Two points to add to Bruce Gagnon’s Aug. 10 critique of Bath Iron Works’ request for tax breaks (“Maine Voices: A new tax break for BIW would be corporate welfare we can’t afford“):

• We (as in “we the people”) want Bath Iron Works to succeed as a major employer of men and women building wind turbines, rail cars, hospital ships — all sorts of products that lead to a sustainable future.

We are weary of the war machine and of the huge and wealthy corporations that keep it fueled with destroyers and drones and machine guns and missile “defense” — all the secrecy and violence that prevent the security of the United States. We live on a spinning sphere whose health we all depend upon for life and breath.

• You and I need to stand up and be counted.

This tax break will go the way of the usual corporate request unless enough of us tell the city of Bath we want our taxes to fund public education, care for the elderly, small farms and businesses, innovations in alternative energy, rail transport and distribution of locally grown food.

Can we make our voices heard loudly and clearly enough to stir a big, open discussion? Or do we shrug it off?

It’s the future of our children.

Rosalie Paul is a resident of Georgetown.