Let’s vote to honor the Maw-Maws and others who knew the value of being civic-minded
On voting
Voting in our country is a right that we should not take for granted.
I learned the importance of voting at a young age from my grandmother, Lonnie Nichols. She didn’t have a formal education and retired from Cannon Mill in York, S.C., but she was a “maverick” of her time.
Maw-Maw kept up with national and local government and could debate with any well-schooled politician who was brave enough to exchange opinions with her.
This election year brings back memories of an election long ago — my first brush with excitement of politics.
It was in the late 1970s and a very important election year.
Maw-Maw knew the importance of voting, and she made sure that those that had no transportation to get to the polls were still able to vote.
But Maw-Maw didn’t have a driver’s license and since I had recently passed my driver’s test, my task was to spend the day with her picking up people to vote.
There was such a sense of pride in these people after they voted.
Rosa Parks once said, “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”
That’s how Maw-Maw lived her life.
Go vote!
Leslie Couick, Rock Hill
On masks
So the anti-maskers have failed at intimidating City Council and the county.
Now, in a clear political shenanigan they’re throwing a no-mask bash at Shelter Cove.
Really?
Hilton Head Island has some of the lowest numbers for COVID-19 cases — per 100,000 residents — in South Carolina.
These low numbers are mostly due to the mask mandate, and despite the presence of tens of thousands of tourists since June.
As a retired physician who has been a scientist since college, the facts are clear to me: masks, social distancing and hand-washing all work
But don’t take my word for it.
In unprecedented fashion the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine — the world’s most prestigious medical journal — recently published an editorial. The editorial was titled “Dying in a Leadership Vacuum,” and I quote the editors’ conclusions in their final paragraph:
“Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. ... When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.”
John MacLaurin, Hilton Head
On society
History tells us that our country is traversing a dangerous course toward furthering societal decadence. In his book, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” historian Edward Gibbons stated Rome’s fall was caused by a loss of “civic virtue, abuse of power and rapid rise of competing religion.”
Another historian, H.S. Gill, attributes Rome’s decline to “decadent lifestyles, monetary troubles, military problems and a distracting influence of a developing religion, Christianity.”
In his 1976 book ”The Fall of Empires,” anthropologist Sir John Glubb examined 13 different empires over 10 generations.
These ages of decadence had in common excessive wealth and power, corruption of officials, lax sexual morals, prevalence of politicians acquiring vast wealth through political office, indifference to religion and virtues and increasing materialism.
Other scholars agree there were three basic areas for an empire’s ultimate demise:
▪ Social: a decline in nationalism and moral values, disenfranchised citizens, religious diversion.
▪ Economic: unemployment, urban decay, decline in work ethic, military and welfare burden.
▪ Political: government corruption, expanding empire, influence of the wealthy and the military.
Sound familiar? Our country is experiencing these challenges at this very moment.
But enough of the doom and gloom.
In the Lowcountry, we must start by:
▪ Being vigilant and vocal.
▪ Insisting that all our leaders work cooperatively together.
▪ Respecting humanity while correcting these dangerous trends and working toward positive conclusions for our country.
Likewise a lifestyle reflecting moral integrity at all levels must be the standard; individually, we must set that example.
Earle Everett, Hilton Head
On being fed up
I’m tired of:
▪ Being labeled a racist/bigot because I believe that “All Lives Matter”!
▪ The hypocrisy of the left-leaning media when it comes to how they skew the news and paint a totally different picture.
▪ Big tech companies that appear to have the power to suppress news stories just because they “think” they are not true.
▪ Hearing how much money Jaime Harrison has raised; it was donated by Hollywood celebrities and Washington Democrats.
▪ Hearing that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win in 2016 since the real evidence proves otherwise.
▪ Hearing that Trump is the problem when we have lifelong politicians who haven’t accomplished anything compared to what Trump has accomplished during the last four years.
▪ Hearing that Trump is a dictator. He doesn’t take a salary and gave up wealth to help make America great again; meanwhile, there are lifelong politicians who are in politics to get wealthy — just ask Joe Biden.
Yes, I am also tired of Trump’s tweets. But it is the only Trump has to fight back because the mainstream media will not provide positive coverage. I will take tweets and accomplishments over corrupted politicians.
Don’t vote on personality — vote on accomplishments.
Just try to list Biden’s accomplishments during the last 47 years.
I’ll wait.
Rhonda Ruff, Pomaria