OPINION: Talk of the Town

Who is benefiting from the same old, same old?

Repurposed themes: Leading a donkey with a carrot on a stick is an old story depicting a motivation strategy. But, does the donkey’s motivation evaporate if it never gets the carrot? The carrot becomes a symbol of disillusionment, even contempt, for its manipulative promise and unrealized reward.

New Mexico’s failing quality of primary and secondary education is already well described. No need to repeat the dreadful details.

What is of interest though is how the various political and professional entities from the governor, legislators, agencies and departments, local school boards, teacher’s unions, professional education organizations and education system consultants promise statewide education improvements, and yet they always provide unrealized outcomes.

These so-called promised improvements are then reported by NM’s professional broadcast and print media as the new day when the NM donkey will finally get its reward carrot.

An old adage advises to “follow the money.” Isn’t it about time that NM’s professional broadcast and print media challenge this same old story? Investigative journalism has a professional duty to expose the financial boondoggles and political and organizational boondogglers whose pockets are filled with federal and state aid, assistance, grants, loans, scholarships and stipends that have nothing to show year after year. They’re pumping sunshine and laughing all the way to the bank.

Outsiders and New Mexico trained professional educator acolytes come to rearrange deck chairs, draw their salaries and fees, inflate their professional résumés and attend professional conclaves of the faithful but have yet to bring any change to New Mexico’s quality of education. A pretty good gig if you can get it.

It’s a betrayal. They’re cashing in on “the soft bigotry of low expectations” of New Mexicans because no real improvement was ever expected by these elitist chiselers.

Who’s the real donkey in this New Mexico education improvement scheme?

David Casas

Albuquerque

Leaders should address health care gaps

How many months should a person have to suffer in pain while waiting for care that never comes? I recently waited five long months for a procedure I desperately needed — only to be told the week of the appointment that Medicare had denied it. The next available slot? Four months later. That’s nine months of pain and frustration. And this isn’t new. This has been my experience, again and again, for the last five years in New Mexico.

In utter despair, I finally gave up on getting help in my own state. I found a doctor in Arizona. Within two days, they got Medicare approval. Within five days, the procedure was done. That’s how health care should work.

I’m one of the lucky ones. I have insurance that lets me leave the state for care. But what about the countless others — my family, my neighbors, my friends — who are stuck here, suffering, because they can’t just pick up and go?

And what’s being done about it? Nothing that’s working. We have a Democratic governor and Legislature, and yet, health care access has only deteriorated. I keep hearing excuses — sky-high malpractice insurance, private equity buying up hospitals, our refusal to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. Meanwhile, patients are left stranded, and doctors are leaving our state.

Other states are functioning. Other people are getting care. Why not us? What is wrong in New Mexico that we can’t provide basic, compassionate, timely medical care to our own citizens?

We deserve answers. We deserve better. And we deserve leadership that will finally treat this crisis like the emergency it is.

Dee Ivy

Albuquerque

RFK Jr. is just plain wrong about people with autism

Recently, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made statements that were startlingly insensitive, erroneous, outlandish and just plain wrong. In an incredible lack of veracity, Kennedy claimed that most cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder are now severe and that the condition “destroys families.” This was an absurd claim without an ounce of truthfulness.

He went on to state, “These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go on a date.” It is really quite remarkable that the individual given the utmost responsibility of protecting the health of our nation would make such self-serving, hurtful and vicious remarks. Though, Kennedy’s words seem to fit right into his narrative about disease, and autism particularly.

Having spent a long career working with individuals with disabilities, I can attest to the fact that autism does not relegate a child to a life of insignificance. Yes, children on the autism spectrum have unique and different behaviors and abilities, but I celebrate those differences and I practice inclusion, as should Kennedy. It is our responsibility as members of this vast national community to include everyone. And, most importantly, to provide evidence-based health information, not self-serving, destructive, rhetoric.

As to his claims of a meaningless life for children with autism, the following diagnosed or self-admitted, might beg to differ; Poet Emily Dickinson, major league baseball player Tarik El-Abour, actor Anthony Hopkins, beloved comedian Jerry Seinfeld, musicians Beethoven, Mozart and Dylan, and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

Jeffrey Paul

Albuquerque

Humans should treat animals with compassion

“The Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the the way its animals are treated.”

These words are attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, famous 20th-Century emancipator of the people of India. Behavioral scientists understand that the mistreatment of animals can escalate toward violence against human beings, a disturbing testing ground for those who wish to do harm. Chief Seattle was quoted as saying that the land did not belong to the people; the people belonged to the land. And to the ancient Hebrews, “dominion” did not mean “domination” — rather, something closer to “stewardship.”

I wonder how well we are doing on this front. In a world of roughly 8 billion people, we cannot find the generosity of spirit to allow a few hundred North Atlantic right Whales or Ridley sea turtles or Florida panthers or Amazon pink dolphins or a vast variety of birds to exist alongside us? And now a key cornerstone of success for creatures teetering on the edge of extinction is under attack . . . again: the Endangered Species Act. It is said that by our own words and actions are we to be judged, and these things are not set in stone. We have the freedom to choose. Why, then, is it so difficult for humanity to operate from love and compassion rather than fear, hatred and acquisition? Why too often do we succumb to savagery over kindness and civility? We play the deadly role of “God” when we allow even one species of life to perish by our hands, for whatever we do to the web of life we inescapably do to ourselves.

Annette Ahlander

Albuquerque