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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 31.2020 The Okefenokee and the weight of ‘me’ vs. we’ How much importance do you give to things that are not just yours, but ours? Some people seem to feel that any thing that is “ours” is worthless unless it can be made into “mine.” I put litter- ers 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 pri vate toll roads. Imagine 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 assets must be ren dered private, not public. And here’s why: anything enforced as a collective asset actually does cost someone a chance to make themselves fabulously rich. And when certain people feel denied a fortune due to public interest, they protest to kingdom come. They hire PR firms. They will pay politi cians to do their bidding. They will play the long game of public opinion shifting. And that has paid off righ teously for some. Think I’m wrong, then remember that the very notion of “collective good” has died as a princi ple 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 interests? If you are in the religion of me-first. then self ishness 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 recently 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 personally never lay eyes on those locales, they matter to me in principle. Because public lands are important to Amer ican society, not just me. They were preserved so I can see them if I choose. Public lands need to be preserved for future generations, too. The Okefenokee National Wild life Refuge probably doesn’t matter personally to most Georgians, but it should as a matter of principle. In Madison County, the health of the Broad River should matter to you By Zach Mitcham whether you float down it or not. It’s “ours,” which means partially yours. You can enjoy its beauty if you choose, but maintaining its beauty and integrity is our shared responsibility. The Okefenokee is 438,000 acres, of which about 402,000 acres are pro tected in the National Wildlife Ref uge, 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. Marys rivers. The refuge is home to abundant plant and animal life and a source of consider able tourism. The words “regulation” and “dereg ulation” 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 recognize 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 regulations. 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 deregulation in these past few years. Mining at the Okefeno kee is not a done deal, but it’s distinctly possible at the moment if state permits are received. Twin Pines Minerals, an Alabama company which is controlled by Raymon Bean and Steve Ingle, who also control 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 environmental oversight of the mining proposal. Of course, anyone here in this coun ty recognizes GRP. The company burned creosote-treated railroad ties at its Colbert biomass facility until the state government put a halt to the practice alter protests from neighbors about the harmful health effects 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 pro posed 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 environ ment. 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 resolve 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 Okefe nokee has been opened, but it’s not a done deal. And there is a coalition of over 40 national, state and local con servation groups and businesses called the Okefenokee Protection Alliance (OPA) that is fighting this proposal. 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 deregulation. And yes. there are indeed examples of absurd over-regulation in other facets of life. As I said, we need sensible rules. The potential degradation of the Okefenokee 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 demand as much. Right? This is especially true these days as profit grabbing at the expense of the collec tive good is such a lucrative political 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 bal ance. And in my eyes, we’re too heavy on the “me” these days. It takes effort and sincere care to be engaged togeth er 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. He can be reached at zach@mainstreetnews. com. ‘Unprecedented’ times with the New Neighbors Network Dear Editor: The word of the year seems to be “unprec edented” and that has certainly been true with New Neighbors Network. Whether it was navigating the Department of Labor’s complex, confusing and contradictory information when filing for unemploy ment claims or helping a family whose loved one was in the hospital with out a familiar person or language, the coronavirus impacted all of us. Tragically, it took the life of one of our refugee neighbors, Sar Du Kai. I helped him become a U.S. citizen and his oath cere mony was in Nov 2019. In May. Sar left his job at a poultry plant and drove himself to the hospital because he did not feel well. He was on a ventila tor and died a week later. We were all shocked at how this could happen to a young, strong man who was so quick with a smile. Sar Du Kai was cremated and his ashes flown to NY where an aunt, his only relative in the US. lives. What a sad ending to his life and to the 300,000- plus who have also died from this disease. A happier “unprecedent ed” event was the Novem ber elections where Karen and Karenni — new U.S. citizens — voted for the first ever time in their lives. Since they were unfamil iar with the process, much time and effort went into helping each person reg ister to vote, apply for an absentee ballot, and fill out the ballot correctly. I helped over 70 people and guidance was needed each step of the way. For example, Me: You need to put two stamps on the ballot so it will get to the right place. New voter: They sent me an apple stamp so I will put that on the envelope. Me: An apple stamp? Let me see that. It turned out to be the peach sticker that says “I’m A Georgia Voter!” Can you see what an easy mistake that would have been? As we prepare for the Senate runoff in January, I was able to hire two people (one Karen and one Karenni) to assist their people, once again, through the voting pro cess. It feels good to have trained two women in the last election and now see them do this important work themselves. Empow erment, yes! Projects like this are pos sible when donations are made to New Neighbors Network, which focuses on helping refugees thrive in rural Georgia. If you are able to donate. I ask for financial support only once a year and promise to use your money wise ly. Donations provide ser vices to and opportunities for our refugee neighbors. I will also send you a thank you note and a letter for the IRS. Donations can be sent to New Neighbors Network at 2043 Madison Street, Comer, GA 30629. Email us at newneighbors- network @ gmail .com. Want to treat yourself to something special this Christmas? Listen to Mary Chapin Carpenter sing Come Darkness, Come Light (on Youtube). Come darkness, come light. Come new star shin ning bright Come love to this world. Alleluia. Come broken, come whole Come wounded in your soul Come any way that you know, Alleluia. May the unprecedented birth of Christ live deep within you. Sincerely, Jennifer Drago Comer From the publisher mike@ mainstreet news.com Mike Buffington 2020, aberration or the new normal? As we enter 2021, we are a nation tom apart. Our economy is uneven amid the Coronavirus with some places doing 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 sledgeham mer, 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 dam aged. The elections of 2020 have splintered the nation, giv ing 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, believe 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 minor thing, think again. Some people are calling for violence 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 conspired to rig the elections (the election was not rigged.) • A lawyer with President Trump’s campaign said that former U.S. cybersecurity official Christoperh Krebs should be “shot” for having rejected claims that the election was stolen from Trump. • In early December, armed protestors congregated outside the home of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and demanded that she overturn the results 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 Advisor Michael Flynn, who went to prison for 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 election do-over at the point of a bayonet. 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 Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River and started a Roman Civil War after which Ceaser became dictator. • Closer to home, Georgia officials 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. ••• All of which begs the question, has America become a banana republic? 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 tradition of holding a peaceful transfer of power. We don’t resort to violence and intimidation. We don't threaten to kill people because the election doesn’t go our way. — See “Buffington” on 5A The Madison County Journal (Merged with The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News, January 2006) Phone: 706-367-5233 E-mail: zach@mainstreetnews.com ZACH MITCHAM, Editor MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher FRANK GILLISPIE (deceased), Founder of The Journal. Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $45/year POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. - The Official Legal Organ of Madison County, Georgia - Periodicals postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633 (USPS 011-097; ISSN 1074987X)