January 2008

Love animals, don’t eat them

Thank you for the December 2007 article, “The Ethics of Eating—Local non-profit promotes compassion at the dining table.” This article about the local group Compassion Over Killing really embodies the ethics of Takoma Park in that it’s a small group of individuals working for great change.

I applaud the Takoma Voice for not only reporting the progressive, humanitarian causes that the residents of Takoma Park support but also spotlighting the work of those who extend their compassion beyond their own species. Non-Violence is a clear theme in the hearts of the people who live and work in Takoma Park and this is reflected in the city council’s actions throughout the years: declaring Takoma Park a nuclear-free zone, establishing an immigrant sanctuary law, and opposing the confining of egg-laying hens to wire cages.

The more we learn about how animals are raised and killed for our food the more we realize its impact on the environment, our health, workers’ rights, and our own humanity.

— Rose Nealon
Takoma Park, MD

Good and bad in climate change

Rick Docksai and Mike Tidwell have contribute excellent articles (“Maryland could pay heavy price for global warming,” November 2007 and “Enough with the bloody light bulbs,” November 2007). I agree entirely with Mike’s content and I do have supplementary action proposals.

Herewith I present an outline which might be considered the next phase of the discussion.

1. There is some good and some bad climate change coming fast.

2. We will have a larger bay and a shorter coast.

3. We will have a warmer and wetter climate for the next 50 years or so, and probably drier after that.

4. We will have a greener environment.
These assertions are based on equally reliable research to that cited, and perhaps more specific in some aspects.

A larger bay may be good for both fishing and the aquaculture industries. It will also be good for recreation. If we clean it up in time.

We may have less coastal tourism and more tourism on our larger rivers and greener hills. Too, other North American regions will have greater negative climate change impacts and send tourists to us. If we plan and program our advantage.

A warmer and wetter climate will allow us to have more productive agriculture. If we are quick to convert our farming to the climate and the market. Our farmers are already producing more and longer.

A greener environment means we will have cleaner air and water. And we will be sequestering more CO2 and NO2. Our parks, streetscapes, school grounds, and the National Mall will be enhanced. The Earth is considerably greener today than it was 10 and 20 years ago.

Today, not tomorrow, we need to plan and program to take advantage of the good and mitigate the bad of climate change in our climate zone. It won’t be easy or cheap.

— Jac Smit
Silver Spring, MD

Anti-gambling orthodoxy is at odds with liberal values

Setting aside for the moment the baffling liberal orthodoxy against gambling (I’ll get to that) I have to take exception to Michael Tabor’s attacks on Maryland Secretary of Labor and fellow Takoma Parker Tom Perez. (Tots for Slots December 07)

Tabor first accuses Perez of selling us out by supporting slots. Later he cites a local “activist” who also accuses him of being a sell out, and not serving those he represents. A charge of selling out implies a change of position taken for personal gain that creates problems for those you are supposed to help. As Tabor himself points out, Perez’s refusal to condemn gambling is hardly a new position for him.
Moreover, Perez was not elected by a particular constituency—ideological, economic or geographic. Perez was appointed to statewide office, meaning that in fact he represents all the citizens of Maryland­—the conservative poor Western Marylander, the retiree from Baltimore City as well as Takoma Park progressives, many of whom actually gamble, or at least have no problem with others gambling.

Oppose slots, oppose his support of slots, but I hardly think Perez can be accused of selling out.

Now to the progressive orthodoxy against gambling: It’s baffling to me. I guess I am so used to seeing conservatives fight against reproductive choice and gay marriage based on their narrow moral views, that I am disappointed when so-called liberals use their own narrow moral views to rail against gambling. I remember when being liberal had something to do with being tolerant and empowering everyone to make their own choices Perhaps that is the “liberal” position, while the “progressive” one is a paternalistic belief that because people are poor, they can’t be trusted to spend their own money as they see fit.

— Sean Tipton
Takoma Park, MD

Expand your VISTA to fight poverty

Every day, million of Americans—including 14 percent of Marylanders—live in poverty. They may have to choose between eating dinner, obtaining a vital prescription, or paying the monthly heating bill. 

Each of us can play a role in ending poverty. For college students, it can often be difficult to identify how we can make a difference in our community. For myself, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, identifying the avenue through which I could make a difference was not easy until I heard about the AmeriCorps VISTA program, which provides 6500 opportunities for individuals to serve full-time for a year to create and expand programs that fight illiteracy, improve health services, foster business and economic development, increase housing opportunities, and otherwise help low-income individuals and communities toward self-sufficiency.
I was fortunate to find a position with a non-profit organization based in Takoma Park which works towards empowering marginalized South Asian community members. As valuable as this experience is on a personal level, I am beginning to understand how valuable the services we provide are to disempowered and marginalized individuals.

In this holiday season, as our thoughts turn to helping the less fortunate, a new campaign is being launched to encourage Americans to join VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), the AmeriCorps program that fights poverty across the country.

I encourage everyone, regardless of age, to consider serving through the AmeriCorps program. For those of us who have had the opportunity to earn a university degree, whether or not we would like to believe it, that places us in a position of privilege. I urge you to take advantage of this fact and realize that your actions will speak louder than your words.  

VISTA needs people who want to put their idealism to work on behalf of people in need. To learn more about VISTA, visit AmeriCorps.gov.

— Aparna Kothary
Takoma Park, MD

Fundraising & Development Assistant/AmeriCorps VISTA South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT)

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