Today’s tribalism is caused by a lack of community, neighbors

Time was, kids attended community schools with their friends throughout their school years. These days, kids are bused to a middle school and high school, unless their parents elect to drive them to one of the plethora of choice schools available.

Time was, adults worked long and hard at the same job for the majority, if not the entirety, of their pre-retirement lives. Workers remained with their employers for two and a half decades. Nowadays, average job tenure is about four and a half years.

Time was, we had a dozen good friends we socialized with and counted on for assistance and support in a pinch. Nowadays, we have hundreds of virtual friends who dislike the same things and the same groups of people we do.

Tribalization is being blamed for the fraying of the fabric of social tolerance. The rampant us-versus-them, fear-fueled polarization we are witnessing is resultant of the fracturing of our long-standing communal tribes, and the dissolution of the overarching social norms they provided. This didn’t happen overnight. Our close-knit tribes have essentially been reduced to little more than enraged, like-minded, far-flung cults.

Bill Massey

Raleigh

Voting on belief

I revere Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. I’m glad people voted for them. I believe in the right of every American, including unborn babies, to have “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

I believe America, with all its flaws, is a great nation. I believe we should have a strong military and secure borders, and I will vote for people who believe that too.

I believe people should be able to find good jobs and support their families. I believe they should be able to keep most of what they earn because they worked hard to earn it. I believe in our Constitution and its amendments, judges who uphold the rule of law and limited government. I will vote for people who believe this too. I believe in God and His word. I seek out and vote for people who have wisdom and a clear vision for the future of America.

Ron Shuping

Nebo

Accept science

The letter “Tiny cars, tiny houses,” Oct. 18, wrongly concludes that fossilized trees in the Petrified Forest National Park disprove climate change. This confuses “climate change” with seasonally-varying “climate.”

Scientists have shown our seasonally-varying climate is due to our sun and the shapes, sizes, and locations of continents, oceans, mountain ranges, and ices sheets. Two hundred twenty-five million years ago there was only one supercontinent (Pangaea) and superocean (Panthalassa). Those two produced climate conditions for a rainforest in the Petrified Forest National Park. Those two are now gone, and so is the rainforest.

“Climate change” deals with events that change our normal season-varying climate. The perfect example is the 1815 eruption of the volcano Tambora, resulting in the 1816 “Year without a summer” — global cooling, crop failures, food shortages, and wars.

The real question for readers? Why do you accept scientists’ findings in every single other part of your life — medicine, technology, agriculture, astronomy — except climate?

Mark Gill

Chapel Hill

Misleading amendments

Don’t vote for the N.C. constitutional amendments. They should have passed legislation stating exactly the language each amendment would add to our constitution. Reject every one of these misleading amendments. No blank checks for this unbalanced legislature.

Sherri Zann Rosenthal

Durham

Drug costs

The Oct. 8 article on controlling drug costs (“In the battle to control drug costs, old patent laws get new life”) sparked a heated debate on skyrocketing drug prices.

Drug companies fight competition to retain their monopoly on drug production. When generic manufacturers attempt to enter the market with much lower drug costs near the end of a patent, the patent-holding company can slightly change the drug’s formulation or indication — resulting in extended patent life, increased prices, and blocking the generic’s entry. This is the exact opposite of competition.

The status quo is not meeting patient needs. When we can’t access life-saving medications due to ridiculous prices, we need true competition and transparency — not monopolies and increasingly unaffordable medications.

Jenna Amweg

Raleigh

Animal rights

One of the constitutional amendments involves the right to hunt and fish. I am not a vegetarian but I hope that one day I become one. I do believe in the idea of animal rights. I would like to encourage voters to vote for life and against killing.

Chuck Mann

Greensboro