It’s 2024, but the cultural climate feels like 1984, given book-banning, the reclassification of books and other methods of thought control nationwide.
The British author George Orwell in his novel “1984” depicted the denial of objective fact, through censorship and other methods, as key indicators of a totalitarian state.
His protagonist, the bureaucrat Winston Smith, spends his days manipulating archives, announcements and photographs to rid them of “unpersons” — people who have been erased from history by Big Brother, a dictatorial leader supported by an intense cult of personality manufactured by the party’s thought police.
It appears the thought police are active in Montgomery County, Texas, and other places.
Montgomery County, a suburban area near Houston, recently reclassified the book “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” as fiction (and later reversed itself amid public pressure). The book about the Wampanoag nation that encountered the Mayflower, the 17th century ship that brought English colonists to the New World, is not fiction.
Montgomery County appears to want to shunt aside the troubled history of Indigenous Americans and European colonists.
The erasure of historical fact, the repression of truth and the manipulation of thought portend a dark future for the U.S. if censorship impoverishes Americans, rendering them unable to wrestle with the unpleasant elements of American history.
Craig Barner, Lincoln Square
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Trump’s disturbing behaviors
Letter writer Bill Hartman of Barrington wrote about people questioning Donald Trump’s cognitive impairment, but funny, he doesn’t remember any letters being written about Joe Biden’s cognitive impairment, he said.
All we heard and read for months were articles questioning Job Biden’s competency, but the difference here is that when Joe Biden himself realized — a sign of competency — that he might not be up to the task of being president again, he stepped back for the good of the country. It’s a concept Trump is completely unfamiliar with.
As usual, it’s Trump putting himself, the narcissistic and arrogant megalomaniac, first. He has spoken of people eating pets in Ohio; he danced for 40 minutes at one of his rallies instead of taking questions; he has said children go to school, have surgery and return home that day as the opposite sex. Those are among a myriad of very strange and questionable behaviors.
At least Biden was cognizant enough to know not to run. Trump is unable to see his inadequacies. If my father or grandfather uttered even one of the ideas Trump has spouted, I’d be terribly disturbed. The only difference is, my father or grandfather isn’t running to be the leader of the most powerful country in the world.
Louise Bajorek, Burbank
No love for red-light cameras
A reader said that Chicago needs more red-light cameras, and I wholeheartedly disagree. In my opinion, fewer cameras are needed for some simple reasons. One, a lot of people cannot afford the fines. And rear-end collisions have greatly increased at intersections where they are at. Lastly, contesting a ticket is nearly impossible.
David Gordon, Northbrook
Dolton mayor pulls a Trump
I read with great interest that Dolton mayor Tiffany Henyard has decided to pull a Donald Trump by announcing that she wants to have her “enemies” arrested.
Steven Herr, West Ridge
Tackle West Side food insecurity
There is a serious problem with food insecurity on the West Side. This area needs grocery stores and fresh food options. There is an abundance of unhealthy fast-food restaurants everywhere you look.
I spend most of my time working there. As a Chicago police officer, I witness how the correlation between resources and crime intersects. Neighborhoods without resources, jobs, stores and reliable transportation deal with upticks of crime.
I remember reading an article last year, “Food Deserts Plague Chicago Neighborhoods. Could the City Run its Own Grocery Stores to Fill in the Gaps?” written by Mariah Rush and Michael Loria, that reported on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to open a city-owned grocery store at the same location as a previous Aldi that closed down.
I think this is a great idea. In fact, this location would be perfect for any grocery store because there is a building nearby with residents who do not have a local place to shop for fresh food or groceries.
While the community waits for the results of this idea to come to fruition, we can take an idea from the gentleman who was interviewed in that article. Maurice Richmond is a manager of a locally owned nonprofit fresh market.
Richmond uses his knowledge from working at Whole Foods to manage the store. He believes in providing food access, but says it is not easy. He believes in “providing low-cost, high-quality options for residents,” the reporters wrote.
Although a city-run grocery store is a great idea, there are still several questions that need to be answered before a project like this can move forward. For example, who will operate the store? The article outlines that there must be a commitment of at least 10 years for it to be successful, so who will continue to fund the store?
Finally, we must ensure that there is alignment in the community. We must take into consideration what the community needs. That is why some stores fail or close after two or three years. Look what happened to Whole Foods in Englewood. Whatever happens with the idea, the West Side of Chicago needs grocery stores!
Jacqueline Trabanino, Garfield Park
This post was originally published on here
