The following Letters to the Editor are from the April 2025 issue of The Lenawee Voice. Letters should be 350 words or fewer and may be emailed to [email protected]. If space is limited, preference will be given to local authors and local topics. Please include your town of residence and a phone number for verification.
Keep Elon Musk’s hands off of our Social Security
I’m 73, retired from the Army — after doing eight different hot zones beginning with Vietnam and ending with Somalia — with a modest pension that buys less and less (as tariffs threaten to worsen inflation even more).
Unlike Elon Musk, my wife and I depend on our Social Security checks to continue eating and sleeping indoors. A lot of people do, which is why I have to speak out against DOGE and that transhumanist billionaire twit turning loose a bunch of know-nothing, dark-webber incels on the Social Security Administration, where, with neither knowledge nor research, they’re closing Social Security offices and standing down their employees across the country. Social Security, the most successful social program in U.S. history, is not a Ponzi scheme. It would be viable into perpetuity by simply raising the income cap. We paid into that program for decades.
Former administrators are warning us that Musk’s “approach” will be “catastrophic” for the system, and within weeks may cause people to quit receiving their checks. These are elders, who would not be eligible for Social Security without having worked most of their lives.
I know it’s hard to say no to the guy who poured $463 million into your campaign, President Trump, but should that be compensated by transforming this amoral tech bro into a rule-by-fiat (and might I add, unconstitutional) despot? You’re the president of the United States, not Elon Musk’s boy (aren’t you)?
— Stan Goff, Adrian
A republic, but can we keep it?
Those who voted for the current administration which is determined to undo constitutional protections and dismantle the federal government may continue to believe the lies of Donald Trump despite evidence to the contrary. Yet it is the critical group of Americans who chose not to vote that may bear the greatest burden of remorse as they witness the abuse of power now threatening their livelihoods and the futures of their children and grandchildren. The human rights that were gained by great sacrifice from past generations now face blatant and callous disregard by those who prefer unbridled power above human dignity.
The heart-breaking reality is that the freedoms that millions of immigrants sought and risked their lives to achieve in this nation are dismissed or ignored by those who choose not to honor those freedoms by refraining from exercising the most fundamental right of voting. Those who abstain from participating in democracy bear the shame of giving tacit approval to those who would destroy it. If you chose the cynical approach of convincing yourself there was no difference in candidates or deluded yourself in saying you didn’t know enough about them must now face the hard realities that lie ahead by sharing the blame with those who perpetuate violence and foment division. Both candidates in the 2024 presidential election had proven track records, but voters chose the one whose record was one of greed, discrimination, and insurrection over one who fought to advance the rule of law and maintain progress toward a sustainable future for all.
It is incumbent upon us all to give our input to our representatives in Congress, regardless of whether we voted for them or not. They are the barrier to the executive branch’s abuse of the power granted them by the people, and we must raise our objections loudly when those representatives fail to do their duty.
Benjamin Franklin famously responded to the question “what do we have, a republic or a monarchy?” by saying “A republic, if you can keep it.”
— John W. Kottke, Raisin Township
