On Jan. 11, the Alaska Watchman posted an article that Bob Bird, host of the radio program “Bird’s Eye View” (KSRM, Kenai), had written. The article was titled, “Do you trust Alaska politics anymore?” The Alaska Watchman has a tendency to post articles with a heavy right-wing slant that seem to excite its readers.
In answer to his article, I submitted the following response: It’s all over, except for the interment! The great American experiment is dead — the people have spoken. Governments fail. Civilizations collapse. Our institutions are “human.” Now it comes down to survival of the fittest. Like Mayor Dave Bronson, the Neanderthals have figured it out — mislead the people and slap them around to serve your ends. We’ve bottomed out, so get yours before the other guy gets it first. Remember, it’s yours only if you can keep it, otherwise whimper and weep. Do I “trust” in governments? Churches? Other “human” institutions? What inane questions! Yeah, yeah — of course! But the better-informed trust in the “workings of human nature.”
The “mindlessness” that the internet engenders will never cease, but I hope newspapers like the Anchorage Daily News and the Frontiersman will be able to help maintain a balanced political dialogue so critical to a sense of community.
— A.N. Gottschalk
Eagle River
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