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
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