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Letters to the editor for Sunday, Dec. 7

December 7, 2008 at 2:23PM

BAILING OUT DETROIT

Automakers being held to a double standard

I don't have much sympathy for the out-of-touch management of the Big Three automakers from Detroit, but why didn't Congress interrogate Wall Street CEOs just as aggressively and ask for their detailed plans before writing their big bailout checks?

Congress needs to be consistent in handing out these bailout checks! Never in history has so much money been given by the taxpayers to companies with so little justification other than the fear factor with which we have been bombarded by our leaders and representatives. And all of this is being done with borrowed money!

ROBERT HUNTER, MINNETONKA

BUILD UP THE OIL RESERVE

With prices low, the time is perfect

With the oil price now well below $50 per barrel, it is time for the U.S. government to gradually purchase oil -- a little each week -- and eventually triple the total capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

This is a great hedge against potential disruptions of supply in a volatile worldwide economy. It also is an excellent hedge against potential political instabilities that could occur around the world. This can and should be done quietly, without disturbing the dynamics of the marketplace.

BILL PETER, EDINA

'OUR HUNGRY PLANET'

The real issue is the growing population

The "Our hungry planet" series the Star Tribune launched on Nov. 30 failed to specify the proximate source of the problem: Too many people! Without this specification, you're wasting your time and ours as well.

A good place to start would be by defining the concept of carrying capacity. This is the number of people a given area can sustain for the long haul without ongoing environmental devastation. For the United States, that number is about 150 million. But we recently hit a population of twice that number.

And for "Our hungry planet," the number is about 2.5 billion. Currently global population is rapidly approaching three times that number!

Believe it or not, there are humane, common-sense measures that address this monumental problem. That is where you should be placing your focus.

RAY WARNER, EDINA

SEIZE YOUR POTENTIAL

High school students need better priorities

I have always been instructed to aim toward the sky and to hold the loftiest aspirations. I was taught early on that education was essential to success and that it must be prioritized above any other triviality. With this instilled in me, I rigorously pursue academics and seek stimulating intellectual activity, regardless of the sentiment of my comrades. I see school as an opportunity to open one's mind and seize its potential.

I am a student at Eden Prairie High School, and I am involved in the Gifted and Talented Program. Some of my peers have skewed interpretations of their duties and responsibilities as scholars, the purpose of school, and the consequences of an early intellectual ineptitude in society today. I have noticed among some students that the popularity of "being smart" is dwindling, while wallowing in silliness is rewarded with praise. I have seen that academic challenge is vanishing, but teenage frivolity is flourishing. It seems as though one's social standing carries more significance than one's grade-point average; that the party on Friday night contains more value than the examination on Monday morning.

I hope that we will soon correct this problem. Proper education should always reign supreme, because there are no majors in Partying or Ph.D.s in MTV. Students are obligated to aim toward high objects and to wisely use the four years we are allotted here. Intellectual lethargy among high school students must be exterminated. Remember, fun is tolerable, but prioritization is essential.

BRANDON HILL, EDEN PRAIRIE;

SOPHOMORE, EDEN PRAIRIE HIGH SCHOOL

THE 'RE-MENDING'

In tough times, we're often at our best

The New York Times has published its "10 Best Books of 2008."

The nonfiction selections:

1."The Dark Side."

2."The Forever War."

3."Nothing to Be Frightened Of."

4."This Republic of Suffering."

5."The World Is What It Is"

Welcome to 2008.

If Joan Didion thought 2005 was "The Year Of Magical Thinking," I wonder what her book title would be for 2008. I wouldn't have optimistic aspirations for it.

These are dark times, to be sure, but I don't think it merits slipping into an unproductive kind of pervasive pessimism. 2008 has still been a monumental year -- Obama's election, the Beijing Olympics, the Phillies' victory -- and we shouldn't allow our triumphs to be eclipsed by our worries. I don't see it so much as the unraveling as the re-mending of society.

The other day I was reading an article about how the Upper East Side community has been shaken by this financial crisis, and the part that struck me was when the author pointed to times like these that really help to bring people together. Neighbors who were formerly occupied on extravagant jet-setting vacations are now staying closer to home, and consequently, closer to their neighbors.

People are choosing to dine in more frequently, and spending more time with their families. This is the time for re-conquests -- the kitchen, the library, the bedroom. To pick up on everything you haven't made time for in the past euphoric years.

It's the time for Wall Street bankers to reshape the future of finance. It's the time for college presidents to revisit academic priorities. It's the time for presidents to reconsider national interests and foreign policy options.

So maybe this is how the book list ought to be read: "The World Is What It Is and There Is Nothing To Be Frightened Of in This Republic of Suffering -- The Forever War is with The Dark Side."

MARY MEI, ST. PAUL