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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2017)
The Shedd Institute from lethal “painted” bike lanes. Otis Haschemeyer Eugene WHY NOT, WYDEN? I didn’t know much about Ron Wyden before I attended his May 5 Town Hall in Cottage Grove. The vast majority of the questions at the event revolved around health care. And even when they didn’t, Wyden’s answers did. So let’s talk about health care. A huge number of people support the U.S. joining the rest of the civilized world in creating a single-payer health care sys- tem. One of the first questions asked of Wyden was whether he supported that idea. His answer dodged the question. Later, another questioner expressed dis- appointment in the senator’s answer and asked again. Again, the senator dodged the question, and the young person who asked was left muttering to himself, dissatisfied. Sen. Wyden was speaking to a crowd that clearly wanted to hear him say that he supports a single-payer system. His dodg- ing of the issue made it pretty obvious that he doesn’t. Attention, politicians. People want to hear more than just “I’m going to fight the other team.” They want to know that you understand the problems we face and that you’re not afraid to talk about the real so- lutions. Ivan DelSol Cottage Grove KEVIN MATTHEWS FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER I’m tired of the phrase “the perfect is the enemy of the good,” especially when coming from people who should know bet- ter than using it against the people’s own interests. Kevin Matthews is a proven progres- sive for Lane County, not an establish- ment Dem chasing unavailable votes and heavily polluted corporate money by being unabashedly “centrist.” There’s no time or energy to play the centrism game — not on our County Commission or any other legislative body. Indeed, our very planet may not survive if we stay stuck in the past, losing and with dangerous electoral ways. How many more buttes do you want to see knocked over by the greedy gravel companies in Lane County? How many more years do you choose to live in a con- servatively hamstrung county that tries to use county funds to sue FEMA for the corporations and against the salmon and floodplain habitat protection? With Stewart’s resignation, we had the chance for a saner Board by the appoint- ment of an outspoken environmentalist like Matthews. We’ll have another chance in 2018, if we elect Kevin Matthews to the County Commission. Change the tired trope to “Don’t let your fears be the enemy of what actually works for real people.” Dianne Lobes Eugene BOXES OF ALLOWABLE ACTIVISM There are many futile ways of attempt- ing to help the Earth’s balanced life sys- tems. The Community Environmental Le- gal Defense Fund (CELDF) categorizes its many pointless forms into “the boxes of allowable activism.” These containers en- compass the ways permitted by each soci- ety to remedy its problems. Writing letters to the editor, running for office, lobbying, begging politicians, sign waving and trying to change legislature are not even allowed in some other dictatorial, fascist regimes. In ours, unfortunately, they only portray a semblance of democracy, a hollow feeling that “here, if a individual or group is determined, he or she can shape everyday reality.” To be sure, this has worked in some in- stances, although never unaided by stron- ger, riskier, more radical, even painful acts. These “cages of allowable remedies” are the actions that the system, the global economy, the banks, the governments and the big corporations with their puppets the regulating agencies “allow” freedom fight- ers to “effect change” with. They have very little elbowroom and aren’t beneficial even in the cases where their (limited) aims are attained. Agencies to regulate food, the environ- ment, labor standards, government, corpo- rations, drugs allowed, etc., restrict rather than aid the efforts of the most intelligent, compassionate and vital members of our world. They are a straitjacket upon the sane, psychiatric drugs meant to deaden the senses of the intelligentsia, lobotomies for healthy brains. Methods needing another level of cre- ativity and sacrifice are required today. This time let’s put our two cents, our sweat and our blood into the mix. David Ivan Piccioni Eugene www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000 My Lucky Star Thu, May 18, 7:30 pm - cabaret seating Sun, May 21, 3:00 pm - concert seating Free Jazz tickets for Students program Mike & Nancy Oft Rose May 25 Phoebe Gildea Betwixt & Between June 1 Jean-Luc Ponty The Atlantic Years @EUGENEWEEKLY RED BARN N AT U RA L G R O C E RY & D E L I M AY D ELI S PECIAL ALL SMOOTHIES, SHAKES & FLOATS BUY ONE, GET ONE 1/2 OFF* *OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE 4 TH & B LAIR • 541-342-7503 • 8 AM -11 PM D AILY (D ELI 8 PM ) June 2 David Lindley eugeneweekly.com • May 18, 2017 7
