Divided we fall

Dear Editor,

I never imagined I’d live to see our once great nation slide so rapidly into such a darkly chaotic place, where our democracy is being twisted into an increasingly authoritarian state with those in power clearly lacking any capacity for empathy, compassion, kindness, or any semblance of genuine caring for those they were elected to serve. Our country, once described as “that shining city on the hill,” is rapidly turning dark — a place where fear, hatred, and cruelty are becoming the norm, like a toxic fog spreading and blocking the light.

Our leaders, who were elected to serve us, are clearly consumed by their endless and addictive pursuit of power and wealth, unhindered by any concern for anyone else. Indeed, it seems shamefully clear that cruelty is viewed by them as nothing more than a useful tool for forcing others to either help them or get out of their way in their relentless efforts to fulfill their ego-driven needs, with no concern for the costs and suffering inflicted on others.

And shamelessly working to divide us and set us against each other is a major part of their strategy.

So it now falls on us — the everyday citizens of this once great nation — to step up, put aside our differences, and see the common ground and values we all share, as these are the things which can bring us together and unite us. We must remember that we are all members of this same family – the American family, and the human family – here together for a brief time on this small planet in this little corner of this vast universe.

We must realize that now more than ever we need to help each other out and lift each other up in order to get ourselves and our nation through these most difficult times. And we need to counter efforts by those in power to divide us, not allowing their seductive words promoting fear, hate, and division to manipulate us into serving their self-centered needs at the expense of everyone else. Instead, we must be the ones to embrace that capacity for empathy, compassion, and kindness within us which they so sadly appear to lack.

It is now time to re-awaken and empower those “better angels” of our true nature before it is too late. And clearly it is on us to do so from the bottom up, so to speak, as those in power over us have sadly lost their way.

History — and the world — is closely watching. May we find it within us to rise to this most critical moment.

Dale E. Buonocore,

Warren

Dangerous drug

Dear Editor,

It is with great empathy that one reads the plight of a recent letter writer getting diabetic instrumentation for his wife. If we take one drug and it doesn’t work, we might be tempted to take another drug. The drug to which we are presently addicted is the Republican Party.

It used to work but no longer does.

It is time to change.

By the way, my family had a big presence in Tidioute in the mid-1800s. My great-grandfather had a general store and lived on the second floor of the store. He started the Presbyterian Church. When the smoke from the steel plants made it impossible to breathe, he took his whole family out West. Preserving health is imperative for us individually and nationally.

D.J. Neyhart,

Berkeley, Calif.