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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2018)
LET TERS THE NIMBY VIEW? POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN Monica Kohl (“A Modest Propos- al,” Letters, June 21) asks why allowing unfettered ADUs (accessory dwelling units) is such a terrible thing. Allow me (a prospective homeowner) to answer: Ms. Kohl, it’s because they have the potential to impact my future home’s val- ue and my quality of life, with increased noise, traffic and parking issues negatively affecting both. What benefits you, harms me; it’s really that simple. Now, if you were to propose reimburs- ing me for my damages, then maybe we could have a discussion. Thankfully, that won’t be necessary as any property I buy will have CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions) prohibiting any ADUs and, if necessary, I’d go to court to enforce them. Likely others would do the same in their own cases. Steve Jenson Eugene I’d like to second the effort made by T’ruah, Rabbi Ruhi, Rev. William Barber and all the others that are participating in the Poor People’s Campaign (“Taking It To the Streets,” June 28). This is an especially critical time to take to the streets to fight for the poor, work to support our demo- cratic institutions and oppose the policies of this destructive and flagrantly uncaring administration. In a democracy, there are many “pro- phetic” readings of scripture, but mine corresponds to that which protects the im- migrant and welcomes the stranger in our midst. It fights unjust laws and protects civil liberties. And yes, there are other readings that are possible of the constitution and the Bible that represent the legacy of plural- ism in our country and the ambiguity of scripture. But for some of us, as uncivil policies emerge, the response to that has to be strong, as it was when we opposed an unjust war and the existing injustices (many of which still persist) those many years ago. I am proud to be a rabbinic member of T’ruah in Oregon as well as our Interfaith Clergy United, and to join with my friends and colleagues in this new iteration that opposes our demagogue-in-chief.Wake up to the apparently inexorable policies that are rolling back human and civil rights in our time! Rabbi Jonathan Seidel Eugene NADER BLAME I commend Mike Beilstein for having the courage and conviction to admit to being all in for the Green Party (Letters, June 28). Conviction is important and good, but divorcing it from reality brings us where the left is today: screwed. If you want the Green Party to gain strength and become a real player, then why not run small and work your way up? You might eventually demonstrate a groundswell of support: try school board, city councilor, county com- missioner, DA, etc. Instead, the Greens keep fielding candi- dates for major offices who couldn’t get elect- ed dogcatcher. They play the spoiler instead of doing any good. Could’ve had the first envi- ronmentalist president but we got George W. and the Iraq/Afghan War — yay Ralph! In- stead of suck it in and support Hillary we get Trump — yay Jill! So now, maybe instead of DeFazio we can have Art Robinson? There actually is, contrary to Green doctrine, a measurable difference between the Obamas and Trumps of the world. Make your case and grow your base, but when it’s crunch time please put the Green Party shoulder behind the left/center candi- date who can win. Time to vote these MAGA bastards out, not split the vote and keep them in. Bill Barnett Eugene 4 July 5, 2018 • eugeneweekly.com BROKEN AND LOST Today there was another mass shooting, this time in Maryland. Crime is the cost of cutthroat capitalism and the emptiness and despair that meri- tocracies engender. Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk, used to talk of looking at a leaf, and in that looking, being open to see its entire life and environment. The air, the water, the trauma, it was all there to be seen. We could spend the money to save the lost and hopeless, but instead we spend it on huge, militarized police forces and un- needed wars. When someone wastes their life by shooting children in school, or coworkers, isn’t it just a natural result of learned trau- ma and hopelessness? We create the crimes and wring our hands when they happen. We are to blame; we are destroying our children and vulnerable adults. Yes, the heartless NRA is to blame, and so is the Republican Party, but in that “leaf” one can usually see a school system that is more vampire than nurturer, a fam- ily that is clueless and trauma laden, and a future for that person that is not worth living. A sick tree has sick leaves. America is sick to its core. The broken and lost are our brothers, too, and until we understand that, the deaths will continue. Hugh Massengill Eugene REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS With Justice Kennedy’s decision to re- tire from the Supreme Court, it is impera- tive that Oregon focuses on the fight for women’s reproductive rights. There now seems little doubt that the Court, under the prompting of the Republican-controlled congress, will move to enact an all-out federal ban on abortion. There is debate over how long this move will take. While some believe that Roe v. Wade will slowly disintegrate over time, there is still the possibility that the Evangelical right, emboldened by a series of seemingly never-ending “wins,” will push forward as quickly as possible to quash every last woman’s right to seek out a legitimate abortion in the country. If they succeed, our Reproductive Health Equity Act (HB 3391) would be nullified. Should such a catastrophe take place, it would then be up to us Oregonians to take matters into our own hands. We need to start talking now about what we are will- ing to do. We’ve disregarded federal law and le- galized cannabis. How are we going to do the same with women’s reproductive rights? How are we going to guarantee a safe haven to doctors who are willing to perform these crucial procedures? How are we going to assert our autonomy? It seems as though things are falling apart faster than anyone could imagine. We needed to be prepared for this yester- day. Let’s hope we, as a state, can come together and set a national example. Dylan Martin Blachly RUN OUT THE DEVELOPERS The Eugene City Council wants to ban the feeding of various creatures living in our midst as per their meeting June 11. These creatures surely do not survive because of the occasional handouts they get from animal lovers. They survive be- cause they have adapted to life in and near cities that have encroached on their homes. Some exist as part of urban growth like rats. Suddenly the council is aghast that we have rats and is completely oblivious as to why. Urban growth: That’s why, not be- cause people are feeding them. The other creatures — deer, raccoons, turkeys, birds, opossums, squirrels — are here because either we have clearcut their habitat or because they were here already before the profit-driven expansion mem- bers of the planning and development de- partment quietly lobbied to turn Eugene slowly into another north Los Angeles, where beautiful wildlife was replaced with gangs, crime and urban sprawl. Oh, by the way: They also have a pro- posal to wage war on our gentle creatures with shotguns and/or poison. I never voted to have rich developers destroy our town or shoot our wildlife, did you? I say run these profiteers out now before we have an animal bloodbath and wake up in L.A. Arwen Strider Eugene IT’S THE CARTELS Immigrants and their supporters need to quit trying to solve the immigration prob- lem through begging and appealing to con- servatives. There are one billion peoples in the American continent; a third of them are in the U.S., and the other 670,000 com- prise the rest. Why do such a large number of Latinos think coming here is “the solution”? The answer is complex. The culprits fall into three interconnected and interde- pendent sources of pressure that squeeze people against our borders: drug cartels, free trade agreements and negative inter- ventions by the U.S. Until now all of our interventions south of the border have been problematic at best. But a solution hides under this. One thing that we Americans have to spare is our military.
