Cave dwellers
In his well-known Allegory of the Cave in “The Republic,” Plato effectively describes the Idaho legislators who voted to defund social justice education at the state’s universities.
Plato’s cave dwellers believed that “it was better not to even think of ascending; if anyone tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death” (7.517b Jowett translation).
Death is not yet the penalty proposed for teachers, but the right’s own cancel culture prefers extremes. Who else would think justice, social or otherwise, a questionable goal?
Okey Goode
Clarkston
Sign up, Glenn
In response to Glenn Richey’s March 14 letter “Pop quiz,” I recommend answering questions such as these by attending a free red/blue workshop offered by Braver Angels.
Braver Angels is a national citizens movement bringing liberals and conservatives together at the grassroots level. We work to “understand each other beyond stereotypes, form community alliances, and reduce the vitriol that poisons our civic culture.”
Braver Angels seeks to depolarize American politics. The group was originally called Better Angels, as referred to in Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address in 1861 when the nation was on the brink of Civil War. He appealed to the “better angels of our nature” to heal the nation. The name was changed to Braver Angels to meet today’s crisis: We need more than civility. We need to challenge ourselves to work together when we disagree.
A red/blue workshop has two intensive online sessions, usually one week apart, with equal numbers of red (conservative or Republican-leaning) and blue (liberal or Democratic-leaning) citizens. There are moderated activities and structured discussions to increase understanding, reduce stereotyped thinking, clarify disagreements, build relationships and find common ground. The sessions use listening and learning rather than declaring and debating.
Go to the Braver Angels website, click on “Find an Event,” look for one labeled “National,” which means it is open to anyone in the nation, and register. Workshops fill up fast, but there is generally room for red-leaning participants in all their workshops.
Richey would be welcomed heartily.
Kathy Dawes
Moscow
Simpson ignores science
Science demonstrates the decline of salmon across West Coast rivers — both with and without dams.
“Chinook salmon survival ... has decreased by roughly the same amount everywhere along the West Coast of North America and has now reached similar or lower survival levels than Snake River stocks,” says Dr. David Welch’s 2020 study. “A synthesis of the coast-wide decline in survival of West Coast chinook salmon” for the U.S. Department of Energy and Bonneville Power Administration reviews smolt-to-adult return rates of Snake River fish populations against West Coast river systems lacking dams. The research, supported with more than 100 references, notes a universal decline of chinook returns across undammed rivers in Alaska and the Canadian portion of the Yukon River.
“Survival across this vast swathe of relatively pristine territory is severe enough to seriously impact salmon productivity, then there is little hope that modifying freshwater habitat in more southern regions will support a newly productive environment for salmon,” he notes.
Congressman Mike Simpson’s proposal, in contrast, consists of a 34-page PowerPoint without a single citation to allow review and fact-checking. Perhaps he could visit the area to discuss with those it will impact the most. But I forgot: His congressional district doesn’t include Lewiston.
The amount of money we are spending to chase our tail is embarrassing. A novel thought to those at our nation’s capital: Read the scientific research. Problems with salmon are in the ocean and, mostly, in the power of our courts, not our river systems.
Amy Uptmor
Craigmont
