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Readers write: Populist voters, school funding

Letters to the editor for the Feb. 6, 2017 weekly magazine.

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Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi gestures during a ceremony at the Chigi Palace in Rome, Italy, on Dec. 12, 2016.
  • By Pete Seeley Monitor reader
  • Elizabeth Stevens Monitor reader

Populist voters

Regarding the Dec. 19 Focus article, “The far reach of the ‘Trump effect’ ”: This article includes points that deserve greater attention. First, those who vote for populist candidates deserve a respectful dialogue. Explaining how much trade lowers living costs would be more helpful than dismissing voters as “deplorables.” 

Next, let’s address legitimate concerns. Helping those left behind by globalization might spread the benefits more evenly. Enforcing and reforming immigration laws could prevent resentment from causing human tragedies and policies that crimp longer-term economic development. 

Finally, giving voters better alternatives may lead to different results. 

The overwhelmingly rejected Italian constitutional “reform” would have eviscerated the upper house and given 54 percent of seats in the lower house to whichever party secured a plurality, thus giving commanding power to the prime minister. Italians may not want to open the way for another Mussolini!

Many US voters viewed the Democratic presidential candidate as deeply flawed; a different candidate might have elicited a different outcome. A brighter future requires respectful discussion, thoughtful policies, and better electoral alternatives.

Pete Seeley

Chincoteague, Va.

School funding

Thank you for the Dec. 19 Briefing, “A primer on ‘school choice.’ ” It is very true that some oppose vouchers because the public schools already need more funding than they can get, with the only question being whether that money should come from state and local sources or the federal government. But there are more concerns about vouchers for private schools. 

Having seen how federal funding, namely federal grants and loans to higher education, works, I can assure you that the day will come when the source of funding, however small a portion it is, will want to control the operation. If I had any authority in a private school, I would run and hide from federal vouchers. If that money must be spent, spend it on helping public schools meet all the challenges they deal with every day. 

Don’t forget the golden rule: Whoever has the gold makes the rules.

Elizabeth Stevens

Manhattan, Kan.

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