Letters to editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Americans should be educated on true socialism

It is about time that the American people were educated and informed about what true “socialism” is and is not.

The fact is that in true socialism, “the means of production” are owned by all of the people.

In other words, in true socialism, all of the workplaces and businesses are owned, controlled, and run by all of the people for the good and well-being of all of the people. They are not privately owned by individuals and groups.

In true socialism, we would not be totally equal in terms of how much we get paid for our work, but we would be much, much more equal than we are now.

There would not be any billionaires or people who have hundreds of millions and tens of millions of dollars in total wealth, most of which they inherited and did not earn by their own labors. We would share what we have.

Those such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who call themselves “Democratic socialists” are actually liberal/progressive Democrats who believe that our federal government should spend more on social programs that help the poor, the near-poor, the lower-middle-class, the middle-class, and even the upper-middle-class because they also have financial struggles and problems, especially when it comes to medical and health care expenses.

They don’t advocate replacing our capitalist economic system with true socialism.

They support our capitalist economic system but they want a capitalist economic system that has more federal government spending to help all of the people just as our traditional allies do.

Sincerely,

Stewart B. Epstein

Rochester, New York

Hard facts concerning the future, government

It is time the readers of your paper learn to check out the facts. Donald Trump will say anything and make up his own facts. It does not matter if what he is saying is true or not.

Fact: The number of illegals entering the USA is down to an almost all-time low, with no wall.

Fact: Science has proven that global warming is real and one of the most dangerous things we are facing.

Fact: The current tax law that was passed is great if you are a millionaire, too bad 99 percent of the people in this country are not and the deficit is at an all-time high and rising faster than it ever has. But that is OK - anyone who is on social security or living paycheck to paycheck will have to pay for it. Good luck with that one.

We have a man who was elected president who does not care about anyone other than himself. He will say anything and make up anything to cover up that fact. How dare he call anyone a liar. That is the one thing that he is the president of - lies. Fake news - the only fake news there is comes from his own mouth or Twitter account.

I could care less what party any of them are from.

Fact: None of them has done their job in the last 15 to 20 years. The only way any of it will change is if we make it change. There must be term limits. That will never happen. After all, they would have to vote to limit themselves. Don’t hold your breath for that to happen.

If we do not remove them from office for not doing the will of the people then nothing will ever change. Do your job or get out and we will elect someone who will.

Keep doing it until they do what they were put there for in the first place. Then and only then will they get the message. If you allow them to do nothing and lie to you about what really is happening then nothing will ever change.

America needs to wake up! Check out the facts of what is going on for yourself. Do not vote party lines or allow them to tell you what to think.

God gave man a brain for a reason and until we start to use it and find out the truth for ourselves, then nothing is going to get better and true change will never happen. I pray that the world and the USA will wake up and make true changes happen. Until we do, we are going to go the way of many other life forms on this world. We are heading for the extinction of man and need to do something about it before it is too late.

If we do not take back our government and make it “for the people and by the people” again then we will no longer be the country that our founding fathers started. We will be no more. The world will say “What ever happened to the USA, how come it is no longer around?”

Michael D. Lighty

The journey from idealogy to madness among issues

When a private company cannot meet expenses, the consequences come at once - the suppliers cut off the supplies, the banks carry out mortgages, and so on.

In a public company it does not occur the same. Governments get into debt until unreasonable limits, dragging those who come behind (our children, our grandchildren …) with irresponsible debts, which repayment and interests will absorb the resources needed to live.

This happens because macroeconomics is not ruled by the logic of economic laws, but by the arbitrariness of a policy that should have as a goal the search for the common good.

However, nowadays it is subject to the machinery of political parties saturated of exacerbated ideology.

It is legitimate to have ideology, but there is no need to feed it with hatred. When the ideology is taken to the extreme, it disturbs the trial and converts it into prejudice. Madness is the consequence of it.

José Murillo

Independent Forum of Opinion

Residents, please wake up and save our town

Please understand that this letter is not to minimize the responsibility or importance of the Nye County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC). Personally, I believe that they are doing the very best they can but are overwhelmed by this vast responsibility of caring for the county (their jobs) and the town of Pahrump (our job).

I encourage all residents of Pahrump to work with the BoCC because as we strengthen Nye County, we strengthen our town.

While some negative actions taken may have not been intentional, I believe that the BoCC has made some mistakes in their efforts to manage and govern the affairs of the town of Pahrump.

Some past, current and future mistakes (and possible future plans) are:

1. Closing the Town Office and combining the town and county.

2. Terminating town employees as a duplication of a county function while ignoring the town’s need.

3. Merging town funds with county funds to augment the county deficit and possibly changing Pahrump to a township reducing the town to a subdivision of the county.

4. Failure to keep the town and county as separate entities along with the funds, the assets, and the employees.

Everyone who knows me knows that I am in favor of local town governance through a town board form of government, (Pahrump residents whose primary focus is the town of Pahrump), which would also ease the burdens of the BoCC and could also eliminate errors and potential errors made against the town.

With this open letter, I am recommending that the BoCC allow the residents of Pahrump to vote again now that they have seen the results of the BoCC sitting as the Pahrump Town Board since January 2015.

It is my hope that the residents of Pahrump will demand of the BoCC to create an appointed town advisory board, an appointed town board, an elected town board, or place the item on the next ballot for an elected town board. All of these can be done by a BoCC agenda item.

The people of Pahrump want to govern themselves and the BoCC must allow for that accommodation. Failing to follow the “will of the people” I foresee a push for Incorporation to retain the Pahrump town entity.

When we look at the overall picture, the residents of Pahrump should (and probably will) demand an elected town board under the NRS or incorporation. It will be up to the actions (or non-actions) of the BoCC as to what happens from here.

Let’s look at how we got into the situation in which we find ourselves and when did it happen? Here’s the background for the Town of Pahrump losing its Elected Town Board:

On July 17, 2012, the BoCC agenda item #11h stated the proposed County Question #2 which stated, “Shall the Pahrump town board form of government be discontinued. Yes / No.

It was Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012, where the County Question #2 was on the ballot asking the above question. There were a total of 14,357 votes cast and here are vote results:

Yes – 7,294 - 50.8% (To abolish the elected town board)

No - 7,063 - 49.2% (To retain the elected town board)

The difference was 231 votes which means, if 116 people had voted the other way, the results would have been different and we would still have an elected town board.

By this vote in 2012, the town of Pahrump not only lost the town governance, it lost the opportunity to ever have a town board under that NRS since the laws in the state of Nevada have changed. However, it can establish a town board or advisory board under a current NRS.

As stated, we can never replace the previous town board that served the town of Pahrump for over 30 years but we can retain a town that can provide its own governance.

I was informed recently that there is a group of residents who are already planning a method to return to a town board (or other) form of town governance apart from the Board of County Commissioners. For this group, I say, “Please step out of the shadows,” because you have a large contingent of supporters. Also, stepping out of the shadows would require this group to work openly and with the BoCC.

So, as I stated at the beginning of the open letter – wake up, get involved, and save our town!

Tom Waters

Pet owner commends compassionate veterinarians

I had to take my dog of 14 years, Kasi Girl, to the Animal Care Center on the 15th of Feb. 2018.

I never ever expected the pain of having to send her to her eternal rest. Dr. Thomas, Dr. Wallace and staff showed such GREAT kindness and compassion through this heart-wrenching ordeal.

My family and I have been here in Pahrump now for 3-1/2 years. I have never, nor has my family, seen such kindness from a veterinarian and staff!

Then they took it one step further to show their kindness. I received a card in the mail from the doctors and staff. Though my heart is still hurting, it brought a smile out. We still have four small dogs with us. I would highly recommend the Animal Care Center to any and every one.

Kind regards,

Michelle M. Pedro