I applaud Ramona Wise’s letter of Jan. 6 explaining why she didn’t have kids. I, too, made a conscious decision not to have children and don’t regret it. I was once accused by a former high school classmate when we were both grandparent age, that my not having children proved I was “selfish.” My classmate insisted that I was put on this Earth to procreate.
“That’s your purpose for living,” he insisted vehemently. My response was to point out that since his children were all grown and on their own, by his logic, he no longer had a purpose for living, so why didn’t he commit suicide? Of course he disagreed with my view but offered no cogent rebuttal other than repeating his absurd assertion.
Our species, Homo sapiens, has been wearing out its welcome on the planet for a long time. Despite our current admiration for Indigenous peoples and their reverence for nature, their ancestors in a brief amount of evolutionary time killed off thousands of megafauna we now find frozen and fossilized. With our population as the world’s most efficient killers now approaching eight billion, we are on the threshold of mass suicide by nuclear war or heating our planet to the boiling point. I have confidence that our brilliance as a species will certainly find a way to kill us all off. Mother Earth will simply shrug and wait for the next infestation.
Rene Tihista
Springfield
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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