Letters to the editor
 |  Knoxville News Sentinel

I am 88 years old. I have been a Tennessee basketball season ticket holder since 1967. Have probably been to at least 85% of games. Have been to lots of SEC tournaments.

In 1982, I donated to the Thompson-Boling Arena Building Fund. With this donation I was assured the same seats for me and my spouse for our lifetime. I have been seated in Section 120 Row 18 Seats 9 and 10 since the arena opened.

I called April 7, 2025 to renew my tickets for the coming season. I was told my cost would be $4,488 for the two tickets. Last season I paid $1,480 for both tickets. That’s an increase of about 300%.

I am on a fixed income of very little and cannot afford this.

I can’t believe they would treat a dedicated fan like this.

I understood according to the newspaper that there was going to be about a 16% increase.

It’s all about the money, not dedication.

Thomas L. Bailey, Clinton, 37716

The massacre in Gaza is our responsibility

While American politics is taken by the drama of the Epstein files, a real tragedy is being consumed in Gaza: 2 million people are starving to death because of the deliberate actions of the Netanyahu government of Israel. In addition, the Israeli military is daily shooting and killing civilians in line to get food from the few remaining aid centers.

Free speech is not allowed in America anymore; our government prosecutes as antisemitic and terrorist any voice denouncing the genocide of Palestinians. We the people are afraid to speak. Nevertheless, our silence as Americans makes all of us accomplices in this massacre. Only America can stop the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza, cutting funds and weapons to Israel: It is our responsibility to make our voice heard or we are as guilty as Netanyahu.

Maurizio Conti, Knoxville, 37919

Critique of Democratic socialism fails to make distinction

There is a semantic battle within the conclusions made by Professor William Lyons in the editorial from July 27. There is a distinction between Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism.

Social Democracy seeks to eliminate capitalism and form a socialistic society. This ideal is, of course, unworkable as true Marxist societies in the former Soviet Union, The People’s Republics in China, North Korea, and Cuba have all fallen toward dictatorships to maintain the masquerade of the collective while becoming highly profitable for their leaders.

Democratic Socialism argues that capitalism is flawed and should have democratic oversight to protect the individual and society as a whole from inequality found in the economic class system.

Our American tradition of Democratic Socialism can be traced to the ratification of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by then President Benjamin Harrison (who interestingly was defeated in his next election by Grover Cleveland, which was attributed to Harrison’s support of the McKinley Tariff).

The period here was volatile where people sought a voice that drove the American Labor Movement. Industrialists were terrified of their own workers and consumers: the leaders of the economic class system would not accept that liberal capitalism would eventually be replaced by unionized workers and government regulations. This natural evolution of our society toward giving voice through democracy is a fundamental premise of our ideology.

The battle that is taking place today displays the same rhetoric that was incorporated by the terrified industrial leaders over 130 years ago. And the parallels toward Red Scare, anti-Communist tropes from then and today are unmistakable.

Voices against the cruelty of industry and commerce run amok cannot be simply placed into such a tidy definition of Democratic Socialism. The legislators Professor Lyons villainizes simply have a more humanistic approach: the word social derives from the Latin socii meaning “allies”.

Wesley Glassgow, Knoxville, 37921

Burned up about burned contraceptives

The July 24 edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the Trump administration plans to burn nearly $10 million worth of U.S.-funded contraceptives. This supply of contraceptives, originally intended as aid for family planning and the prevention of unwanted pregnancies in poor nations, has been stalled in a Belgian warehouse and is now destined to be incinerated at an additional cost of $160,000.

The United Nations and several family planning organizations have offered to buy the contraceptives and make them available where needed in third-world countries, but the Trump administration has reportedly rejected all offers.

This does not make sense to me. Donald Trump has stressed the importance of preventing waste and saving tax dollars.

Don’t get me wrong. By questioning the Trump administration’s decision to burn these contraceptives, I am not endorsing irresponsible abortions or casual sex. However, unfortunately, lack of access to contraceptives can sometimes result in an INCREASE in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion attempts.

It seems to me that anti-abortion ideology has “Trumped” reason in this instance.

Bob Webber, Knoxville, 37918