Opinion

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By Jim Powers
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I received several responses to my recent column on the Debt Ceiling, which generally called me a part of a socialist takeover attempt in the U.S, pointing out the advantages of Capitalism as an economic system.

First, I would like to make it clear that the U.S. is about as far from Socialism as a country can get. Corporations are so exalted in the U.S. that they have been declared to be persons, with all the rights and freedoms of persons. Through shifting billions of dollars into the campaigns and pockets of politicians, they exert tremendous control over the decisions our governments make. It’s, by design, not a level playing field.

The biggest danger to our country, though, is not through these corporation’s direct hold on our representatives, but their malevolent manipulation of our social structures and direct attack on the minds of Americans. The most concerning attack is on the minds of our children through social media and AI.

These companies are baking a cake for our children “that don’t have icing”. This metaphorical cake, comprising social media platforms and AI-driven content, is consumed by the majority of our young people, and it is increasingly clear that this content is causing a crisis of confidence among them.

A recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General has cast a spotlight on this issue. It sounds the alarm on the profound mental health risks social media presents to our kids. We are in a situation where a generation's mental health is under siege, and the role of social media and AI algorithms cannot be understated.

Social media has become ubiquitous among our children, with 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds reporting its use, and more than a third confessing to being almost constantly online. The dark underbelly of this digital ubiquity is the toll it takes on our children's mental health. Studies reveal a direct correlation between social media use and a host of mental health issues: depression, anxiety, poor sleep, online harassment, and diminished self-esteem, particularly among girls.

Pointedly, the design and mechanics of these platforms have been finely honed to keep users engaged and glued to their screens. With push notifications, auto play videos, and infinite scroll features, the platforms are as addictive as they are pervasive, stimulating the brain's reward centers in a way that is frighteningly akin to substance addiction (TikTok is a prime example).

Children aren’t silent about this. They have voiced their experiences, reporting feelings of self-deprecation and dissatisfaction with their friendships, yet they find it challenging to break free from the seductive pull of these platforms. They are not on a level playing field.

A bigger problem is the fact that our children are not just passive consumers in this scenario. They are the targets. The consumers. The victims. Social media platforms and AI algorithms are not merely neutral technologies, but powerful tools wielded by corporations, with the explicit goal of selling products and services to a vulnerable demographic.

This is a call to arms. Our role as protectors of our children's wellbeing is more critical than ever. The Surgeon General's advisory provides some guidance for families, suggesting strategies like creating family media plans, fostering in-person friendships, and demonstrating responsible social media behavior. But this alone is not enough.

We must demand more from corporations and government. Policies and legislation must be enacted to shield our children from this digital onslaught. The responsibility lies not only with parents but also with the policymakers and technology companies that have so far abdicated their responsibilities in the name of profit.

Our children must not become mere statistics or consumers. They are individuals with potential and creativity, deserving to grow up in an environment that respects and values their inherent worth. In this digital age of deliberate illusion, we must remind them, and ourselves, that the cake they are being offered - this world of social media and AI - often lacks icing.

It's time to help them appreciate the value of the cake itself, and more importantly, their inherent value as individuals. They must learn that there is far more beauty within themselves than in any product they can buy from a Facebook, TikTok or YouTube influencer pushing some corporation’s merchandise.

 

Jim Powers writes opinion columns. His opinions are his and don't necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

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By Tony Farkas
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I grew up in a time when you either had three or 13 channels of television, and finding something to watch after school meant it sounded like a fast snare drum when you changed channels.

During that time, there were public service announcements and after-school specials that put out information on just about everything, including race relations and similar items.

One commercial that still to this day rings in my ears is one where a father and son were talking about a friend who was mad at the son, who did not understand why. When the father got to the nub of the problem, it was because the son introduced his friend as his “black” friend.

The father said if they truly were friends, his son should have said only that, and leave the adjectives behind.

Every time an argument shows up in the press, or there’s a riot somewhere because a member of a minority race was killed, that commercial comes forward in my mind.

Simplistic as it may sound, I honestly believe the best way to combat racism, both real and perceived, is to stop using it as a basis of classification.

I’m not saying that discrimination doesn’t exist, because it does. Having been a victim of it more than once, it’s a pretty heinous treatment, and it should be eradicated.

(I worked at a place where there only were six white people in a staff of 50. Even as a supervisor, the names I was called and the insults that were levied at me were harsh. I also lived several years in another country and know first-hand about being considered inferior.)

Everyone should be on the same page about eradicating racism and discrimination. The federal government, along with the states, mandated things like race, color, creed, etc., but as with everything that has the touch of government on it, it was not enough.

More and more efforts are being used to eradicate what now is view as a systemic problem — in society, the justice system and hiring practices — and more and more ridiculous programs are cropping up in response.

Take critical race theory, for instance. Because it’s believed that racial issues are not being and have never been addressed, educators at every level have designed a curriculum to study this. Problem is, it’s really just a theory, and one that isn’t applied in a manner that addresses any changes.

Because of the perception of racism being ingrained everywhere, it’s being blamed for minorities being behind in education; it’s the culprit that has led to sentencing disparities in criminal cases; it’s the cause listed for income rates being less for minorities; it’s even being blamed for higher rates of illness and lower life expectancies for minorities.

Similar programs such as DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) exist precisely because there continues to be a perception of injustice, and while this, CRT and other programs are currently grass-roots level, if the trend continues, the government will begin mandating equity. Affirmative Action is a primary example of the government mandating equality, yet as always, there will be no equality when one group is knocked down to prop up others.

That there is the rub. These programs, while probably well-meaning, perpetuate racism by their very existence. If you continue to dissect society into its relative parts, then society will continue to look at each other in that manner, and people like Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Michelle Obama and the like will continue to hustle race issues.

From the top down, any reference to race, religion, etc., just needs to go away. There’s no need for race questions on job applications, grant applications or the annual Census.

Children, and even adults, can be taught respect, and learning about the sins of the past as a cautionary tale will provide context and information and not stoke the fires of discrimination. Continuing down that path will instead put targets on the backs of people who are not minorities, and the process begins anew.

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By Ricky Sylestine

In 1987, the United State Supreme Court issued its seminal decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, in which the Court found that because California state law regulated but did not prohibit gaming, tribes in California could offer gaming on their lands free from the state’s regulatory scheme. In response to the Cabazon decision, in 1988, the United States Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”), the regulatory structure under which nearly 240 tribes in 28 states have been offering gaming on their federal trust lands for over 35 years.

Although the traditional Kickapoo Tribe of Texas has operated a gaming facility in Eagle Pass under IGRA since the mid-1990s, a 1994 decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the other two federally recognized tribes in Texas, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (Pueblo), were not permitted to game under IGRA and the two Nations could only offer gaming that strictly followed Texas’ gaming laws and regulations.

Last June, the United States Supreme Court found that Congress intended to only bar the Pueblo from offering gaming activities Texas fully prohibited. Where Texas merely regulates a game, like it does with bingo, the Court ruled that the Pueblo – and therefore the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas – could offer the game. Further, the Court determined that Congress did not provide for state regulatory jurisdiction over tribal gaming. This was a massive victory for our tribe because the Supreme Court affirmed our right to offer electronic bingo – the game we have offered at Naskila Casino for seven years.

What the Supreme Court left unclear is whether that gaming is subject to regulation under IGRA. Legislation clarifying once and for all that we are under IGRA has passed the House of Representatives twice unanimously, but Texas Senator John Cornyn has blocked passage of the legislation, asserting that he is doing so at the behest of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. It is disappointing that Cornyn and Abbott, both former state attorneys general, cannot see that our tribe should be under the same regulatory framework as others.

In fact, last November Governor Abbott sent a letter to Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell asking that they not permit the Senate to vote on the legislation placing the Nations under IGRA. Abbott asserted that placing the Nations under IGRA will lead to expansion of gaming in Texas, an expansion that would violate the right of Texas to determine the scope of gaming within its borders. Such a claim is misleading at best. If the Nations were placed under IGRA, we would be permitted to offer the same electronic bingo they are currently offering, which is the same form of bingo the Kickapoo Tribe has offered in Eagle Pass since 1994. Under IGRA, the only way that the Nations can offer any other form of gaming, for example Las Vegas style gaming, is pursuant to a Tribal/State gaming compact. So long as Texas is unwilling to negotiate such a gaming compact, we will be limited to playing electronic bingo.

The governor knows this to be true since he and his predecessors in the governor’s mansion have steadfastly refused to negotiate a gaming compact with the Kickapoo Tribe for decades. Unfortunately, we cannot get a fuller explanation from him because for years he has refused to meet with our tribal leaders in person.

If the governor is sincere in his concern that the current gaming footprint in Texas does not expand, he should want to ensure that the tribe and Pueblo are covered under IGRA. Under the decisions in the Eastern District of Texas and the Supreme Court, we can offer any gaming that is not otherwise strictly prohibited under Texas law. If Texas permits the expansion of gaming in the future under the current state of the law, the Nations will be free to offer that same gaming and to do so without regard to state regulation. Additionally, it is IGRA that limits tribes to gaming on land it held in trust prior to Oct. 17, 1988. If the Nations are not subject to that restriction, we will be able to offer gaming on any land held in trust. For example, we have land in Leggett that is presently eligible for gaming purposes but would not be eligible if we were under IGRA.

In asking to be placed under IGRA, we are willingly surrendering some of our sovereign rights regarding gaming. Further, such legislation ensures that Texas will have a say if the Nations wish to expand the type of games they offer and IGRA will limit the location of that gaming. If Abbott continues his unprincipled opposition to legislation clarifying that the Nations are eligible to game under IGRA, there may come a time when the tribe and Pueblo decide to fully exercise our gaming rights as established by the federal courts.

Ricky Sylestine is Chairman of the Tribal Council of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.

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Summers seemed to last forever as a child. And when it was time for school to resume, I was usually ready, if for no other reason than to see my friends and talk about what we did all summer. As an adult, summer seems to fly by in the blink of an eye. We’ve barely bought the daughter a new swimsuit and then it’s already time to go back-to-school shopping for supplies and clothes.

We typically take numerous small trips throughout the year. We’ve found that this helps keep our batteries charged so to speak and avoid burnout from work, school and other obligations. We’re talking about going on a family vacation this summer, one where we actually take a whole week off from work and go somewhere out of state. We don’t have many summers left with our daughter so it seems all the more crucial.

All this talk of traveling and the various things to see and do when traveling has me reminiscing about some of the really neat, funky refurbished downtown squares we’ve seen in our travels throughout the state – Denton, Georgetown, McKinney, Bastrop, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Taylor. And then I realized they shared a common denominator. All of these towns are designated Main Street Communities.

Not familiar with Main Street Communities? Under the umbrella of the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Main Street Program was born of the belief that downtown revitalization is a crucial tool for enhancing the economic and social health of a community. In addition to being the most visible indicator of community pride and economic health, the historic downtown is also the foundation of the unique heritage of a community. The historic buildings in a downtown are prime locations for the establishment of unique entrepreneurial businesses and can also be tourism attractors, all of which add to the community’s sales tax collections and property values.

A community’s unique historic resources are valuable and the appropriate preservation of these resources contributes to the community’s overall economic, social and cultural vitality. And these are just a few of the reasons why preservation is so important.

The Texas Historical Commission annually designates the month of May as Preservation Month. Preservation Month acknowledges the mission across the country to cultivate a love of historic places, to help others understand the importance of saving history and to demonstrate the importance of saving real places that tell real stories.

During the month of May, members of the Polk County Historical Commission placed “Preservation Matters” signs throughout the county where buildings or homes have been preserved, including structures that are in the process of being restored or needing restoration.

I can’t help but chuckle about the fact that our daughter was well into her teens before she realized that not everyone went to museums and historic sites on their vacations. Following that revelation, the outings she had enjoyed immensely over the course of her childhood now seemed like drudgery. But that’s okay. We’ve seen her love of history, and appreciation for it, blossom considerably in recent years. And I can’t help but think that part of that is due to her visits to the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, the Texas Capitol, the Alamo, San Marcos Springs and The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Inner Space Cavern in Georgetown, Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco, the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, NASA, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Kerrville Arts & Cultural Center, San Antonio Center for Art, the Marfa & Presidio County Museum, the Sue & Frank Mayborn Natural Science and Cultural History Museum Complex in Waco, the Fort Worth Stockyards, the Institute of Texas Cultures in San Antonio, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis and several forts in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

So when you plan your summer vacation, think about visiting historic sites, museums and courthouses. Stroll down main streets and support businesses that invest in the historic fabric of their towns.