A solution: Elect more scientists

A solution: Elect more scientists

Escaping appeals from politicians and lobbying groups, I fled to the garden to tame flourishing herbs while the cool weather tamed the defending bees, singing as I worked, "America the Beautiful, ... Confirm thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea." Brotherhood! Whatever happened to cooperation? I am a fan of columnist Lee Hamilton, director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University, who is critical of the "poisonous" atmosphere on Capitol Hill these days, as he remembers a time when he as a congressman worked across the aisle on committees that represented expertise to oversee specific agencies.

Perhaps if we elected more scientists to represent us in Congress we would not need to support so many lobbyists. We could expect oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect our pollinators, our water, and our food from corporations focused on profit at the expense of the future. Health care programs would seek the good of all, using new research from around the world. Education policy would not be hampered by persons with closed minds who are more comfortable with a world ten thousand years old.

Scientists know that truth, while elusive, is not the property of any one country but is a basis for cooperation among nations. Social science should be represented also, because thinking of people as just good and bad, capable of work or deserving prison, undermines our society and economy.

To chose representatives simply to "bring home the bacon" is shortsighted, leading to a shortage of bacon over time. Wisdom and knowledge are in short supply in Washington. Let's start now looking for expertise, it may take years to fix this.

Ellen McDonald

South Elgin