Letter: Being wealthy doesn’t count as hardship
Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 25, 2026
Editor,
A few weeks ago, several letters complaining of the regular appearance of Fred Wilferth’s letters to the editor were published. The editor informed readers that most submissions to this page are published, implying that others should write more often.
Sadly, to start the weekend, on Saturday in the Whidbey News-Times and South Whidbey Record another of Mr. Wilferth’s letters appeared, this one bizarre in its praise of prisons and insane asylums.
His main gripe, however, is this: “just because you want something, it is not incumbent on someone else to pay for it.” As usual, Mr. Wilferth doesn’t like what democracy can bring to his doorstep.
My appreciation of democracy is that our representatives vote for things, then we all chip in to pay, whether we like every item or not. Many people don’t like the level of military spending or subsidies to large companies; others don’t want to pay for public schools. Some have a libertarian “philosophy” of very limited government. Myself, I refer to the Constitution Preamble, worth quoting, I think: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
This does not conform with Mr. Wilferth’s simplistic and bombastic final statement, “But why steal money from people who provide jobs, create wealth for others and make goods we all enjoy. Seems self-centered and greedy to me.” In fact, I know of nothing in the Constitution that says we must protect one individual’s wealth before another’s, nor where we the people must forgo our joint idea of “a more perfect Union.” Lots of flexibility there. It is not stealing. It is lawful taxation, a price I’m willing to pay as a voting citizen of this country, even if those with money to contribute to campaigns are first in line for benefits.
Most all of us work, thus creating jobs for each other. We all contribute to our economy, some in business formation, some in raw material supply, some in (pick any occupation), etc. There is no special, worthy class that should make the decisions on how we as a nation collectively choose to spend the resources jointly created, even though some acquire more than others through their chosen labor. And having wealth hardly counts as a hardship, especially when inherited, as so much is.
Since the issue addressed by Mr. Wilferth is our money, I hope his next letter gives us insight into the selling of personal favors and acceptance of bribes by Trump, why an unnecessary (to our country) war was begun and who is profiting off it. So much corruption, so little attention from Mr. Wilferth. And, of course, the Epstein Files.
Finally, to those who wrote to complain about Mr. Wilferth, I suggest channeling Mr. Ed of television fame whenever a Wilferth letter appears and say to themselves “Oh, Wilferth.”
John Seyfried
Bayview
Editor,
After years enduring Mr Wilferth’s undying support for MAGA and all the lies and misinformation they have produced over the years, when he stated that trickle down economics and billionaires make jobs, I knew he had finally gone over the edge.
Mike Van Voorst
Oak Harbor
Editor.
I just have to give a positive shout out to WhidbeyHealth. I have had two emergency situations in the last year and a half. Both times I have received incredibly wonderful care first by the EMTs and then the first time I was met at the hospital by Dr. Perera. He took immediate action ordering a CAT scan which showed a sinus infection, but he took it further requesting an MRI and incidentally showed a tumor in my bladder which turned out to be malignant.
The second time, I had Dr. Werner, and even though it turned out to be a less serious situation, I had the same amazing care by him and the staff.
Carol Fisher
Greenbank
Editor,
It’s good that you published the credibly established effects of excess population density growth to a confined environment. Whidbey Island is our confined environment and we need to protect it.
It’s time to wake up. Healthy, clean, potable water is a critical essential that narrow-minded commercial proponents and developers suppress.
The day also is coming when procreation instincts must be tempered if we’re going to avoid the draconian limits imposed by Famine, Pandemics and War.
China did it their way. We mocked and criticized them for it, but look what it did for them. In a mere decade or two, it brought them from being a “third-world” nation to a leading world power that Donald Trump fears.
Look at us now! We’re slamming our border gates shut trying to stop our own slide into the “third-world.”
We on Washington’s Western Side used to laugh at “global warming” threats, but who will laugh when we get upcoming fire insurance bills?
Al Williams
Oak Harbor
