Letters to the editor for Friday, Nov. 2, 2013

We’re just fine without federal government

Sen. Reid, you could have easily avoided a shutdown by agreeing to give all Americans the same respite from Obamacare that you have given to yourself, your donors, your staffers and other members of Congress. However, the shutdown may be beneficial.

Americans are finally beginning to see Washington, D.C. as the capital in the movie “The Hunger Games.” In that movie, the working people in the “districts” struggle for subsistence, while the capital elite live like Roman emperors! Just like D.C.! Americans are learning that while their incomes have dropped 6.6 percent since 2,000, the average in Washington, D.C. has risen by 23.3 percent! We are learning that federal government employees are paid twice that of the private sector. On top of that, Obamacare is making health care completely unaffordable, even for those lucky enough not to have lost their job or been cut to part-time because of it!

So, perhaps this “shutdown” was a good thing! We’re learning that we can get along just fine without the federal government! Maybe we should just shut the rest down ... permanently! That’s probably a little overstated, but not by much. My vote? Shut-er-down ... and go home to Searchlight. We’ll all be better off!

John Vettel

Carson City

Hurtful treatment can alter brain chemistry

Hurtful words and cruel teasing — as in bullying — can tremendously affect a person’s brain chemistry for the person(s) being treated unfairly. Watch the movie “What The Bleep Do We Know!?” with Marlee Matlin and see how a simple snowflake configuration can alter its appearance after a voice has turned from kind to mean. All of us need to be accountable for what we do and say. The question is, would you like to be treated like that?

We need to teach our kids to respect others and welcome differences in others as long as those differences are not harming anyone else. By demonstrating random acts of kindness and keeping the lines of communication open with your children, all of us can help prevent acts like last Monday’s shooting.

Ann Burke

Carson City