Denis Grossen
Sartell
The Oct. 6 column by Janagan Ramanathan’s describing presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s policy positions as un-American is laughable not to say insulting coming from someone with little real-life experience and no outstanding life achievements to show for.
The basic American values are “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness:” the primacy of individual rights for citizens over collectivism for residents, praises for hard work and rewards for success over equality of outcome, not to mention the rule of law to ensure safety, the protection of private property and secure borders.
Within the limits set for my response, I can only address two points: human flourishing and border.
Between climate alarmists and climate deniers, there are reasonable solutions to ensure continuous human flourishing versus a forced return to the cave age: fossil fuels will play a significant role alongside viable, affordable and abundant alternatives for the foreseeable future. Energy consumption will increase steadily as we improve human life expectancy and quality around the world. The challenge is to provide this energy as efficiently as possible.
Switching electric power generation from coal to natural gas and nuclear for baseload requirements is the only feasible solution currently available to reduce CO2 emissions. We have no realistic plans for storing wind and solar energy captured randomly but required for peak demand. It’s estimated to rely on wind and solar, we would need three times the generating power necessary to cover total demand. This is a staggering figure when considering all the materials (minerals to be mined, composite derivatives from fossil fuel and more) used to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines.
Without secured borders, no nation can exist or survive. Legal immigration is beneficial but strict application of existing laws is essential to enforce a fair and manageable system. Our democracy is based on three fundamental principles: the body of the state is defined by fixed borders within which citizens only are allowed to vote by guaranteed secret ballot. When borders are overwhelmed by an invasion of lawless people incited by criminal organizations, the very existence of our rule-based democracy is at stake.