Here are some points of view

By To the editor:

Dissent is the lifeblood of scientific (and medical) advancement. Remember the Harvey vs Galen controversy about how blood circulates. That means authorities and media suppressing dissent over pandemic management are blocking potentially better science and measures against COVID.

Effectively educated people can reason. Indoctrinated people---and those that depend on mere memorization- — cannot. Indoctrinated people on any subject naturally become dependent on experts and authority to know what to think (and thus do). Effectively educated people are capable of researching to make up their own minds, and can separate the truth from the false (and fact from opinion) without do-gooder censorship. They use the humility of the scientific method towards emerging new data to do so.

The highest priority for civic participation is serving on school boards or actively participating in their meetings. There are two reasons.

1) The real and true experts on education are parents and citizens who experienced public education, and have first-hand knowledge of its worth at making a living and conducting society. Leaving it up to more or less self-proclaimed authorities from benevolent government or special interest groups is abandoning people-based government.

2) The workings of school boards are a chief foundation for compliance to the Alaska Constitution’s key passage: Article I, Section 2: “Source of Government — — All political power is inherent in the people. All government originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the people as a whole.” Indeed, to effect the harvesting of the will of the people demands school boards lead in encouraging civic participation and free speech, and that they force legislators not to make a move about education unless school boards are consulted.

True representation depends on elected officials maintaining infrastructure to harvest the will of the people. To make the infrastructure work requires officials actively persuade citizens to be personally civically active---not just vote. This is real leadership---not the strutting “you elected me to make the decisions that are best for you” degradation typical of politicians today.

The powerful in America don’t want to win our wars, but just want to fight them. So they abuse our military by using them for what they aren’t trained for ---nation building. A military occupation focus has historically failed to control the individuality of populations. But it always makes special interests lots of money under a do-gooder façade.

Stuart Thompson,

Wasilla