since 1971 Organic Pear, Organic Apple & Cheese Tasting ! He will discuss the causes of the current European debt crisis and the potential consequences for Europe and the rest of the world. Help us celebrate our 40th year! Live Music! Face Painting! Wheel of Prizes! Pick the apple you like best and get one free! 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 100 Willamette Hall Barry Eichengreen Professor University of California, Berkeley Sponsored by the UO Economics, Political Science and European Studies Depts. The Portia Project presents: “ Prisons and People: A Foocus on Women and Their Children” November 17 ~ Reception 5:00p.m. – 8:00p.m. Refreshments, conversation, and films November18 ~ Conference A daylong discussion at the UO School of Law with presenters and panelists, including administrators, and former inmates of the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, families of incarcerated women, social scientists, and representatives of community agencies Both events are free. RSVP for lunch to alm@uoregon.edu. 4 NOVEMBER 10, 2011 EUGENE WEEKLY 34 varieties of Organic Apples! 15 varieties of Organic Pears! · Organic Roasted Winter Squash varieties · Coffee (Cafe Mam) · Oregon Cheeses (La Mariposa, Full Circle Creamery, Fairview Farm, Willamette Valley Cheese, Rogue Creamery, Goldin Artisan, Oak Leaf Creamery) · Pesto (Winter Green Farms) · Baked Goods (Holy Donuts) · Cider & Beer (2 Towns Ciderhouse & Oakshire Brewery) · Sauerkraut & Kim Chi (Grateful Harvest Farm) Local merchants, the heart of our community 24th & HilyardRSHQGDLO\DPSP WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
