Discussion about hate

I have a two-part reply to Shirley Roe’s letter to the editor. First, there is a big difference between hating a person, country, etc., and disagreeing with a person, country, etc. The fact that so many countries disagreed with Trump’s statement to recognize Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel and move our embassy there does not mean they hate our country. I think it means what so many have stated, that it puts an end to any peaceful negotiations between Palestine and Israel. But this idea that someone hates you because they disagree with your stance on something is really widespread. That seems to be the ploy of anyone who wants to shut down any reasonable discourse between thinking people. For example, if you believe women should have their own sovereign space, you are called hateful and trans-phobic, but that is for another letter.

Back to the subject, the second part of my reply is why the U.S. continues to send money to countries who “hate us.” I want to say our government doesn’t do anything that is not in the “national interest” aka “corporate interest.” You can bet if they are giving money to a government then we are getting something back in return. People like to think our government is so kind and generous, but that is very seldom true. It is the people of America who are generally kind and generous, not the government.

I agree with Ms. Roe that we do need to spend our money on the infrastructure of this country more than we need to exert worldwide monetary influence, but until the people can take back this country from the control of the corporations and the super-rich, there isn’t much chance of a change in how things are done in Washington, D.C. We must take the money out of politics or we will always have elected officials who are more beholden to their big-money donors than they are to the people they are supposed to represent.

LINDA BARNES Prairie Grove