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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2017)
LET TERS SHAMING IS UNHELPFUL CELEBRATING 20 YEARS IN REAL ESTATE “We would certainly recommend Tim to anyone buying a home.” “Thanks for your great attitude every step of the way.” Tim Verkler Cell - 541-554-0910 • timverkler@gmail.com • www.eugeneproperties.net Katherine, creator of the Friendly Anar- chism podcast, advocates “shaming people for their fascist beliefs” in the Oct. 19 EW cover story, “Antifa.” Publicly shaming those who engage in hateful acts and live by hateful ideologies does precisely nothing to convert ignorance and hatred into understanding and trust. Only real human connection does that. If the annihilation of fascism and vio- lence against oppressed populations is the goal, the catharsis of the fight against fas- cist individuals should be irrelevant. Shame the fascist tool, not the person who wields it. There is no “them,” no “other.” There is only the spectrum of ways in which we hu- mans wrestle with our fears and our egos, some much more violently than others. It takes more courage to listen to a fas- cist than it does to fight one. Only then will you have the opportunity to share the evidence of their beliefs’ destructive con- sequences, and only then will the people you claim to protect be safe. Lindsay Kunhardt Eugene FIGHTING STUDENT DEBT WEDNESDAY Join legendary musician Country Joe McDonald for “Reflections on the Summer of Love and Woody Guthrie,” an intimate Q&A and performance. KISSING TRUMP'S RUMP $20 AT THE DOOR MAJESTIC THEATRE 115 SW 2ND STREET liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/americanstrings Free to OSU students with ID in advance or at the door while tickets are available. Pick up free ticket in advance at Fairbanks 309A, or call 541-737-5592. For accommodations relating to a disability or to request this information in a different format, please contact 541-737-2623. Sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Arts and Communication, and the Grammy Museum. 4 As a student dealing with increasingly high textbook prices, I wanted to show my appreciation for Max Thornberry and his article “Pay to Play” (Oct. 12) highlight- ing the situation we are facing today. It is an important and often neglected compo- nent of the unreasonable debt that is being placed upon students today. I also wanted to express my delight that you highlighted Open Educational Resources at Lane Community College. I firmly believe that open textbooks are an integral part of the solution. Access codes are a particularly nefarious development. I have started working with OSPIRG, a student political group with a presence both at LCC and UO, as getting textbooks cheaper and stopping the use of access codes is one of their top issues. I would like to encourage my fellow students to get involved, even if that just means letting your professors know that you are bothered by high prices and access code use. Cole Sabin Eugene November 2, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com Apropos “Right Wing Horrors” (EW Oct. 26), the two words that most aptly de- scribe the time we live in are “frightening” and “dispiriting." And Halloween has nothing to do with it! While he was still just a candidate run- ning for President, Donald Trump once fa- mously boasted that he could “walk down [New York City’s] Fifth Avenue, shoot someone,” and walk away with impunity (thereby demonstrating both an arrogant disregard of our laws and a callow lack of concern for his fellow human beings). As reported in The New York Times last week, Trump boasted again after being ac- corded a “standing ovation” by timorous and self-serving Congressional Republi- cans, many of whom had expressed dis- satisfaction with the resident privately but cravenly kowtowed to him when he ap- peared before them in what he later char- acterized as a “love fest”. It’s easy to imagine the leader of the free world pulling off another stunt in full view of the public that he could later boast about: If Donald J. Trump bent over and pulled down his pants baring his rump right smack on the Lincoln Mall, it’d shock hardly anyone at all. But of course diehard Congressional Trumpists would trip all over themselves vying for a chance to be first in line to kiss it. You wouldn’t want to miss it! Adam Horvath Eugene CONTRA SCABS Standing in support with AFSCME workers at the picket line, there was some discussion about why “scabs” turn their backs on their fellow workers who make a sacrifice for themselves and the larger group. Some people who enjoy benefits earned by unions throughout labor’s histo- ry turn away from their fellows, indicating to management and anyone else that they are “good little slaves.” The word “slave” may be too strong, as slaves got nothing but bare sustenance for harder work than even today; howev- er when comparing the ratio between the raises middle management acquired (19 percent) to those of lower paid employees (2 percent), it is no exaggeration to say that this disparity is a lot less than fair. This is made truer when considering the inequal- ity present to begin with. Some “strikebreakers” say they cross the picket lines because “they need the money” but add, not noticing the contradiction, that their pay and benefits, even vacation time, are “quite good.” If their pay is so good, why can’t they spare a bit of it in the interest of fairness in a system where hard work is supposed to be valued and rewarded what- ever your station in life is? The ideal of communism (or presently, socialism) is that everybody earns compa- rable amounts — “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need” (Karl Marx). The aspirations and de- sires of all fair and good Americans are not far from this. Everyone should be able to earn a decent living in the U.S. David Ivan Piccioni Eugene A MODEST PROPOSAL Here is what I figure is the increase in homeless shelters this winter from last win- ter, including decisions made by the Eugene City Council on Oct. 23: Dusk to Dawn tents, St. Vincent de Paul, from November to March: 20 more; Nightingale rest stop: 6; Emerald Village: 22. Total new: 48. Compared to the need, we are not get- ting anywhere. The homeless advocate shelter creation strategy has failed. Fortunately there is hope. At a recent City Council public forum, a woman who lives by Monroe Park talked about the “thugs” who inhabit the park, using drugs,
