Letters to the Editor: I don't want an electric vehicle

I don't want an electric vehicle

Everyday I read The Free Press I am irritated by the idea of all the money time and effort put forth by our governments and auto manufacturers in the development of electric vehicles. I don't want one. It will change the way Americans move from place to place, and it appears it will be far more expensive than gas combustion engines. My electric bill has more than doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic. What will it be when millions of people are plugged in? Try driving great distances for vacation, as many in Michigan do. Add on two to three days for your Florida trip, not the 18to 20 hours it takes to get there now. I smell a rat between manufacturers and our politicians.

Larry CroninTroy

Wear orange for Gun Violence Awareness month

As of May 18, our country marked its 236th mass shooting of 2023. Three of those shootings were in Michigan.  The daily horror, long-term impact, grief and devastation of the Oxford High School shooting still reverberates in our community.   This year, the United States has averaged more than one mass shooting per day, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The growing list of tragedies underscores a troubling trend in the U.S. —firearms are the leading cause of death in children between ages 1 and 19, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation data.

As a member of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Community’s Peace and Justice Committee, we are committed to educating, facilitating and advocating for common-sense gun safety. Over 350 of our parishioners signed letters addressed to Michigan legislators in support of this approach.

We urge your readers to join us in supporting Gun Violence Awareness Month in June by wearing orange, speaking out about common-sense gun safety and contacting their local legislators. Together, our voices can generate the necessary changes that will help everyone feel safe again.

Susan Hiltz CarrollOxford

Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters

James Earl Jones never shied away from sharing his story

Your article "Michigan community raising funds for statue honoring James Earl Jones and his teacher" (Detroit Free Press, May 17) was right on target about how the actor overcame his severe stuttering. You did a service by publishing this article, and emphasizing the role that his teacher Donald Crouch had in helping him embrace acting and work to overcome his stuttering. Jones is a role model for all people who stutter, and especially people of color who stutter.

James Earl Jones is a past spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation and is one of the most prominent names on their list of "Famous People Who Stutter" on their website. James Earl Jones has never hid his struggles with his stutter because he knows his compelling history can help others.

Juan FernandezBronx, New York

Hey, Second Amendment conservatives: get over it

When discussions regarding the Second Amendment pop up, it sure seems that conservatives invoke the words "freedom" and "liberty" an awful lot. As if these words should only be used to describe an unfettered right for anyone to have and stockpile all the guns they want. I feel sorry for you if you feel this is what freedom is all about. In response to a letter from a writer in Grand Blanc in last week’s paper, I have this to say regarding the Second Amendment: Give it a rest.

Most of us normal people would like to enjoy the freedom to go about our day without the fear of getting shot. We want to send our kids to school, go to the shopping mall or grocery store without getting gunned down in a hail of bullets. We would like to feel safe attending our places of worship or go to a night club or attend a college campus without getting mutilated by an AR-15.

For those of us who served in the military and swore an oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution, these were the simple liberties that we were fighting to preserve. The safety and wellbeing of our fellow countrymen and women and those we love. We knew who the enemy was, they were far away, and they were not here on the home front.

The mission was to bring the fight to them somewhere over the horizon, so we wouldn’t have to fight here on our own soil. We were not led by self-serving politicians to believe the enemy were members of the opposing political party, or by white nationalists to believe the enemies were fellow citizens who happen to have different color skin or worship in a different manner than we did. We were not whipped up in a state of paranoia by the NRA to believe the enemies were all around us here at home.

Strict constitutionalists want to keep the words of the Founding Fathers intact, while allowing guns to become more and more lethal. This doesn’t make sense. I’m quite certain that the writers of the Constitution intended that we would be guided by rational-thinking people who would at least shape policies that would maintain parity with advances in weapons technology. Although guns have been with us since the colonial era, we have always set limits on what weapons were available to the civilian public.

The Second Amendment was written during a time when we were under the boot of British rule. Colonists were called to arms at a moment’s notice and mustered at an armory where the guns were kept. The writers of the Second Amendment would have you know that the well-regulated militia is plainly the Minutemen who were called to duty from civilian life. Today we call them the National Guard, and they are in every state of the country. Any deviation from this is a misinterpretation of the true intent of what the Second Amendment is all about. When it comes to the safety of all of us who want to live in a civil and safe society, your freedom ends where mine begins.

Eddie DeeNovi

Biden should debate Marianne Williamson, RFK Jr.

Did you know that author Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr have both filed with the Federal Election Commission to seek the 2024 Democratic Party nomination for president versus Joe Biden? Did you also know that the Democratic National Committee is refusing to allow for primary debates, and is actively attempting to keep these two viable candidates from appearing on state caucus & primary ballots next year?

The more you know, our side isn't perfect. We can't pretend to be the party of democracy and fair elections when we are not allowing for it to happen internally. Open up the primaries, and make Joe debate.

Jason R. GattiesDowagiac, Mich.

Social and emotional learning isn't 'woke,' it's normal behavior

People use social and emotional learning (SEL) to teach social and emotional skills every day. Parents, for example, teach their children to be nice to each other, to be kind to their pets, to never give up, to respect their elders and to accept responsibility for their actions. Also, parents teach empathy when they “say how would you feel if that happened to you.”

American citizens use SEL when they model civility, use peaceful means (i.e., Bill of Rights) to change something they consider morally wrong (i.e., duty; Declaration of Independence); and, vote for policy that promotes health and economic fairness, (i.e., general welfare) as espoused in the Constitution. When people of God act in a loving, caring manner for all creatures created by God, they are living social and emotional skills. When cadets at West Point say the school prayer “choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never be content with a half truth when the whole truth can be won” they are learning good decision-making skills. Employers use SEL by preparing their employees to be good team members. Educators use SEL to create caring classrooms that encourage learning and achievement, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to encourage students to accept personal responsibility for their learning and behavior.

We all use SEL skills every day and this is what makes our country great.

Denise "Chip" BlackBrighton

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Letters to the Editor: I don't want an electric vehicle