Letters to the Editor
dawdler
Published Letters: 108 Editor's Choice: 11
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@chiefpayne - you are fear-mongering.
[Read the article: McCain's gassy tax relief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow - according to you our economy is completely rigid and won't be able to adapt to ANY new conditions and the only acceptable position is status-quo. Anything that causes ANY business to have to adapt is not acceptable?
Ok...let's tax the gasoline. So then, people won't buy that SUV and the automobile business that sells them and makes them goes under - who cares right?
Fear-mongering. Or the auto-maker adapts and makes more fuel-efficient cars.
No more soccer games...too expensive to drive there...so the vendors who make a living out of that go out of business...but who cares, right?
Fear-mongering. Some people keep driving. Others adapt, use transit, car-pool, van-pool, bike, walk. Yes, some people stop going.
So you don't want to buy something online because the transportation costs are too high...can't find it in your local store? TOUGH. Oh and that business that made SO much money online and paid SO much in taxes...forget them...they're toast too!
Fear-mongering. Yes, costs go up. Larger online retailers with good scale will survive. Some smaller ones may be inhibited in the short-term, true. But again, we adapt. New business form that specialize in just order-fulfillment (Amazon is ALREADY doing this). Imaging that?! A new business forming to take advantage of opportunities created by changing market conditions. Noooo - that has never happened in this country.
Oh and too many trucks on the road...well, we'll fix that...just tax them until they can't drive anywhere and have to lose their jobs...but HEY who cares, right?
Fear-mongering. Why is it one extreme or the other? So basically any tax will cause all trucking to cease?
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BTW - CAN WE GET SOME THREADED COMMENTS PLEEEEEEASE!
[Read the article: McCain's gassy tax relief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That is all
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@walter_map re: modern economics
[Read the article: McCain's gassy tax relief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A particular politician's or administration's use of economic theory to further an agenda you don't like does not count as a component of the theory itself.
That's like getting a salary cut and blaming math.
Would love to see some examples of actual economic theory that calls for rapacity.
We all know the Bush administration is anti-science, I would hope that readers of Salon would not be.
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We're not Fertility-obsessed. We're obsessed with having it all.
[Read the article: Feminism is the new funny]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't get Rebecca Traister and Stephanie Zacharek both characterize current US cultuer as "fertility obsessed" and "child-centric".
I think actually the obsession with fertility is not a primary characteristic of our culture at all but rather a reactive symptom to our real obsession which is that many couples seem to feel that they want to have their cake and eat it to. I.e. they want to spend almost 20 years from their twenties to late thirties doing whatever it is they feel like they need to do (amass wealth, earn credentials, become a VP whatever) but they also want kids.
Guess what folks. Fertility goes down with age.
I think our culture is exactly the opposite of how Traister and Zacharek characterize it. We prioritize everything else above children until we're 37 and THEN we have to obsess with fertility because we're NOT FERTILE anymore.
If we, as a culture, were actually obsessed with fertility and child-centric, wouldn't we be having lots of kids in our early twenties?
I make no judgement about whether people SHOULD have kids or not. But let's be honest about our priorities as a culture. We're not child-focused - we're ME-focused until it's almost too late.
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Listen to yourself. But buy my book. HA!
[Read the article: Stop the mommy madness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Another author purporting to free mothers from the parenting-industrial complex.
As long as they buy the book first!
;)
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It's not about Genres it's about QUALITY and the confidence to be CRITICAL
[Read the article: You are not your bookcase]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Megan, you frame the issue as one mainly of genre. Literature vs. Self-Help. I think that's a false choice.
It's about striving for quality and the confidence to be a discerning individual.
The bottom line is we have very little time and there are so many choices. We should all strive to experience the highest quality art, food, whatever because "quality" is shorthand for BETTER. Yes. Better.
So, sticking with the books example - I'd say 80% of books are crap no matter the genre. Further, I'd say "self-help" has a reputation (in my mind) as a low-quality genre all-up. Therefore, I generally ignore it. Not because there may not be a few gems in there, but because compared to literature it's like finding a needle in a haystack.
You CAN be critical and have discerning taste while still being very OPEN to new aesthetics and ideas.
And PS - I think the profiles on social networking sites and such are very "dating" oriented, which I think very much magnifies the phenomenon of "personality/culture heuristics".
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Going through the same thing
[Read the article: If I die, I want my friends to raise my children]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My wife and I are doing similar planning right now and we have a similar situation. We want one of my siblings to take guardianship if something happens to us. But if that sibling is not around or cannot take the responsibility, then next in line are friends -- not the other sibling.
Anyway - it never even occurred to us not to tell our friends what we're thinking about. As a matter of fact, we also plan to tell the sibling who is NOT on the list as well.
You NEED to be open about this to head off any conflict. Including with your siblings! Even if they don't like it. At least they'll know.
Yes, it creates some pressure and sense of obligation.
But these are not normal situations we're talking about here. If both of you die all bets are off in terms of regular, day-to-day feelings and social mores.
If it comes down to it, don't you think good friends would step up? But they need to know.
Also, frankly, i think telling them in advance actually would cement your friendship if anything. What could possibly be a bigger leap of faith and trust than to ask friends to care for your children?