LETTERS: High or low?

To the editor:

Complex or simple, Mother Nature has purpose for all her creatures. Viruses are not new. In the 18th century Louis Pasteur announced to his colleagues “There is something submicroscopic that is causing diseases.” Pasteurization (boiling) eliminates germs but not viruses. With electron microscopes, researchers can now see them. What is new is a concentration of population in megacities. Add to this an overstaffed workforce and commercialized child care. (Every child has a natural right to good health.)

Consider: There are more women holding jobs than men. However, labor saving equipment, automation and robots have made an overstaffed workforce obsolete. Nature favors diversity. We men differ from women physically, our interests, and by tradition. When a species fails to progress, nature resorts to disease. Hunger and conflict. Darwin called it “Natural selection.” Our blended house of cards was swept away in a storm of viruses. In Pasteur’s time, women had a profound influence on their husbands. In their homes they also nurtured and shaped the lives of their children. Perhaps as mothers theirs was the greater influence on the course of events. Lincoln was born into poverty. He learned to read and write from a Bible with help and encouragement from his stepmother. He studied from borrowed law books to become a circuit lawyer in Illinois. He served in the legislature there, and also was elected president. A reporter quoted him as having said, “No one is poor who had a godly mother.”

I voted Republican in the previous election. Their platform approximated the need of economic recovery / social reform. Men need to return to their jobs to open up the nation. Work restores the dignity of self support. Work is a therapy in itself. Work demands skills, not least of which is dependability. Work can support a growing family. “Work to save your life, you have to give.” That was taken from the New Testament.

Maria Slodovska left her native Poland to study physics and chemistry at the Sorbonne, in Paris. She married one of her professors there and became Madam Currie. For isolating two new elements she won two Nobel prizes, 1903 and 1911. She was successful in her family life and with her profession. Women have proved their capability.

Russell Vesecky
Waterville