RESPONSE - SHETTERLY
G Scott Aikens (aikens@Free-Net.Mpls-StPaul.MN.US)
Mon, 24 Oct 1994 11:58:41 -0600
There's no breakdown in the moral life of our communities. I've lived in a
working-class neighborhood of Minneapolis for thirteen years now, and I've
seen the economic situation get steadily worse. My neighbors continue to
hold our traditional values of respecting each other's differences and
helping each other in times of need.
The breakdown is in the moral principles of our political leaders. While
our governor tells us the state must make sacrifices in what it provides,
he enjoys a salary of $109,000 per year, making him one of the highest paid
governors in the nation. While he guts our public education system, he
throws open the floodgates of government spending to build new prisons,
even though the only reason our current prisons are overloaded is because
we're locking up so many nonviolent drug offenders. While our governor
benefits from the finest health care system in the world, many Minnesotans
are forced to do without.
Our government should reflect our traditional values of self-reliance,
tolerance, and charity. Instead, tax-and-spend politicians, both Republican
and Democrat, throw away millions of dollars a year on consensual crimes.
The only effect is to increase the profit margin for criminals. Hemp is
already one of Minnesota's largest cash crops; by legalizing, taxing, and
regulating it just as we do alcohol and tobacco, the state could make money
to apply to our social needs. Industrial uses of hemp (for paper, cloth,
fuel, and food) have the potential to create a billion dollar industry
here, but our drug laws prevent Minnesota's farmers and business people
from exploiting this opportunity.
We have a governor who prides himself on saying "No!" to progress. That's
not a part of the Minnesotan values that I know and love. We need a
governor who will say "Yes!" to giving Minnesotans the best public
education and health care in the world, to finding alternatives to our
dependence on nuclear and fossil fuels, and to improving our public
transportation. We need a governor who will devote less attention to
wealthy Minnesotans and more attention to the average citizens, those who
work and those who want to work. We need a governor who lives up to our
ideals, who respects every Minnesotan's right to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. When we have politicians who share the concerns of
the people, no one will wonder what has happened to the people's values.
Will Shetterly
Grassroots Party candidate for Governor
POBox 7253, Minneapolis, MN 55407