By John Ornellas ?Reader”s views
I find it intriguing to compare the focus and priorities of country”s governments. A few years ago, I toured Portugal for a month and listened to many folks of all ages. I learned that Portugal, in recent history, has not been in a war or involved in a war. Their basic philosophy is to mind their own business and respect all countries. I was told their government”s majority of financial outlays are used to see to it that children are properly educated and all citizens have adequate health coverage, especially senior citizens. Basically, the focus is on the necessities of life.
In contrast, our government, in recent years, spends the majority of tax revenue on space exploration and waging wars with countries whose people have been at each others throats for centuries. Thank God we raised our seven children in the latter half of the twentieth century. My heart bleeds, however, for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Currently, my blood boils to observe the current reductions of police, teachers, hospitals, nurses, school sports and all other necessities of life. Billions are wasted on trips to Mars and wars. Tell me, what will trips to Mars do for our grandkids” necessities of life here on Earth. That segment of space exploration is nothing more than play toys of the scientists. Medical costs are causing untimely deaths of many senior citizens. Prescription drugs would probably be 50 percent cheaper if the pharmaceutical companies quit spending billions on television advertising of prescription drugs. I swear, there is an ad every ten minutes on every channel in the country.
The bottom line is our government needs to switch from trying to convert the world and focus on our own back yard; our necessities of life. At my age, I probably will not live to see that switch. But, I hope it does happen for the sake of our offspring.
John Ornellas
Lakeport
