Dale Wyngarden: Nibbles and tidbits
Some months, a single theme consumes all 600 or 700 words alloted for a column. Other months, the mind is abuzz with a swarm of random thoughts. This month, I offer nibbles and tidbits.
Blessed are the peacemakers, we may say, but it isn’t a blessing we seem to have the heart for pursuing with much seriousness. Years of war and military meddling have left Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya in shambles. I suspect there are policy makers who delight in seeing instability reign in the lands of our enemies. The suffering of the people seems incidental, so long as the nation itself remains in turmoil. Sanctions are a particularly odious Cold War tactic we embrace believing they punish a nation, when in reality they mostly heap more misery on innocent citizens already oppressed by poverty, hunger, disease, dictators or radical theocracies.
Keeping an enemy oppressed and its people suffering is not peacemaking.
I know that many people see our endless flow of weapons and money to Ukraine as humanitarian support in a battle of good versus evil, and believe that enough bombs and bullets will foster Ukraine’s repulsion of Russian aggression. But I have a feeling there are others who harbor no such illusions, but simply want to see the war prolonged as long as possible, relishing the depletion of Russian resources and weakening of its military strength. Death and destruction suffered by the Ukrainian people are just unfortunate collateral damage. I’d hate to think there are agencies within the halls of government or armament industries where this view rises to the level of unspoken policy, but I’m suspicious. Being arms merchant to the world isn’t peacemaking either.
Today, governments embrace marijuana. Its recreational use lacks the devastating consequences once portrayed. We are merely beginning to discover its variety of therapeutic applications. But best of all, it is something more to tax. We used to lock up for lengthy terms people who sold it. Now governments issue licenses to pot peddlers.
Biden’s move to clear our prisons of people serving time for mere possession is long overdue. The next step should be releasing those convicted of sale. If we license, tax and legitimize sales today, what foolish sense of justice keeps us spending tax dollars to incarcerate people for the same activity yesterday. I’m talking marijuana only, not hard core drug dealers. Our incarceration rate tops by far that of any other first world nation. Some people surely need to be locked away from society … for their good and ours. But our perpetual fawning over “tough on crime” political candidates has stuffed costly prisons with people who are no threat to society, and who often use prison time to hone criminal skills in the absence of serious rehabilitation while they are incarcerated.
Kvetching over last season’s road construction has quieted. It was a nuisance we should be grateful for. Headlines around the world point to aged and failing infrastructure as the source of many urban crises. What leaders of street and utility agencies in Holland have long collaborated on is not simply repair, but rebuilding. When streets are torn up and replaced anew, so are the underground utilities as well.
Sewers, drain pipes and water mains live long, but not forever. Aged pipes are replaced.
Capacity is increased where needed. When the barricades are pulled, systems are brand new, from the paint stripes on the street to the deepest buried pipes. Good public administration has prevailed for so long that we take it for granted. We shouldn’t. Few cities across the nation match Holland’s progressive stewardship of vital infrastructure.
And speaking of infrastructure, we owe a debt of gratitude to Holland’s Board of Public Works and its administrative team for producing our new power plant. After a couple decades of dithering focused on expanding the old coal-fired plant on Pine Avenue, new leaders rose to the challenge, acted aggressively and delivered a showcase product that serves us well.
More than just grinding out electricity, the plant renewed a blighted gateway to Holland. And utility managers worked hand in hand with downtown leaders to support the continuation and expansion of the premier snowmelt system in North America. Well done, and thank you, BPW. You did us proud.
This is Holland, and we get to live here. Make it a great day.
— Community Columnist Dale Wyngarden is a resident of the city of Holland. He can be reached at wyngarden@ameritech.net.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Dale Wyngarden: Nibbles and tidbits
