Bill Dawson: Insights on cooperation at the turn of the century

To The Daily Sun,

A working title for the first twenty years of the 2000s is, until recently, non-cooperation. Work toward facing the COVID-19 threat and its effect on the general population has proven humans can mutually work toward a common goal. Why, one might ask, should we fall back into a less friendly approach to daily life? 

Most people would, given a choice, like a life that is safe and blessed with a few comforts as they move through their existence. Alas, the safety aspects of life are not guaranteed. Witness the events of 2020. As we begin to emerge from fear to being fully vaccinated, will our unmasked face wear a smile? Will we feel safe enough to hug a stranger? Will we trust enough to help another?

As a nation of nations, we must not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. There are a multitude of ways that the world can be made safer for all. As most of you who read my letters know, I like to make lists. So, this list will be called “ways to cooperate for the common good.”

The people of our planet are constantly changing location. Many are running away from some threat. There is no shortage of threats; disease, starvation, wars and worst of all, bad government. The migration tends to flow toward perceived safety and organization. As a nation, we tend to be one of the more safe and organized when compared to the many war zones of the world.

The U.S. is projected to decline in population. In many states the trend has already begun. Maybe it is time to fix our immigration system. Those so-called illegals who are already here and have, long ago, joined our workforce, need to emerge from the current status to a path to citizenship.

There is no lack of problems to study and solve. One of those is a meaningful application of science to our climate condition. On May 27 there will be a presentation that represents the efforts of a local outdoor and environment club. The program is described in the Saturday issue of The Sun. A site is identified for those who want to see what these high school boys have put together. The author of the article is Adam Drapcho and his email is AD@laconiadailysun.com.

Get the details and tune from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday. You don’t have to listen to the whole thing but Chris Pare and William Riley have done their best to gather a lot of people together for what they are calling the inaugural Belmont Climate Summit! Even though they didn’t do it for a grade, I think they deserve an A+.

Bill Dawson

Northfield