Less is More

This letter will not be a literary gem by Andy-standards; it’s more-or-less a necessity to attain restful sleep again. For three weeks I’ve brainstormed a rebuttal to March 6th’s letter to the editor, “It’s the Economy, Stupid”, but I’ve struggled to trim 3000 words down to 500; there’re too many claims made that contradict issues I’ve previously discussed, albeit backhandedly, rhetorically or overly poetically at times.

In doing so, I’ve included my email address because I believe a conversation is needed to credibly address the social problems we all recognize but which “Stupid” claims will be fixed by taking control of our own oil production and lynching environmentalists.

“Stupid” wants you to believe that since global warming is a farce we should continue to rape oil fields and stop wasting precious farmland on biofuel production. It’s based on tailored research (http://ideonexus.com/2008/03/05/hey-everybody-its-another-global-cooling-report/), the kind I’d use to claim that since I held my breath for 40 seconds I died.

“Stupid” essentially employs a staying-the-course rationale; rationale which President Bush is endlessly mocked for but also one which we have applied to for much longer than eight years. It plays to our simple yet spiritually-contradictory belief that money will solve our problems.

I continually beg for feedback because I’m not seeing solutions to social problems by expanding homes, expending more energy, and extending the class divides we somehow believe is a part of a harmonious society. I honestly don’t see the point in studying the failures of social/political systems like Feudalism in schools or praising Moses for wrestling his people from the Pharaohs in church if we simultaneously educate our children that their worth in life is based on the amount of capital they accumulate and status they socially earn.

“Stupid” says our impending food crisis will be averted by ceasing the biofuel movement, yet says nothing about the homes that have devoured nearly every piece of farmland in our surrounding communities.

Want to discuss our food crisis?

First recognize that land is increasingly being used more for storing people and food than is being used producing food. Add in the mindset that every person is supposed to live this way unless they want to be considered uncivilized or third-world. Couple in the component that our system is fueled by oil, a substance of recognizably limited quantity, and what you have is a system which either devours every parcel used to produce a true life necessity or which selfishly depletes its food transportation, production, and storage mechanism.

Like I said, I may have been more articulate in the past, but I’ve done so out of fear of offending. After hearing enough ridiculous yet same-ol’ suggestions for societal change, seeing Manasquan withstand three bomb-scares in a month, and watching Wall tackle social problems by eliminating student counselor positions, I’m deciding to say something redonculous myself. Time and lives are a wastin’.