Readers Write (Aug. 21): Metro-area development, minimum wage, health care, presidential politics at the Carver County fair, Minnesota Orchestra coverage

East-metro officials quoted in the Aug. 14 article on economic development ("East metro frets as jobs move west") see it as a zero-sum game. Some look for ways to start "fighting" with neighbors to the west over a fixed set of jobs and people. Others wring their hands over being slighted and overlooked, with groups like East Metro Strong stirring the pot to create regional rivalry.

Compare this with the successful strategy adopted by Minneapolis, Bloomington and western neighbors. We see the metro area in an international competition for talent, and we benchmark our success against cities nationally and internationally.

Some examples: Minneapolis made key investments, starting 30 years ago, converting the riverfront from industrial to residential and recreational uses downtown. Bloomington used the Met Stadium/Center parcel to bootstrap its 40-year vision for the South Loop area with the Mall of America development. Edina converted a gravel pit into the Centennial Lakes park, and is now extending that successful model northward to help Southdale adapt to the future. In St. Paul, downtown amenities have created a desirable place for people to live, and the market is responding by converting underutilized commercial space into housing. A similar revitalization process is just starting with the reuse of the Ford parcel.

There's also been a sea change in cooperation between the west-metro governments — just compare the Minneapolis/Bloomington relationship of the 1980s to that of today, or the collaboration between the Chambers of Commerce on the west side.

It's said that you should skate where the puck is going. A good way to do that in the east metro would be to focus more on becoming competitive at a national level, and less on envious comparisons with its neighbors to the west. The region as a whole would benefit.

The writer served for 14 years on the Bloomington City Council.

In an Aug. 14 column, D.J. Tice discussed early studies of the economic impact of minimum-wage increases in Washington state on low-wage workers ("Gains, losses cancel out from Seattle's minimum-wage hike). While such observations are interesting and worthwhile, we also need to have a public discussion about the fact that when employers pay their workers poverty-generating wages, such employers are not only undermining the consumer economy, but are also aiding and abetting in the violation of internationally recognized human rights of their impoverished workers under one or more of Articles 4, 23, 24 and/or 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Paul John Scott's Aug. 14 article about his health care adventures ("Couldn't go with that flow") raised a number of good points. First, medical bills are the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., and even having insurance does not preclude that bankruptcy. Second, the inability to get any idea of what a particular procedure will cost is not a bug in the system, it is an important feature — it is one of the ways that allows the health care system to gouge us. Third, even if you could get a quote, it wouldn't matter, since providers can charge different people different amounts for the same procedure depending upon their insurance or lack thereof. In what other business in this country is that allowed?

These are all symptoms of a very sick, corrupt business model that an enlightened citizenry might not put up with. The private health insurance industry is certainly partly to blame for this, but it goes much deeper than that. We all need to ask: Why do we pay so much for such a critical item as health care? It's a question that needs an answer soon before the entire country goes bankrupt.

Hillary Clinton is "fascist, socialist and communist," according to one of the attendees at the Carver County Fair ("GOP stronghold shows cracks," Aug. 14). What? Where do people get this stuff?

Merriam-Webster defines fascism as a "political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition."

That definition sounds more like Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton. Apparently, some of that smelly stuff in the cow barn at the Carver County Fair found its way into the opinions of the interviewee.

To the Trump supporter quoted in the Aug. 14 article who apparently doesn't know the difference between socialism, fascism and communism, get thee to a library. While there, you may encounter recent immigrants, job-seekers and others who are coping with our rapidly changing world positively, by educating themselves. Rather than taking your candidate's route of blaming everyone else for problems, look inward and read a little history, civics and, even better, some fiction to better understand your government, other cultures, and the amazing opportunities in America for those willing to improve themselves and participate in every level of democracy. Make America smart again.

At what point did the writers and editors at the Star Tribune decide it was OK to mock a foreign accent in print? In the Aug. 14 article "Minnesota Orchestra caps comeback with European tour," the newspaper printed the sentence "The budget has stabilized through aggressive and imaginative fundraising, the musicians have been 'verking hard' under Vanska and attendance has started to creep up." Really? We're going to mock someone who is speaking his second or third language — in print? (Not to mention that the "w" in his native language is pronounced with a "v.") One of the most phenomenal artists in our community? If there was some sense in the article that we were embracing our Ole-and-Lena heritage, or poking fun of the Nordic strength of our Minnesota heritage, perhaps there might be some way to understand how and why such a quote might be included. As is, it stands out as pointless, demeaning and unnecessary. Are we to look forward to additional characterizations of other ethnicities that make the Twin Cities such a wealth of culture? Really bad form, Strib, bad form.