Letter to the Editor: Collective Paranoia

Have you ever felt as though the deck is stacked against you?

Not personal paranoia.

More collectively, in terms of economics and political agendas. That no matter what we do, how hard we try, all the ways that we actively participate in the process, “they” have the winning hand. Some things just don’t make sense: they’re not good for us, bad for our communities, and even worse on a national and global scale. So, who’s pulling the strings to make these bad things happen?

More importantly, how do we move beyond that debilitating sense of malaise, when we’ve tried (and tried), but nothing seems to fix the wrongs? We’re not being listened to and we’re not making a real difference for the better; instead, we’re being stepped on (or over) again and again and again.

People deal with this in different ways:  Some fight the good fight, giving it all that they’ve got. But when it’s not enough, they give up. Others close their eyes and/or clench their teeth, going about their daily lives and businesses as if they and such matters are of little consequence. Yet others get sick. Really sick! They internalize all the bad stuff and actually take ill because of it. Then, of course, there are the Pollyannas whose fiddle-dee-dees are sufficient enough to carry them through yesterdays and tomorrows, into yet another day.

I wish I knew the answer – the rules – so I could proactively and more productively play whatever sick “game” we’re experiencing. You know what I’m talking about, even if I’m not expressing it so precisely.
Because I really do want to feel positive and hopeful, again.

Maybe it means nothing to you, but the actions of our three Sturgeon Bay Alderwomen – Kelly Catarozoli, Laurel Hauser and Barbara Allmann – give me hope. In terms of the city’s granary, at least, the deck may be stacked against them. But they’re clever and creative, gaming the system by its own silly etiquette and more selfish rules.

Thanks, ladies.

We need more people like you representing us – we, the people who’ve been increasingly trampled on and taken advantage of – on the local, state and national levels!

Jesus said, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

Rev. Bruce H. Joffe, Ph.D.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.