Pay our workers what they’re worth
In his Aug. 31 commentary, Robert Reich is right when he says “rubbish” to the explanation of why our workers are no longer worth what they had been 40 years ago.
They are worth more.
Paying them what they are worth would create a stable, healthy economy that would enable us to overcome most of the other problems Reich mentioned.
James O.B. Wright, Sequatchie, Tenn.
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Hitler, Stalin, Trump: Autocrats
Contrary to what many Americans think, the First Amendment, not the Second Amendment, is the cornerstone of our democracy and the basis of the most fundamental liberties embodied in our Constitution – among others, freedom of speech and the press.
In 1736, Benjamin Franklin wrote in The Pennsylvania Gazette, “Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins.”
In 1799, James Madison explained in The Federalist Papers: “It would seem scarcely possible to doubt, that no power whatever over the press was supposed to be delegated by the Constitution and that the first amendment was intended as a positive and absolute reservation of it.”
In 2017, Donald Trump wrote on Twitter the news media “is the enemy of the American people.” Trump’s tweet echoes the sentiments of autocrats everywhere and throughout time and, in particular, those of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin.
By placing himself in the infamous company of such tyrants, Trump has demonstrated that the strategies of those who seek to minimize dissent are the same regardless of time and country.
Bill Alexander
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All can embrace spirit of sacrifice
Muslims around the world recently celebrated Eid al-Adha, the holy days in Islam celebrating the spirit of sacrifice. This holiday particularly commemorates the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make of his son, Ishmael. However, at the last minute, God commanded him to sacrifice a ram instead of Ishmael. To this day, Muslims sacrifice an animal to honor Abraham’s spirit of sacrifice, but it’s important to remember, “It is neither [the animal’s] meat nor [the animal’s] blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches him.” (Holy Quran 22:38)
Similarly, many people have the wrong impression that sacrifice in Islam means the notion of a violent jihad that certain extremist groups support. This is false.
In Islam, the true spirit of sacrifice is like that of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which, in collaboration with the charity Humanity First, has been distributing supplies, cooking food for the displaced, assisting in rescue efforts and volunteering at shelters after Hurricane Harvey.
Members, particularly the youth auxiliaries, have been sacrificing their time and money to help our fellow Americans. I hope all Americans, Muslims and non-Muslims, will embody this spirit.
Sultan Humayun Minhas, Tunnel Hill, Ga.
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Send Ducks to Texas to help relief efforts
Why not lead an effort for our community to donate funds to help cover the costs of sending the Chattanooga Ducks to Texas?
I’m sure Covenant Trucking would donate some trucks to get the Ducks there. Sen. Bob Corker would surely donate. Come on, Chattanooga.
Dave Yezzi, East Brainerd