To the editor,

Before any large-scale farming or solar farms are established, we need a moratorium on such facilities and asking people what they want to see for the future of their community and their lives. While some say we need to allow such operations to evolve and progress, they too often ignore that most people's economic lives have not been allowed to evolve and progress. If such facilities are going to make our communities better, I would like to ask who is going to benefit from such projects? Is it a strong majority of the population or just a few?

Right now, we need to have better 1) Land Use Planning, 2) Resource Management, 3) Financial Safety Nets for those who fall on hard times, 4) Anti-Trust/Prevention of Monopolies, 5) PreK-12 education, and 6) Post Secondary Education with the focus on Tech Schools and Bachelor of Science in STEM and Environmental Sciences. For the last 40 years, policies from both the Left and Right of our political system have created a mess that has stressed the majority of the population. I have noticed that people are feeling stressed and frustrated. If we don't address this stress and frustration by promoting reforms, we could risk a financial crash or a revolution that could lead to a right-wing or left-wing totalitarian dictatorship. I'm old enough to have seen both things in my lifetime.

I want to see farmers be successful along with many other people in our country. Regardless of one's politics, the majority of the population would agree that we do better when everyone is doing better. With good public participation, we can create the government and economy that would be the envy of the world once again. I think all Americans can get behind this cause.  

John Shafer

Town of Gilman