One thoughtful reader imagines an America where our wages go up—not just our gas prices and rent. Other ‘Weekly’ readers find new angles on a much-discussed cult film and on a heavily debated Soquel disc golf course.
Do The Math
When I started driving, gas was 49.9 cents a gallon; my first apartment cost $75 a month; loading trucks paid 10 bucks an hour. Now gas is pushing 5 bucks a gallon, my rent is pushing $1,400 and loading a truck is still paying 10 bucks an hour. Do the math—our income disparity is pretty easy to understand. At that rate we ought to be making $100 to $180 an hour loading trucks these days. Clearly, we are not. Innovation will never eliminate the need for unpleasant but necessary work. Our kids are not going to college at great expense because they thirst for knowledge but because they are desperately seeking a career that will pay a living wage. We ought to celebrate as heroes and lavish with the greatest reward those who do what we are unable or unwilling to do ourselves. I'm hearing nothing about raising wages and even less about capping them. How about a minimum wage of $50,000 a year, and a maximum of $250,000 a year? No one is more than five times more important than anyone else. We didn't steal all this land and murder all those Indians just to recreate another Old World system of extreme poverty and obscene wealth. Slavery always makes the best business plan but the worst civilization.
J.T. Younger
Santa Cruz
Positively Utopian
[RE: “Blinded by the Right,” Currents, March 14.html]: Having seen the Thrive movie “online” I was looking forward to seeing it on a big screen at the Del Mar. My initial disappointment at hearing it had been sold out quickly turned to joy at the realization that so many people are interested in the ideas being put forth in the film.
Eric Johnson, in his highly biased (as is evidenced by the title) critique of the movie, comes to a very negative conclusion: “…Thrive promotes an irrational way of thinking that undermines logical political discourse.” Really? I found the concept of dedicated individuals, free of corporate coercion or government regulation, developing alternative energy without our sacrificing our individual or national sovereignty to a “New World Order” to be very positive.
By the way Eric, my dictionary defines “right” as “correct, accurate, truthful, factual,” etc.
Edgar Darwin
Santa Cruz
From the Web
Use DeLaveaga
[RE: “Projectiles in Flight,” News, March 21.html]: Dahlen is right that four high schools have courses nearby—and so does Soquel High: a world-class, tournament-level course at DeLaveaga, 5 miles from Soquel High, and a short 10-minute drive away. The disc golfers have taken over the walking trails at Pinto Lake and have ruined the woods at DeLaveaga. The Soquel High team should do what the Soquel High ball golf team does: travel to the existing excellent courses in the area and not expect the public to hand over precious open space to their special-interest activity.
Soquelite
