Although throughout most of my life I have been an inveterate writer of letters to the editor, I rarely write such missives anymore, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. However, I do read editorial letters daily, and often like to acknowledge the keen insights contained therein.
What follows are some of those insights:
Three people I know in Toronto just cancelled their trips to Cuba. The reason they were given was a “shortage of fuel.” One of them said, almost casually, “It’s too bad my parents can’t go because of the fuel situation, while another one said, “Oh well, these things happen.”
The problem is not just a shortage of fuel. There is political strangulation that produces a fuel shortage. There are people making decisions that destroy livelihoods .
Cuba is being economically suffocated, and the people paying the price are not governments, but ordinary human beings: taxi drivers, hotel workers, musicians, café owners, guides, families who make their livings from tourism and human connection.
We are watching collective punishment.
It feels like we’re all in a school with a bully. Everyone knows who he is. Everyone knows what he’s doing. The rules exist. The charters exist. The teachers exist. And yet nothing happens. Not because no one sees it. But because everyone is afraid.
The bully is rich. He controls resources. He retaliates. He ignores norms. So the institution adapts. It stops enforcing rules and starts managing damage. Leadership becomes appeasement. Silence becomes strategy. This is how systems rot.
We are told to be calm. To be civil. To avoid anger. But there is something deeply corrupt about a world that demands politeness in the face of organized cruelty. Anger is not the problem. Moral numbness is.
Mary Y. Mouammar, Richmond Hill
Do Republicans even know why they hate Canada?
It is absolutely amazing how much U.S. President Donald Trump hates Canada. He is surrounded by a large group of sycophants who seem to hate everyone, with Canada at the top of the list. The problem is they react to things they do not understand, and they do not seem to look at facts. The Gordie Howe International Bridge is the subject of the latest stupidity. Canada paid for the bridge with Michigan’s co-operation and help in building it. That an American and a Canadian construction worker shook hands when both sides met in the middle says it all, but the White House has no clue.
Jack Hughes, Welland, ON
Tired of the insults, I’m no longer buying U.S. goods
As a senior living in southern Ontario, I have for years enjoyed the purchasing options of many U.S. branded products and services. I’ve purchased automobiles, major appliances, clothing, footwear, computers and a wide range of American brands of food, home use cleaning chemicals, personal care items, lawn equipment and tools. I have also enjoyed multiple American-owned restaurant experiences. I’ve travelled south of the border and bought U.S. entertainment over the decades.
Now I find myself frustrated and tired of the ongoing insults from the current U.S. president claiming lack of respect and unfair treatment to America from Canada.
Now it’s time for me to move away from American products and focus on domestic products and those manufactured outside the U.S. — in countries that value, appreciate and respect loyal customers.
Barry Brigham, London, ON
We could do more for Cuba
I agree with the letter-writer who said she was happy to see that Mexico is offering some humanitarian aid to Cuba.
I would like to see Canada doing likewise. Is there any way that we can help Cuba with green energy? They have a great source of energy in sunlight, wind, and the ocean to produce power on the island.
It puzzles me that the world stands by while a deranged president bullies the world into listening to his demands.
It breaks my heart that we are not doing more to help.
What has happened to Venezuela is unconscionable.
The Cubans are wonderful people and their island country is a good place to visit for those of us who love the sun, especially in the winter.
Lillian Shery, Toronto
While our government may have to be circumspect as it creeps around the mad king, it is clear that regular Canadians cannot and will not be silenced.
