Here’s a great place to sound off on the past month’s writerjackweb.com columns. You can give your thoughts on the subjects featured. More than 2,500 readers download the web site monthly and a good number let me know how they feel. That’s important for several reasons (1) I need to know that people are reading the columns and (2) it permits the kind of exchange that’s healthy in an unhealthy society where bias and venom have replaced civility. Whether you’re in agreement or disagreement, your comments are important here.

And I’m always open to suggestions for future subjects and columns. Don’t forget to let me know if you have a favorite bandleader from the “big band era” so I can provide a feature. Write to me at jbehrens@roadrunner.com.

TimeOut---A Major Victory the Media Ignored

Dave from West Virginia: The nation’s history is replete with injustices to groups of citizens, black Americans and citizens of Japanese ancestry. The injustices are inexcusable, yet they occurred to satisfy some perceived problem at the time. To our credit, our leaders have, in hindsight, tried to correct some of the errors but the damage was done. The ugly after taste of social and economic discrimination lives on in history books and in the minds of those affected. The nation’s leaders have not, in those instances, lived up to the nation’s creed of equality and justice for all. I am encouraged to think that we can overcome discrimination over time through familiarity, interaction and association. When I was young, Italians were the object of much discrimination. Before them, it was the Irish. Today, we celebrate those cultures.

TimeOut (May)---Government Efficiency?

Dave from West Virginia: The country’s economic future is sure in for some rough times. I hope I’m wrong but I see another severe depression on the horizon. The signs are all around. The middle-class is being squeezed and is going to be squeezed even more as the federal government, in particular, looks for ways to satisfy an insatiable appetite for tax dollars to support uncontrolled spending. Social Security will take a hit, particularly people coming into the system in the years ahead. The baby boomers are not going to have enough money to pay the bills. Fidelity released a report a week ago that said the average 401 k account there has a balance of $66,900. Those are people who are about to retire. That amount may give some sense of security but it’s nothing compared to what they’re going to need. The amount will disappear in a heart beat. I’m not sure who would be an effective leader for this country given the climate we have. We are a divided nation and the division is getting wider as different groups loudly compete for dwindling resources. We are becoming an ungovernable nation. We are no longer Americans. We are African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and so on. Unfortunately, the divisions only serve the purpose of politicians who promise groups something in return for their votes. Our politicians are not only corrupt the system is broken.