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Wherever Americans come from, they risked it all to live free
When I was growing up, back in the 1940s, I was impressed, and proud, at the high regard in which the world seemed to hold the American people. It was evident in the demand for American products, engineering and general know-how. Even further back, in the late 1800s, distinguished European scholars and authors wrote of their travels in our country, and commented on the energy and spirit of innovation that fueled our industrial growth and our westward movement.
When I asked my father why America was pre-eminent among nations, he said it was because of the kinds of people who had settled here. He went on to explain that our settlers, from Jamestown to Plymouth Rock to Ellis Island, were people who were dissatisfied with conditions under which they lived, and were willing to risk months on a largely uncharted sea in fragile wooden boats to find a place where they could live as they chose. Others took the same risks for the possibility of riches, or to escape the social "class" to which they were bound in jolly old England.
He said that those who had come since, whether Chinese, Mexican, Polish, Irish or any other nationality, had invariably come to our shores to escape unpleasant living conditions, to live and raise their families with more opportunities, or to escape retribution for protesting repressive government.
These people, he explained, had many things in common — the willingness to take risks, the belief they could accomplish their goals, and the tenacity to persevere against setbacks. And these traits, passed on to their children and extended families were the traits now praised by observers worldwide.
— Don Neal
Anchorage
Climate deniers work extra hard to spin hurricane disasters
The unmistakable fingerprints of climate change all over the severity of hurricanes like Harvey and Irma, which must be causing some late nights for the spin doctors in the climate denial "think tanks." How to bamboozle the masses with a convincing sneer when all the scientific predictions are coming true? They'll have to ask their overlords for a pay raise to sooth their troubled consciences.
— Larry Landry
Gustavus
Kudos on Rosen science stories
Welcome to the new ADN owners, and thank you for stepping in with plans to continue publishing our newspaper.
I wrote recently to thank the former owner and staff. I'd like to offer a follow-up: As a scientist (retired ornithologist), I've appreciated the competent science reporting, including by Yereth Rosen. It's essential to interpret science news for the ordinary reader. But as part of that, it's important to include background research (other experts, other publications) and a balanced perspective. Good work!
I wish you all the best.
— Vivian Mendenhall
Anchorage
Is Alaska rutted road champ?
I recently traveled from Anchorage to upstate New York and back by car through Canada both ways. I also drove around Iceland.
In none of these winter locations did I encounter tire-grooved roads like here.
Why?
— Steve Tucker
Anchorage
Don't refuse handwritten letters while espousing merits of print
When the ADN refuses to accept a handwritten or printed letter to the editor, that mindset becomes, I believe, a contradiction in principle. When you still provide a printed newspaper to someone like me, who does not or cannot, or chooses not, to join the "digital-robot age," and prefers reading printed newspapers, books, magazines etc., it becomes a real head-scratcher from my perspective.
— Paul Vos
Kasilof
Gen. Lee was man of character who deserved recognition
If Michael Moore thinks the proper course of action is to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from the public plaza because it offends the sensibilities of a few wheeze-whiners, I think the proper course of action would be to remove him from the public forum because he not only offends my sensibilities, he offends the very fabric of my body and mind. He might as well support book burning or the destruction of a centuries-old Buddhist shrine by the Taliban. The destruction was, in my opinion, an act that cannot be justified.
If that protest (against statue removal) had been held in my neighborhood, I would have been there. Not because I am a Nazi, white supremacist, racist, bigot or just a Southerner with a bit of pride. I would have been there to protect the history of those who served in a brutal war. Moore would say all of those who fought and died for the South were racists. He would be wrong. If he is wrong in that case, he is wrong in supporting the removal of Gen. Lee. I do not know if the general was a racist or not. He was, evidently, a man of character, strength and leadership and should be recognized as such. He may have fought for a lost cause but that should not be a factor in the equation.
Modern thought and social values do not give anyone the moral authority to erase history because they are "offended" by it. The terms "political correctness," "microaggression" and "safe spaces" are offensive to me because they are the tools used by the self-appointed moral authorities to mold society into what they think it should be.
— Charles D. Graham
Fritz Creek
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.