Editor:

I feel it necessary to address some of the ideas put forth by Rich Wandschneider in his column entitled, “Big Bad Government and the Ladies” (Jan. 28). Rich credits the government for lowering infant mortality, as well as mortality rates of women during childbirth, women’s suffrage and even girl’s basketball.

As a woman, I am thankful for many of these benefits. However, I do feel that to simply “thank the government” for them is an example of gross oversimplification. Many of the reforms that Rich praises came about during the Progressive era in America. While the Progressive era did bring about Amendments that led to many of the things that Rich highlighted, the statement that we should simply “thank the government” for these benefits ignores the work of many church organizations, individuals, and other grass roots movements in and outside of politics that worked endlessly to bring about reform.

This is especially seen in regards to women’s suffrage. If it weren’t for the hard work of women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Fuller (among others), whose ideas and philosophies became the bedrock for persuading the masses towards women’s suffrage, there would have been no amendment. Imagine telling those women to thank the government for a woman’s right to vote – the idea seems absurd. They would have known better.

People who organize themselves under a common vision and a common goal have always been more powerful and more effective than an impersonal and inefficient bureaucracy. It is not a logical necessity that an amendment to the Constitution, as hard as it may be to get, is going to change people’s attitude toward women or allow girls to play basketball. It is the people behind the scenes, organizing, speaking, living and acting out their philosophies that bring about real change.

When we simply “thank the government” we are ignoring those personalities and people that are behind the scenes. While this may seem like splitting hairs, I believe it has had a very detrimental effect on our society. If we all believe that government will fix our problems, then why should we become organized, why should we even try to have common visions or goals and why should we work hard to attain them? Someone else will do it for us – we just have to give them money.

The government has done some good things, but when we see it as the answer to all of our problems, we give it too much credence, responsibility and authority. It is the common mistake of many Americans nowadays to attribute omnipotent qualities to government, and this is frankly just a waste of time. Government won’t thank you, and it definitely doesn’t deserve it.

Christi Brann

Enterprise