During a recent Zoom gathering, my granddaughter Katie suddenly said, “I wish things would return to normal.” After the meeting I reflected on what was normal before the pandemic. $730 billion dollars allocated to defense, a big portion going to upgrading our nuclear arsenal. If anyone knows of a bomb that can be dropped to stop the virus, I don’t.

We have a program that has been drastically cut and Trump budget chief holds firm on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cuts amid the coronavirus outbreak.

To me it’s obvious. Because of the cuts we were not prepared and as a result, we do not have enough ventilators, masks or protective gear for our nurses and doctors who have to use garbage bags for protection. What would our world be like if they all got the virus?

We fear words like social democracy, which supports the idea of “We the People” being the highest priority. Many believe, “We are the greatest country in the world, we are number one.” We are number one; we have the highest amount of new cases and new deaths. Our priorities need to be reevaluated NOW.

Elaine B. Holtz

Santa Rosa

Earth Day

Hey Will (Carruthers), nice job on the Earth Day story (“Environmentalism Goes Livestream,” April 22)! Exciting to see SunRise moving into leadership on climate action! We need you to push forward here in Sonoma County, the Bay Area and the world. Right there with you!

Teri Shore, Greenbelt Alliance

Via bohemian.com

Small World

Hi there, I really enjoy reading This Modern World every week (above), but not when it’s been shrunk! It deserves to get back to its regular size. Thanks and keep up the great work!

Alexis Fajardo

Santa Rosa

Anyone who now denies we are one interdependent human species across borders on Mother Earth is not alive to the moment we share today.

It’s time to mean it when we speak of the sanctity of life. When people across the globe are working to save lives, we must end this country’s habitual practice of endangering and killing people who are “not like us.”

President Trump declared a “war footing” to combat the “foreign enemy” coronavirus. It might be said that all that unites the U.S. is military spending, our culture wallowing in violence and nationalist fear mongering.

A culture that bankrupted itself on foreign wars while enriching the global One Percent is not a sane or healthy society. The Abrahamic religions teach that ethical behavior and money making don’t go together. We’ve lost this distinction. Let’s demand a global cessation of hostilities. Let’s foster sustainable communities and give space for the world to heal.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for an immediate global ceasefire saying, “End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world. … That is what our human family needs… .” Let’s make this more than a pause and rethink the ways in which we interact as people and as nations.

Let us reevaluate our unsustainable way of life. The rule of the One Percent has confronted us with the destruction of our planet. Our prejudice toward war is being revealed. Political-theorist Hannah Arendt wrote, “In every historical crisis, it is the prejudices that begin to crumble first and can no longer be relied upon.”

It should not take a pandemic to awaken us to our interdependence, but now that we are here, let’s make the most of this opportunity.

Jack Wikse

Faculty Coordinator, SSU Extended & International Education

Susan Lamont

Former Board Member and Coordinator, Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County

Thanks for the Lit

Extra appreciation for your recent issue (“Spring Lit,” April 1), given the sad state of journalism/newspapers in general, but especially during a global crisis affecting everyone, everywhere.

Such a joy to discover new author Edward Campagnola, whose book I just ordered thanks to your giving equal space to writers, sheltered or not. And, to add a new-to-me poet, Ulalume González de León, to my reading list, courtesy of the three hardworking local writers and translators who diligently collaborated on the new translation of her work.

Irene Barnard
Santa Rosa

PETA Says

Californian public health officials are speaking with urgency: “If you have enough supplies in your home, this would be the week to skip shopping altogether.”

This is not an invitation to take one last trip to the store. Rather, it is an opportunity to look into the back of the larder and cook nutritious meals out of the foods you had been saving for a rainy day: shelf staples. This sort of cooking—predominantly consisting of dried or canned beans, grains, nuts, seeds and canned vegetables—is delicious, healthy and simple.

If baking cakes helps ease stress, bind them with ground seeds, mashed banana or applesauce, instead of cholesterol-heavy eggs.

Jessica Bellamy
The PETA Foundation

Department of Corrections

The print and initial web version of the cover story in last week’s paper (“Brighter Futures,” April 8) failed to disclose that the story’s subject, Kary Hess, is in a relationship with Daedalus Howell, the editor of the Bohemian and Pacific Sun. It is the policy of these publications for editorial personnel to recuse themselves from stories in which they have a material conflict of interest, which was not done in this case. We apologize for the error.