Letters for Aug. 25, 2023

Trifecta of postal issues

As an 81-year-old person, I have experienced the perfect trifecta: Allow me to elaborate.

One: While traveling, my mail was forwarded to a different address. No mail ever delivered.

Two: While I was traveling, a snowstorm resulted in my mailbox being destroyed by the county snowplow.

When the forwarding ended, the mail was held at the post office. When I arrived at the post office to claim my mail, I was informed none existed.

A call to the postal supervisor resulted in a discovery of a box with my mail, all of which could be characterized as “junk mail,” no missing meds, no bills, no tax forms or year-end statements. Nada!

Three: Today, I received a notice my property tax was delinquent and a large fine was assessed. A call to the treasurer assured me that the late fee could not be taken away. No exceptions.

Let me add to this the fact that over the past year, my mail has been stolen, my box broken open, letters and parcels taken and larger boxes taken before I could retrieve them.

As I say, the perfect trifecta!

Robert Dygert-Gearheart

Spokane

World Series of whataboutism

As the MAGA World Series of Whataboutism begins, I admit absolute disinterest. Rules are too easy: deflect. At all bases. It’s a suffocating game played in a hermetically sealed dome. The oxygen quickly exhausts.

Whataboutism was popularized through Soviet-era propaganda, but true to American style, we took it as our own, made it a favorite on-screen pastime. TV personalities and influencers on some channels coach by demonstration 24/7.

Whataboutism is a hypocrite’s mantra. Soviets pointed to the U.S.’s historical treatment of marginalized people to squash whatever superiority we held out as a democratic advantage over their oppressive communist system.

Whataboutism is also the narcissist’s favorite defense. Except it’s not. Not really. The U.S. judicial system is still evidence-based. It’s hard to hear, but lack of sufficient evidence could be why someone’s favorite criminal hasn’t seen the inside of the courtroom. Or jail cell.

Whataboutism kills the ability discuss anything. It’s a variant of the tu-quoque logical fallacy though it often stinks of red herring to me.

Whataboutism demonstrates the inability to think through issues. It leaves us less informed and limits our ability to understand anything, thus it makes us less intelligent.

What to do about whataboutism? Keep a healthy check on it for starters. Consideration of one subject does not negate a concern or interest in a different topic. Commit to seeking the truth and demand judicial-grade evidence. One subject at a time.

Janet Marugg

Clarkston, Washington

Affordable housing solutions

The largest expense in housing is the land. Please take a look at the Moscow, Idaho, program where the state buys the land and the architectural students design small starter homes, and then the industrial arts students and or local high school build the houses. They must go to poor or first-time buyers, and when they sell, they must sell to the same qualified low-income buyers. The state always owns the land, but it is a good door to open for low-income families.

1. Please move the land that was taken (Imminent Domain) on the I-90 corridor for the North Spokane Corridor and transfer it to the state DSHS for low-income housing (owner-occupied only). The first recipients should be the homeowners who lost their homes to government overreach.

2. Work with Habitat for Humanity and other relief organizations to infill housing on existing lots, especially near transit centers. Small houses with small yards means less yardwork for busy families.

3. Build only two and three-bedroom starter homes, 700 square feet for two bedroom, 1400 square feet for three bedroom, two bath. Infilling needs to pass the OOO test: Owner Occupied Only. Duplexes, townhouses, condos, quads are great, but each section needs to be individually purchased and financed with exception of family trusts.

Do not allow permits for houses larger than this until the homeless and housing crisis is solved.

No more unaffordable apartments that impoverish the poor and enrich the out-of-state developers.

Marsha Jones

Spokane Valley