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Wealth has become too big a factor in government

Civilization. Civilian. Civil Society. Civilized. Civility. Civil rights. Civics and Civic responsibility. Civil — the word and its derivatives originated from the Latin civilis. Isn’t it interesting that this word stands for both the structure of a society, and a way of behaving? When we study past civilizations, we look at their stages of social and economic development, the infrastructures that they have built to create cohesiveness in the society, the institutions to create law and order, to serve the common good, and to advance culture, science and technology. The most ...

There’s a critical need for job training

Wells, the ice cream maker, formerly known as Dunkirk Ice Cream, told the newspapers recently that Wells almost did not commit to its current $425,000,000 investment in Dunkirk due to a concern over a lack of labor force here. Wells anticipates needing 270 more workers because of its expansion. In the past 15 years Chautauqua County’s labor force (those working or looking for work) shrunk from about 68,000 to about 54,000, down by 14,000, a shocking 20%. What are the possible explanations for this collapse of our labor force? First, when companies like Truck Lite left Falconer ...

Caution in order on steel, antibiotics

CHAUTAUQUA—Oren Cass is the chief economist at the American Compass. But, he notes, he’s not an economist in the sense of having an economics degree or writing papers about economics. Meanwhile, Dennis Wilder, a professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., is a former senior American intelligence officer and policymaker. ≤ ≤ ≤ Delivering the July 25 morning-amphitheater lecture at Chautauqua Institution, Cass rightly recalled Americans’ buying inexpensive steel from steel manufacturers in a particular country. The country ...

The challenges of our country roads

Monday morning brought yet another trip to a doctor in Erie. My mid-afternoon appointment enabled me to buzz around town early with a few errands, plus I planned to enjoy lunch with an old friend in Erie. But by the time I met Connie at the restaurant, I had a sad story to tell from my morning drive. I love the back road from Sugar Grove, Pa., to Ashville, N.Y. The fields, the Amish farms, the cows and sheep – and oh, the horse-drawn buggies. I never tire of the pastoral vistas or the little blue-clad boys in their straw hats. On Monday, I had just crested the first large hill to ...

Silent Generation member turns 80

On June 29 I turned 80, one of those milestone years in a life should we be around that long. Family lore has it that I was born at approximately 9:30 p.m. Central War Time, the name given to year round daylight savings time in effect from Feb. 9, 1942, to Sept. 30, 1945. My place of birth was St. Mary’s Hospital in my mother’s hometown of Milwaukee, Wis. At the time my father, a Marine Corps officer, was on Okinawa preparing for the invasion of Japan, the invasion that fortunately never was. Turning 80 is nothing like turning 90 or 100,I suppose. But you realize that you have ...

Oriskany battle took many young lives

I imagine that when his father George awakened him that sunny, hot early August morn, 13 year-old John Snell was beside himself with excitement. The day was finally here. He probably dressed quickly, gobbled down breakfast, grabbed his fife*, kissed his mother, joined his dad and set off to hook up with some 800 others who comprised the Tryon County Militia. They were mustering to march west up the Mohawk to relieve the British and Indian siege at Fort Stanwix (near present-day Rome). The trek seemed long and tedious given the weather, especially for one so young. John must have ...