Letters to the editor March 3

Propaganda

Monday’s Inter Lake opinion section included an oped on U.S. monetary policy from the view of the China Daily. The title of the article is “U.S. Inflation Spillover Must Be Contained.”

I assume that you know that China Daily is an English language publication of the Chinese Communist Party.

In the article, the Chinese attempt to discuss the downside effect that U.S. monetary policy might have on “developing countries.” The CCP likens themselves as a “developing country” even though their economy is the second-largest in the world.

This designation is the reason China has been given favorable status since their joining the World Trade Organization. Twenty years ago, this might have been appropriate, though in my opinion they never should have been allowed to join because they don’t have a free market economy and everyone knows that their success is based on intellectual property theft and the use of slave labor in manufacturing. Now they have captured the world’s manufacturing base and that has propelled them to seek dominance.

Raising U.S. interest rates to combat inflation will have the effect of strengthening the dollar vs. other currencies. The Chinese currency, the Yuan, would be devalued somewhat in this event if it were allowed to “float” against the dollar. But, their currency is tightly controlled and managed.

In other words, the Chinese don’t have a free-floating currency and they exercise strict capital controls so that their people have great difficulty getting their money out of China. If they did allow the Yuan to float (which really means to settle at a level determined by the market) against the dollar, their currency would appreciate significantly. Their exports would become a lot more expensive, reducing their manufacturing advantage. The balance of payments between China and the U.S. would reduce substantially, as would their ability to accumulate dollars.

If their currency were allowed to appreciate appropriately, there would be great incentive for manufacturing to leave China and return to the U.S. Right now, we are providing them with the financial means to wage economic war with us and to support despots around the world, such as Vladimir Putin, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea.

Any messages that you receive from official (or unofficial) Chinese sources can be assumed to be propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party. Please refrain from further publishing these opinion pieces from them without an accompanying warning to your readers that it is misinformation.

— Max G. Corder, Somers

Clean energy

A recent oped (The Clean Energy Myth, Feb. 24) mentions “gullible” college professor who “think electric vehicles run on clean energy.” (They certainly do in the Flathead Valley. Flathead Electric Co-op says 97% of our electricity is from clean energy, but I don’t think this was his point).

No, in most places EVs don’t run on 100% clean’ energy. Of course they have a carbon footprint. The real question is how does this compare with gas cars?

Electric motors are 80% efficient in converting energy to motion, with only 20% wasted as heat. Internal combustion engines waste 75% of the energy in their fuel as heat.

A peer reviewed study (There go those gullible professors again) that looked at Poland where 96% of electricity is from coal fired power plants found that per mile EVs were less polluting than gas or diesel cars, both on daily drives and for total life cycle (manufacturing through disposal). In regions where wind, solar, hydro and nuclear are more than 4% of electricity generation, the benefit is even greater.

Also, the writer errs in suggesting that environmentalists want to immediately shut down all fossil fuel electric generation. No one says this. Most Americans (79%) want to transition to clean energy. Big difference.

The role of government in the transition is to inject a small and non-disruptive market signal into the economy and then allow business (Those that want to!) to harvest value from that market signal. Most economists agree that the form of such a market signal is a low and slowly rising price on carbon emissions. This will create innovation and jobs in America. Without a market signal to reward innovation, China will dominate.

Please email Senators Tester and Daines, and Representative Rosendale and tell them you want effective action on climate change.

— Walter Rowntree, Kalispell

Montana State Hospital

We’ve heard a lot about the Flathead County library but very little about the crisis at Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs.

According to testimony at the recent Health and Human Services legislative interim committee meeting, people are leaving en masse, there is a toxic environment and serious leadership problem. There’s chronic understaffing, plus over patient population.

Traveling nurses are hired at $80 per hour but wages of permanent staff have not been raised. Whether the travelling nurses have experience with mental illness is unknown. It’s very difficult to obtain professional qualifications from HHS. Sadly, the treatment is not the quality it used to be, and too many people are being discharged too soon.

This costs the county money in repeated trips to Warm Springs by the sheriff’s department as well as more mentally ill in our jails because of resulting misdemeanors and felonies when off their meds. Jails should not be mental hospitals. Ask the deputies.

Why is Montana State Hospital so important? It is the only facility in the state that will force medications on resisting individuals. That is why some people who are acting out are involuntarily committed to MSH. Forced meds are necessary because about 50% of people with schizophrenia, and about 40% of people with bi-polar disorder lack insight. They are not resisting medication out of willful stubbornness — they absolutely do not believe they are sick. This lack of insight is part of the illness. And these are serious — no-fault biological brain diseases — don’t confuse them with mental health issues.

Tell our Flathead legislators to get with it!

— Mitzi Anderson, Whitefish