By TERRY GOLDMAN
Los Alamos

The underlying theme that I extracted from reading Barbara Smith’s Op-Ed (link) is that things are great here in Los Alamos, so why should we do even minor things that contribute to the benefit of Americans living elsewhere in the country? (Let alone the world!)

I know that many Americans view themselves as strictly individuals rather than citizens of a nation who benefit from government and its restraints on crime including fraud and many other things such as a reliable and safe monetary system. Hence they see no reason to be required to contribute to the general welfare. After the destruction produced by the Cerro Grande Fire (not to mention the more recent one) and the enormous contributions – from other Americans – to restore Los Alamos County from that disaster, it is nonetheless surprising to see that view espoused here.

True, we’re not boiling in the hot water pot here yet, but rather than jumping into the fire later, we should help trying to put it out – and it is better to do that now rather than when the water boils here, too, as it will eventually. And that may already not be very far in the future. The diffuseness and scale of the global warming concern makes it difficult to see the analogy, but to recall another saying, your freedom of choice to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.

Oh, by the way, the modern electric cooktop (not using heating coils) is almost indistinguishable in its cooking features from a natural gas one – unless you have a preference for the release of volatile poisons into your home atmosphere or favor the possibility of accidentally setting your house on fire.