To the Editor:

As a parent and teacher, I have struggled with the term, “consequences.” How do we dispel the perception that this term applies only to negative behavior? One popular strategy is to acknowledge behaviors that yield positive results, hence “positive” consequences. For example: Eat well — feel healthier; exercise more — look better, too; go to class, pay attention, and study — get better grades.

 Additionally: give love — receive love back (think dogs); treat others with kindness and respect — be treated similarly (dogs again ... and also children); lie, cheat, or steal — be deceived, discounted, or mistrusted (think liars, cheaters, and thieves you have known — historically, or personally).

Acknowledging this, one can then feel empowered to make intelligent choices for themselves, and recognize less responsible choices of others.

How does this relate to the “Quick Fix?” People who opt for a quick fix (including you and me) are guilty of preferring the search for a solution without doing due diligence, or making necessary sacrifices (think lotto, weight loss scams, infomercial fitness devices, etc — huge moneymakers, thanks to an increasingly lazy, gullible, instant-gratification-obsessed America).

The consequences: anger, frustration, jealousy, disappointment, blame, denial, divisiveness, and, desperation. (A woefully incomplete list, some of which describe the “Seven Deadly Sins” — for us Christians; for others, I’ve created a classification: “Results of Unfortunate Decisions.”)

These are life skills, which can have both short-term and long-term effects. How, one may wonder, is this information going to segue into a commentary about the Presidential Election? I have supported President Obama — and will continue to support him for a second term. While I recognize shortcomings and a disparity with all that he promised, and the actual current state of affairs, I still agree with his vision of America and his direction. And I fear the consequences if is not reelected.

Recently, Daniel Ellsberg (“The Pentagon Papers”) wrote: “I don’t support President Obama. I oppose the current Republican Party.... it would be ... even catastrophically worse, on a number of other important issues... it would punish most of all the poor and marginal in society, and workers and middle class as well: not only in the US but worldwide in terms of the economy (I believe the Republicans could still convert this recession to a Great Depression), the environment and climate change. It could well lead to war with Iran (which Obama has been creditably resisting, against pressure from within his own party). And it would spell, via Supreme Court appointments, the end of Roe v. Wade and of the occasional five to four decisions in favor of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Ellsberg even cited Gore Vidal’s use of the term, “Plutocracy” to describe the direction of our political system.

If you are looking for a “quick fix” for our economy, by electing a wealthy businessman whose love of money made him a fortune, then ignore the past decade, and the current warnings, and fail to look deeper than Fox News – but be prepared to accept the consequences.

Michael Luzzi

173 Boggs Hill Road, Newtown                            October 24, 2012