Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Saturday, January 18, 2025 68° Today's Paper


Letter: Americans lulled into dangerous position

It seems our policymakers are coaxed into bad decisions on almost everything from finance to national defense.

Mindlessly we play with our electronic devices and shop. Algorithms, reading our behavior, are heralded as intelligence just as spying is intelligence. Treasured freedoms are being eroded. Consumption is our patriotism. Hate China, but love buying the cheap stuff. Debt is our currency. Credit scores decide our social value.

As the premier global dealer of war weaponry, being used daily to slaughter noncombatants, we bemoan gun violence in our own lives. Unspeakable violence is blithely accepted as it pervades entertainment venues.

Divide and conquer. We have been skillfully split by suspicious forces. Made to view each other as enemies while shadow puppeteers garner more freedom-stealing power. One wonders: Are we standing on the brink of something glorious, or odious?

Gary Pardy

Haleiwa


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