Letters to the Editor

Letters, April 22:“Too Far”

Please Pass on Pecos

As we all try to find our way down the uncharted path of COVID-19, your neighbors in Pecos are asking for help. We are dealing with the challenge of people swarming in groups into our wilderness areas; flouting recommendations for masks and social distancing; demanding services from our few stores; and endangering our community. There are no bathroom services in our wilderness—no one to pick up the trash—and as many vulnerable people here as there are in their own communities.

First responders who would normally deal with accidents or fires are needed elsewhere. As the weather gets warmer, we understand that people are tired of staying home. Yet every ounce of common sense tells us that, until and unless we have quick, accessible, accurate testing, staying home is the only way to get through this pandemic so that we can, one day, open back up. We want you to visit and enjoy the beauty and history of the Pecos Valley when it is safe. Just like all of you, we are doing everything we know how to protect our friends and our families. Please help by asking your friends and neighbors not to come here now.

Shelley Oram,
Chair, Pecos Business Association 

Selfish Motives

The people who are protesting our state's current stay-at-home order, which was put in place to protect our collective health and safety at great personal sacrifice to many individuals and businesses, are potentially gravely mistaken to confuse a moral and ethical issue with their constitutional rights as citizens of our beloved democracy.

Rights confer responsibilities, which in this extreme case of the rampage through the world of COVID-19, requires us to sacrifice our individual wants, desires…and yes, even rights, temporarily for the greater good. It is a situational ethical dilemma, which has been argued for millennia by philosophers and ethicists. Selfish motives of me and mine under the circumstances are just that, and do nothing to form the unum from the pluribus, which is a more important dictum of our constitution, especially now, during a global viral pandemic in which personal responsibility is key for a positive communal outcome.

Go Home, stay safe. Guns will not protect you from Covid-19.

Catherine Allport
Santa Fe