Today's letters: If 'Keep Florida Free' doesn’t mean for all of us, then for whom?
Letters to the editor present the opinions of readers on news stories and other pieces published by The Sun.
Free for whom?
Keep Florida Free — I see the slogan on signs everywhere in my part of the county. And like the other ubiquitous slogan of our times — Make America Great Again — there it sits, brazenly undefined.
What does it mean? Free for whom? Who to ask? Not free if you or a loved suffered from COVID brought on by someone who felt free (and entitled) not to wear a mask. Not free if you are a public school teacher afraid to tell the truth about history or about the real lives and real families of modern America.
Not free if you are now confused and having a hard time voting. Not free if your voting district was misappropriated by redistricting. Not free if you voted in good faith and now find the police knocking on your door.
Not free if you own a business and want to train your employees about how best to interact in a diverse society. Not free if you have come here seeking a better life only to be treated like a criminal, as an object not a person.
“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” makes a good song lyric but as a proverb to live by not so much. Keep Florida Free — if this doesn’t mean for all of us, then who for?
Brent Weisman, Alachua
More letters to the editor:
Donations from Gainesville to Ukraine receive a grateful reply
Campaign to mislead voters on single-member districts is shameful
These websites will inform you before you vote in election
Dangerous thinking
The photograph on the front page of The Sun on Oct. 31 shows Gov. DeSantis standing at a lectern with a sign that states “Freedom from Indoctrination.” It occurs to me that the indoctrination he is so intent on freeing us from can be best summed up in the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It seems that for him, those lines appear to suggest an altogether dangerous kind of thinking. And if over the course of the history of this nation, those rights have been denied to some people, he wants us to just shut up about it; and don’t write about it and above all don’t teach about it.
Tony Oliver-Smith, Gainesville
Contributing to inflation
It should come as no surprise to anyone in the Gainesville area that more and more businesses are eliminating staffed checkout registers in favor of self checkout.
While the business is doing it to save on labor costs the end result is probably contributing to higher price inflation. Why? Because people who use self-checkout will be tempted to "forget" to scan an item or two in order to save money or just downright cheat the business.
At the end of the day when the computers tracking inventory tell the business how much merchandise is literally walking out the door without being paid for, they will then raise prices on their merchandise to make up for the losses.
Those higher prices will now encourage the customers to cheat a little more, thus contributing to a never-ending cycle of price inflation contributing to more cheating and then more price inflation.
While self-checkout might have been a good idea initially to save a business money, in the long run it just might turn many Americans into shoplifters bent on getting that "five-finger discount" in order to make ends meet.
Louis Galanos, Gainesville
Individualism has limits
We are fortunate that voices rising in opposition to the Social Security Act of 1935, calling it socialism, did not win the day. Today, it seems mainly people of Republican persuasion confuse safety net programs with not only socialism but a step further to communism.
Individualism does have its limits. Hardship, disasters and health issues can confound the best efforts. Some counter that we need to turn to our friends, neighbors and families for help in drastic circumstances not “the government.” Well, aren’t our fellow Americans our friends, neighbors and family? Isn’t that what we the people are all about?
Communism is associated with authoritarianism, so it is hard for me to understand how so many people who identify as Republican support Donald J. Trump, a characteristic authoritarian personality. Yet, this is why they withhold their support for Democrats, because they believe that will turn this country into a communist nation.
At this point in time, it appears that Trump still has a stronghold on the Republican Party. So, in essence, a vote for Republican candidates is a vote for authoritarianism, which is what you say you do not want.
Goldie Schwartz, Archer
Journalism matters. Your support matters.
Get a digital subscription to the Gainesville Sun. Includes must-see content on Gainesville.com and Gatorsports.com, breaking news and updates on all your devices, and access to the eEdition. Visit www.gainesville.com/subscribenow to sign up.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on 'Keep Florida Free,' self checkout, individualism, more
