Commentaries

May 01, 2008

 Commentaries is where Minnesota Public Radio welcomes your thoughtful opinion about current events and issues. Commentaries are like letters to the editor. To be considered for publication, your commentary should be issue-related, clearly written, and follow our Terms of Use. New insights into ongoing topics are especially welcome. Not all commentaries received are published. For topical interaction with others, visit the discussion groups.

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Are credit offers ethical?

Recently I learned of someone that acquired $62,000 in credit card debt gambling out of desperation. Pre-approved credit card applications made credit easily available. So not only did this individual accumulate a large debt in under 12-months but it destroyed the individual and the family.

Consider: With so much at stake and consumer faith in the economy low, why do credit card companies make it easy to obtain credit regardless of job status or annual income? How does this behavior benefit our society? How can this be ethical, responsible, or just?

Gabriela Bonadonna
Apple Valley, Minn.


Why are we so surprised by the oil crisis?

While President Bush is scrambling to figure a way out of this oil "crisis," I'm finding it hard to believe that we seem to be caught off guard. [MPR News: Bush pushes Congress to move on farm legislation, housing] As it's common knowledge that oil is a non-renewable resource and that we are doing pretty much nothing to find alternative means of fueling our lives, wasn't it only a matter of time before prices would start to rise so steeply?

The feelings of fear and hatred that have been shoved down our throats relentlessly during this administration have lead us to believe that there is nothing to do but throw our hands up and deal with problems the only way we've ever tried to do it with brute force and obstinacy. He would have you think that with economic instability on the forefront of all our minds, we should be concentrating on righting ourselves in whatever way we can, no matter the cost.

However, if we've learned anything from the generations before us that brought social change in the midst of chaos, let's dare to dream about what would happen if we were to focus our efforts into finding alternatives measures that go beyond the simplistic thinking of just-get-more-oil.

So fine, let Bush blame Congress for getting us into this mess by not allowing him to drill in one of the last areas on the globe that is free of human manipulation. The belief that his brilliant ideas are being delayed for no reason only serve to magnify his inability to consider the consequences that Americans have to live with whenever he makes such negligent decisions.

Jennifer Rico
Saint Paul, Minn.


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