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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
- Henry Ward Beecher ~
The Okefenokee and the weight of
'me 5 vs. we 5
2020 — aberration
or the new normal?
How much importance do you give to
things that are not just yours, but ours?
Some people seem to feel that anything that
is “ours” is worthless unless it can be made
into “mine.” I put litterers in this mindset.
They see roadsides in the realm of “mine,”
not “ours.”
Public schools are “ours.” Libraries, “ours.”
Roads, “ours.” I doubt anyone wants to swap
out public roads for private toll roads. Imag
ine the headaches of travel if we
didn’t have publicly-funded roads
and could only drive places if we
paid the private owners.
The things that are “ours” matter.
But somehow, in this crazy time,
the notion of maintaining anything
for the “public good” seems to be
a bad thing in some circles. All as
sets must be rendered private, not
public. And here’s why: anything
enforced as a collective asset actu
ally does cost someone a chance to
make themselves fabulously rich.
And when certain people feel de
nied a fortune due to public interest, they
protest to kingdom come. They hire PR firms.
They will pay politicians to do their bidding.
They will play the long game of public opin
ion shifting. And that has paid off righteously
for some.
Think I’m wrong, then remember that the
very notion of “collective good” has died as a
principle with much of this country. Instead,
America is all about “me.” You think that
hasn’t been accompanied by a huge effort to
kill the public’s concern for its collective in
terests? If you are in the religion of me-first,
then selfishness becomes morally right, and
anything with a “we” turns morally suspect.
Things that are “ours” hardly matter these
days for far too many people. Folks, that’s
exactly where we are in the U.S.A. in 2020-
21. If you don’t see this, you’re sleeping.
This is what I thought about as I read re
cently about the proposed strip-mining of
Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp. I thought,
yes, oh yes, here it is again, that process at
work. It takes a lot to pry public lands from
the public, doesn’t it? It is not an easy game
of tug of war. It goes against the grain of past
generations who sought to save such lands.
So why care? Well, I will likely never see
the Grand Canyon. I will probably not make
it to Yellowstone National Park in my life.
Maybe I will. I’d like to. But even if I per
sonally never lay eyes on those locales, they
matter to me in principle. Because public
lands are important to American society, not
just me. They were preserved so I can see
them if I choose. Public lands need to be pre
served for future generations, too.
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
probably doesn’t matter personally to most
Georgians, but it should as a matter of prin
ciple.
The Okefenokee is 438,000 acres, of which
about 402,000 acres are protected in the Na
tional Wildlife Refuge, and 354,000 acres are
federal wilderness. It is the largest National
Wildlife Refuge east of the Mississippi River
and provides headwaters for the Suwannee
and St. Mary’s rivers. The refuge is home to
abundant plant and animal life and a source
of considerable tourism.
The words “regulation” and “deregulation”
are so loaded with partisan tension these
days. That’s unfortunate, because neither is
good or bad. In life, some rules are sensible.
Some are not. We need sense enough to rec
ognize that a speed limit is necessary for the
public good, but not one that is too slow or
too fast, right? I apply that thought to all reg
ulations.
The Okefenokee was long off limits for
mining. DuPont wanted to mine there in the
1990s, but it didn’t get the regulatory go
ahead. Well, that was then, this is now. We
just had sweeping environmental deregula
tion in these past few years. Mining at the
Okefenokee is not a done deal, but it’s dis
tinctly possible at the moment if state per
mits are received. Twin Pines Minerals, an
Alabama company which is controlled by
Raymon Bean and Steve Ingle, who also con
trol GreenFuels Energy, LLC and Georgia
Renewable Power, is aiming to mine titanium
there. Deregulation has enabled Twin Pines
Minerals LLC to bypass the federal wetlands
permitting process and any federal environ
mental oversight of the mining proposal.
In Madison County, GRP burned
creosote-treated railroad ties at its
Colbert biomass facility until the
state government put a halt to the
practice after protests from neigh
bors about the harmful health ef
fects of burning the carcinogen. It
intrigues me to see that connection
between GRP and the proposed
mining project.
I think a paragraph in a Nov.
25 article in The Washington Post
titled “Trump rule eases effort
to strip-mine near Okefenokee
Swamp” succinctly outlines the
problem with the proposed project.
It reads: “One distinctive feature of the
Okefenokee is that it’s shaped like a bowl,
and most of it is depressed. What helps keep
the shallow water inside is the Trail Ridge,
which runs along the eastern side of the
swamp and acts like a dam. Poke a hole in
the ridge, like a break in the rim of a bowl,
and water will leak out. That’s a key part of
the area Twin Pines Minerals wants to mine.”
In today’s hyper-partisan environment, it
feels almost pointless to point out that, yes,
these efforts involve campaign contributions
to Republican candidates, including David
Perdue. No one is going to change their vote
after hearing this. In fact, I’m pointing it out
to you fully expecting this to harden your re
solve if you’re already voting that way. But
the bigger point is that there is a process
involved in getting major projects like this
through the hoops. And it has a lot to do with
cash. That’s where we are as a country. And I
absolutely hate this ugly reality and feel that
the “public good” has been totally swallowed
by the “private gain.” This project is just one
of so many examples.
The door for corrupting the Okefenokee
has been opened, but it’s not a done deal.
And there is a coalition of over 40 nation
al, state and local conservation groups and
businesses called the Okefenokee Protection
Alliance (OPA) that is fighting this propos
al. Check them out at protectokefenokee.org.
This project may still be shot down. But the
fact that it’s even on the table is a testament
to the potential harms of overzealous deregu
lation. And yes, there are indeed examples of
absurd over-regulation in other facets of life.
As I said, we need sensible speed limits in all
walks of life.
The potential degradation of the Okefeno
kee raises the broader issue of public lands.
Do we protect them? Do we let them go?
Do you care? And broader still, is collective
good a thing anymore? Or is it dead? Do you
care? If we want things to be maintained for
the public, for us and our descendants, then
well, the public needs to speak up and de
mand as much. Right? This is especially true
these days as profit grabbing at the expense
of the collective good is such a lucrative po
litical game.
Do you also see the essential seesaw of
“me” vs. “we?” Push the weight too far one
way and there’s trouble. Personal and public
interests both have their place in this life. It’s
all about balance. And in my eyes, we’re too
heavy on the “me” these days. It takes effort
and sincere care to be engaged together for
the good of us all. Or is that too much for us
to ask of our leaders — or of each other?
Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison
County Journal, a sister newspaper of The
Barrow News-Journal. He can be reached at
zach @ mainstreetnews. com,
Letter to the Editor
Social programs are not 'socialist 5
Dear Editor:
Social programs are not socialism.
Among the accusations that have been
hurled this election year is that the Demo
cratic Party is all about socialism. I wonder
how many people really know what social
ism is.
Its two underlying premises are state
ownership of resources and collective con
trol over the means of production. The
Democratic Party supports neither.
Social programs to improve conditions
for middle- and lower- class Americans are
not socialism. Social programs include the
entitlements of Social Security, Medicare,
Medicaid, farm subsidies, housing assis
tance, welfare assistance for those in need
and a host of other programs too long to
list.
Work programs from years past, such as
the interstate highway system, TVA and
energy dam construction, were all social
programs and helped make America great.
Unfortunately, the GOP seems to use the
word "socialism” to refer to any program
that benefits the majority of society as a
scare tactic to make the unknowing and un
educated support its candidates.
Shameful.
Peggy Perkins
Winder
As we enter 2021, we are a na
tion torn apart.
Our economy is uneven amid the
coronavirus with some places do
ing well while other places suffer
from pandemic shutdowns. Even
worse, the pandemic has quickly
widened the social and economic
gap between the "haves”
and the “have-nots.”
Socially and culturally,
we’re a nation depressed
and despondent. The tone
of 2020 has been like a
sledgehammer, battering
us with wave after wave
of bad news and turmoil.
We’re tired and just want
to return to some kind of
“normal” existence.
But it is in our politics
that we’re perhaps the
most damaged. The elections of
2020 have splintered the nation,
giving birth to crazy conspiracy
theories. As the year ends, half the
nation has been convinced, without
any evidence, that the presidential
election was somehow "stolen” or
“rigged.”
Next week on Jan. 6, Congress
meets to accept the results of the
Electoral College vote, a vote that
names Joe Biden as president.
Some observers, however, be
lieve there could be chaos on the
streets of Washington that day,
chaos driven by unfounded social
media stories and a president who
has yet to acknowledge that he lost
the election.
• ••
If you think this is just some mi
nor thing, think again.
Some people are calling for vi
olence in the wake of the election.
Not since 1861 and the start of the
Civil War has an election ended
with this kind of ominous cloud.
Consider:
•In November following the
election, a right-wing pastor in
Florida called for Democrats and
members of the media to be shot
by firing squads if they had con
spired to rig the elections (the
election was not rigged.)
•A lawyer with President
Trump’s campaign said that former
U.S. cybersecurity official Chris
topher Krebs should be “shot” for
having rejected claims that the
election was stolen from Trump.
•In early December, armed pro
testors congregated outside the
home of Michigan Secretary of
State Jocelyn Benson and de
manded that she overturn the re
sults of the state’s balloting, which
showed that Joe Biden had carried
the state. Some Trump supporters
had earlier been arrested in a plot
to kidnap Michigan’s governor, a
Democrat.
•Former National Security Ad
visor Michael Flynn, who pled
guilty of lying to the FBI but was
pardoned by Trump, has called on
Trump to declare martial law and
send the military into Georgia and
other swing states to force an elec
tion do-over at the point of a bay
onet. Others have echoed Flynn’s
call for what amounts to a military
coup in the nation.
•The head of the Arizona GOP
has called for Trump to "cross the
Rubicon,” a reference to when Ju
lius Caesar crossed the Rubicon
River and started a Roman Civil
War after which Caesar became
dictator.
•Closer to home, Georgia offi
cials have received death threats
after they refused to overturn the
state’s election results, which went
narrowly for Biden.
•Locally, some people have
called for Georgia’s leaders to be
arrested and "strung up” because
they refused to overturn legitimate
votes.
• ••
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include the city of the writer.
All of which begs the question:
has America become a banana re
public?
Since when did calls for violence
following an election become part
of the American political lexicon?
This is deplorable.
No matter who won the election,
this nation has a tradi
tion of holding a peace
ful transfer of power. We
don’t resort to violence
and intimidation. We
don’t threaten to kill peo
ple because the election
doesn’t go our way.
Even many of Trump’s
own supporters have
balked at these calls for
violence.
But Trump hasn’t.
In fact, he has egged on
those who would do violence in
the name of politics.
Over the weekend, he tweeted a
message to supporters to rally in
Washington on Jan. 6. "Be there,
be wild” he said.
Protesting is one thing, but
Trump’s tweet is a thinly-veiled
call for people to threaten Con
gress as they accept the vote of the
Electoral College.
According to some administra
tion insiders. Trump has mulled
the idea of declaring martial law
because he lost the election.
Some observers believe that
Trump wants to foment violence
on Jan. 6 as a cover to declare mar
tial law.
Such a move would ensure vio
lence in America.
I’m doubtful that Trump would
seek to use the military and even
if he did, it’s unlikely the military
would follow his command.
But it’s still a sober, sad begin
ning to 2021.
• ••
If the nation can avoid this po
litical violence, the year 2021 may
be a year of hope, a new beginning.
As the vaccine for the pandemic
begins to slow its spread, there’s
hope that our lives will return to
normal.
There’s hope that we can again
gather with friends and family.
There’s hope that our jobs and
economy will stabilize and pro
vide less uncertainty.
There’s hope that we can bury
the political divisions that have
haunted 2020 and find a path to
ward a more bipartisan spirit in
public offices.
• ••
And yet, I’m worried.
We may indeed have a glorious
rebirth in 2021. In fact, we may
enter a decade like the “Roaring
‘20s.”
We all want to forget 2020, close
the door on it, move forward and
not look back.
But I fear the seeds of something
sinister were sown this year, seeds
of a terrible fury that someday in
the future, will ripen with ven
geance and violence.
Only history will tell us if 2020
was an aberration, or the begin
ning of the end.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher
of Mainstreet Newspapers. He can
be reached at mike @ mainstreet
news. com.
The Barrow News-Journal
Winder. Barrow County. Ga.
www.BarrowJournal.com
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Thompson Editor
Susan Treadwell Advertising
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