Skip to footer

Readers Write: Strengthen families to curb gun violence; less government, better economy

Letters to the Editor for the February 25, 2013 weekly print issue: Until America strengthens its families society will continue to struggle with selfishness and violence; Government is not a multiplier. It is a subtracter. A government can print money, but it cannot produce wealth.

| Sun City West, Ariz. and Carmel, Calif.

Strengthen families to curb violence

Regarding The Monitor's View of Jan. 28, "Obama gun plan: one blank": I was heartened to see an editorial that was insightful and unafraid to express what I think is the most important action suggested to address gun violence – in-depth research on its causes and prevention.

To place too much emphasis on the relationship between violence and the media is a simplistic answer to a very complex problem – a problem that is ultimately brought about by the deterioration of the basic unit of society, the family. The family unit has been manipulated and distorted over the past 50 years to the extent that it is barely recognizable, and the results are obvious.

Research shows that it is through a loving and supportive family life that parents and children learn discipline, responsibility, compassion, and a sense of fulfillment, and thus become a positive influence on one another and society as a whole. But for too many, marriage has become "irrelevant" and children "a complication."

Until America strengthens its families through respect for traditional marriage and freedom of religion, and takes personal responsibility for not only ourselves but others, our society will continue to struggle with selfishness and ultimately fail as a culture that has much to offer its own citizens and the citizens of the world.

F. Camille Erickson

Sun City West, Ariz.

Less government for a better economy

The Jan. 28 Focus article "So where are we now?" asks why the US economy is lagging. A few of us may answer: The economy lags when government takes money from the pockets of those who work for a living – money that consumers cannot spend as they see fit. Government is not a multiplier; it is a subtracter. A government can print money, but it cannot produce wealth.

This government has, to an unnecessary degree, inserted itself between the consumer and the producer, leading to a middleman that makes costly decisions that should be made by consumers.

Less government is the answer.

Roland Martin

Carmel, Calif.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Readers Write: Strengthen families to curb gun violence; less government, better economy
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2013/0226/Readers-Write-Strengthen-families-to-curb-gun-violence-less-government-better-economy
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe