About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2022)
PAGE 7 A Send a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534; fax (706) 265-3276; or email to editor@dawsonnews.com. DawsonOpinion WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2022 This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and others. Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the writers and artists, and they may not reflect our views. Can nations democracy outlast us? This is kind of a bummer way to start your day but it is worth reflection: “Remember, democ racy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Who said that? Karl Marx? Ayatollah Khomeini? Vladimir Putin? Wrong, wrong and wrong. It was John Adams, second president of the United States. He also added, “Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.” Could he have been talk ing about us? I posit that the biggest threat to our future comes not from China or Russia or North Korea. It comes from within. It comes from people who somehow find nothing wrong with a bunch of goons wreaking havoc on the United States Capitol because they didn’t like the results of a presidential election. They call themselves “patriots.” They are no more patriotic than grape nut cereal contains grapes. It comes from people obsessed with a past that is over and done with and who are not content to look at the progress that we have made since then. Call them the Woke generation. They for get they live in a country that freely allows them to disrespect it. Try that in Russia. It comes from people who feel the need to hyphenate their origin as though they aren’t real ly committed Americans, they are hyphenated Americans. (As an aside: I have a white acquain tance that grew up in South Africa. Does she qualify as an African-American?) It comes from universities that make it as diffi cult as possible for conservative viewpoints to be expressed while they make it easy for liberal expressions. It comes from biased media that pander to a particular political philosophy and then claim to be fair and balanced. (Watch Fox’s Tucker Carlson and any talking head on MSNBC report the same story.) They make it hard for any media to be trusted to report a story accurately. Where are Chet Huntley and David Brinkley when we need them? I am a tiny tadpole in the large media stream but I value my integrity too much to say there can only be one side to an issue. As a reader cor rectly discerned last week, I am neither to the left nor right on the political spectrum but smack in the middle. Smart reader. Before you become totally bummed out, let me give you some important perspective. It seems we have always been like this, going back to our beginnings as a nation. If you have read any history at all, you know that our Founding Fathers were petty, spiteful and a sometimes dishonorable lot who created a nation every bit as prone to violence as is today’s. The more I read of our early days, the more amazed I am we have made it this far. For example, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson hated Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and the feeling was mutu al. John Adams didn’t like Jefferson or Hamilton. I am amused when I hear all the talk about “fake news” today. Both Jefferson and Hamilton funded newspapers for the expressed purpose of slanting public opinion in their favor. President John Adams pushed the passage of the Sedition Act of 1798 which criminalized making statements that were critical of the feder al government. And lest we forget, Vice President Aaron Burr killed Hamilton in a duel, which makes former Vice President Dick Cheney shooting a hunting buddy in the tush not so big a deal. Somehow we have managed to make our democracy function for a little more than two centuries but as John Adams himself noted, we are not a sure thing. The biggest difference between then and now is that misinformation and political demagoguery are disseminated with an immediacy not available in days of yore. Can you imagine Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton on Twitter? If you take John Adams and his views on democracy literally, the day may be coming when we will self-destruct. But it doesn’t neces sarily have to be. Let us pledge ourselves not to waste, exhaust and murder our precious free doms through complacency, apathy or narrow minded self-interest. Philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” May it not be on our watch. And as bad as things may seem to be, just remember what Winston Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst form of government — except for ail the others that have been tried.” I agree. And I hope John Adams would, too. You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar- brough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb. Searching for that Christmas spirit I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I am miss ing the way Christmas used to be. Not just the Christmases of my childhood, which I always seem to yearn for, with their tinsel and wine laden fruitcake, but I miss how Christmas was not that long ago. When my son was little and Christmas still had that magic to it. Trying to keep Santa alive and showing up once a year for my then little one was fun and something that we loved to do - it made this time of year seem like it was a time of mira cles and good cheer. Even though I had lost that holiday sparkle of my own childhood, I embraced the notion that I had a small child to make Christmas special for and tried even though I am not one with natural decorating and holiday razzle dazzle. If anything, my holiday pizzazz is really just trying to put up a fake tree and a few stockings and hoping for the best. But as a child, Cole seemed to like it. Of course, I did a bit more in reali ty; we had a nativity scene that we put out every year, which Cole even begged us to leave it up after Christmas, saying he didn’t want to put Jesus back in the box. We left it out but something hap pened and Baby Jesus got broken. We’d go find Santa so Cole could give his list. We’d drive around to see the lights. It wasn’t much, but it let us know it was Christmas. It seems like it was just yesterday when he’d have me checking the paper every week, waiting for the big toy sale book from Toys R Us. He’d flip through it once with intention, eye balling everything on the pages and then hand me the phone and ask me to call Nennie. “Nennie. you got your paper? Did you get the Toys R Us book?” he asked, his tone serious and businesslike. Mama would assure him she had her copy and was ready. “OK. Now, turn to page 12. You there?” “I am. What do you want on that page?” she’d ask. “Everything. If it’s on page 12,1 want it.” Mama still giggles over that memo ry. “That baby knew what he wanted and that was precious,” she’ll say. “Reminds me of you and the Wish Book. You’d earmark so many pages in there. You wanted a guitar and a ballet costume one year.” Didn’t every girl want to be a rock- star ballerina? Then, one year instead of writing a letter to Santa, Cole wanted cash so he could get what he wanted. There was no pretense of the jolly elf arriving on December 24th, no sneaking around trying to hide gifts and arranging times to shop to surprise him. We stopped making cookies and leaving them out on a plate with baby carrots for the reindeer. Everything changed over the years for so many reasons. As we’ve lost loved ones, grief changed us and our traditions, and kids do what they do best; they grow up. When Granny passed away, the hol idays felt different and even before that she said Christmas wasn’t the same without Pop. I understood what she meant then and even more now, when family dynamics are so different and as an adult, you’re just trying to get through each and every day, while trying to make the special days feel meaningful for everyone - and sometimes, just for yourself. And now, I feel like I am in a holi day limbo and not sure how to get my bearings again. There’s just that longing, that yearn ing for the Christmases we had and hoping we can create something mem orable in the present. I don’t think I am alone in this; I think many of us are trying to find our way back to that joy, that spirit. That magic that only happens when we give in to the time of the year and believe in miracles. “We haven’t gone to see the lights in ages,” I stated simply to Lamar. “I think we need to do that this year.” We hate driving at night or even leaving the house at night. Or just leaving the house for that matter. But sometimes, there’s memories to make and just moments to enjoy that make it worth it. I even put up a few decorations right after Thanksgiving. And a string of lights on the mantle. “Those look nice,” Lamar said, kiss ing the top of my head. “Festive.” It may not be much, but maybe it will be a start to get us all back in the Christmas spirit. Sudie Crouch is an award winning humor columnist and author of the recently e-published novel, "The Dahlman Files: A Tony Dahlman Paranormal Mystery." SUDIE CROUCH Columnist LETTERTOTHE EDITOR The Anne Styles park Every now and then someone does something to affirm my belief in the goodness of people. That just hap pened up in my part of the county. Anne Styles, who lived for years over off Elliot Parkway, has just gifted to Dawson County 120 acres of abso lutely beautiful rural land for a public park. It is up on a high spot and you can see the Nimblewill and Winding Stairs sections of the mountains off in the distance. I think it is the largest gift ever in the history of the county. If you see Miss Anne around please thank her. It is a spectacular act of goodness in a world that needs a little goodness. Anne might be a little older than me, but not much, and she is as quick witted as the people I hang around with. And she is no shrinking violet I tell you. Anne does not take ordering around. She is lively and quick and I have enjoyed getting to know her. She wants that land to be used as a park for the people of Dawson County. She wants a place for walking and bicycling and appreciating nature. The land has pastures and good hard wood trees and she wants it kept like that. I took her and a couple of the Commissioners over to see the Talking Rock Nature Park over in Pickens County to see if Anne liked what she saw there so maybe we could have something like it. That park was developed by the Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land run by Bill Jones. It has a walking and biking trail of about 10 miles that winds around rural land. The trail was laid out and cut by Ken Nix who is “the best” of trail builders. The trail is natural and unpaved. I hope that we can get them to do the trail building for Anne’s Park. They have the pro skills to do it right. Their parks are low cost to build and to maintain. The Talking Rock park is a quiet place. No big lights. Just one porta potty and a small gravel parking lot that usually has about 5 or 6 cars there. Anne liked what she saw and she walked a couple of miles to see for herself. It is my hope that the Commission will undertake the building of a park here along the lines of the Talking Rock Park and I encourage the public to support the commission in those efforts. Get your walking shoes out and ready and your mountain bike tires aired up. Maybe in the next couple of years Anne’s Place will be opened for your enjoyment of the great outdoors. Gary Pichon Marble Hill RSV affecting young people, older adults By Dr. Larry Anderson Anderson Family Medicine Now is the time to get serious about the RSV virus. It is affecting our young people and running rampant in the schools. It is also affecting older adults. When you talk about young people and older adults, you are often talking about children and grandpar ents. People of parents’ age don’t seem to get this particular virus. If you are sick, or if your children are sick, stay home. If in doubt, stay home. Don’t take chances. COVID-19 precautions also prevail here: wash your hands, use hand sanitizer, and don’t be afraid to use a mask. Thanks for reading. Letter policy Letters should be limited to 350 words and may be edited or condensed.The same writer or group may only submit one letter per month for consideration. Letters must be submitted by noon Friday for midweek publication. We do not publish poetry or blanket letters and generally do not publish letters concerning consumer complaints. Unsigned or incorrectly identified let ters will be withheld. Mail letters to the Dawson County News, P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534, hand deliv er to 30 Shoal Creek Road or email to editor@dawsonnews.com.
