Editor,
I never cease to be amazed by the behavior of people. Case in point: protesters screaming and whining because they weren’t permitted to disrupt an important event. The Barelas Job Opportunity Center represents education and empowerment of the people, by the people.
It is a demonstration of leadership and community effort to improve the lives of many. It shows community pride and sets an excellent example for children. It is truly America at its best. Most certainly, it was an event to be celebrated, not disrupted with protest.
Why should the members of Refuse and Resist be allowed into the event when they threatened to figuratively pee in the punch bowl?
Let’s turn to the subject matter of the protests for a moment. The protesters wanted to “voice their opinions” regarding the tax breaks for the “rich.” Who are the reviled “rich” anyway?
Are they the people who worked toward a dream instead of crying for help? Are they the ancestors of people who came to this great nation of ours without a penny in their pocket to create a new and better life for their children — and succeeded? Around the nation, it seems like the “rich” are mostly those who work hard or more effectively and earn more than the minimum wage.
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Ladders of success are built rung by rung. It is a slow climb, because you hold the hands of those supporting you and help them climb too. Without that base of support, the ladder becomes quite rickety and tends to fall. Reality dictates that very few “Supermen/Superwomen” simply fly to the top.
High taxes on the “rich” simply create a ladder of apathy. Most people who are successful reinvest that money in their community, either through direct contributions or spending and creation of jobs. In this sense, high taxes take away the rights of “free speech” of successful people by allowing the government to choose charities and investments for them.
The people in the Barelas Job Opportunity Center are working toward the American dream. In short, it was not appropriate to protest anything at the opening of this center that offers so much to so many.
Another topic of protest was that of nuclear energy. Instead of being relegated to a protest site three blocks away, I think the protesters should have been sent to California to sit in the dark with other people who used to be against nuclear energy. Perhaps they will become “enlightened” about what it means to be in an energy crisis.
In summary, what have the protesters done to improve things in the community? Have they volunteered to build houses for the homeless?
Have they helped children learn to read?
Have they set an example for children about how to behave with dignity and grace?
Have they empowered anyone lately?
Have they used their energy to solve problems instead of fueling the fires?
What have they done, aside from behaving like the whiney, apathetic, socially inept dregs that they are?
We all know the answers.
Debra Lynn Stibick
Graduate Student
