Letters to the Editor
ELYDOG
Published Letters: 498 Editor's Choice: 43
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Can you say Union?
[Read the article: "The Trap"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the article hit the nail on the head. Both my children are having a hard time just making a living.
The key here is this ruling class doesn't want too many educated people. That is why college tuition is going up, to restrict access.
I worked for 20 years in factories, and got laid off a lot, and now I've worked about 10 years in white collar legal life. I'm not an activist anymore because there is no mass movement in the workplace. I was one up to a few years ago. I will get fired and I'm getting old.
The only avenue I see is unions, and that is what young people should be organizing. Unions. Stop being scared. With stronger unions, we can re-build a working class movement that can make the government and the crappy main parties sit up and take notice. Right now it is possible that the rulers in the U.S. are weaker than they've been for years. With the war and the economy and the environment, they have created a hole for themselves. Let's put them in it.
Unions.
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Evolution ... in thinking
[Read the article: The Senate says "Om," Part 2]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been thinking that the battle between rightist religion and reason is actually a battle for the survival of the human species, or at least for parts of it.
If physical characteristics allow people to surivive in the world, so do social or intellectual characteristics. These can be life and death questions.
Rightist religions and 'faith' are actually 'memes' of earlier, more primative time periods, but they still exist today. They are engangering the planet and the human species through denial of science re global climate change, and instead a focus on 'Armaggedon.' They promote war, ignore poverty, they oppress women almost universally, they abuse animals usually, they ignore science related to AIDS and premartial sex, they promote ethnic rivalries, etc.
Religion is a glue that socially sticks certain 'tribes' together, and might have had some survival value in more primative times. However, when the 'tribe' or 'national' form is outdated, and we as a species have to adopt a 'world' form of thinking to surivive well in this world, they no longer correspond to survival.
The battle of 'memes' is the same as the battle of the opposable thumb versus the paw. The desparation that religion is having now I think is a sign of it's impending demise, not it's survial.
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Catholic Church
[Read the article: The Senate says "Om," Part 2]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unfortunately, contempt for other religions is not limited to the pentacostalists. The pope has recently announced having masses in Latin again, then followed it up with a missive denouncing Protestantism! Ratzinger was on the extreme right in the Church, of course.
The Anglican Church of England responded mutely to the denunciation of Prostestantism, because they got some kind words within it. If they would just agree to have Ratzinger as Pope again, they could reunite... Prior to that the Church of England endorsed the teaching of 'intelligent design' in the schools in England.
The U.S. Catholic hierarchy has blocked with members of the U.S. fundamentalist right for several years to oppose the right of abortion, same sex marriage or unions, homosexuality, contraceptives, etc. They are actually now doing this in Poland too.
So they bury the hatchet, then sink it back in!
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Succession
[Read the article: U.S. to merge with Mexico and Canada?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We in the north, the left coast and the west should succeed from the union with the old south and join Canada. That would leave the most reactionary part of the United States still run by a corporate "oilogarchy", much like the Confederate planters of yore, but it would get them off our back. We'd of course send aid to our comrades in Austin and Atlanta and New Orleans, and the black folks trapped in "Dixie."
I'm from Minnesota and I'd much rather join Canada then join with the Southern U.S.
The long range plan IS a union of sorts, with the U.S. businessmen trying to call the shots. We should have union, but it should not be run by businessman. The real issue is, why would anyone want to merge with Mexico, right? After we exported millions of blue collar jobs and closed down many factories in the U.S. through NAFTA, (No thanks to Bill Clinton or the Republicans - it was 'bi-partisan) now we are raping the Mexican economy through NAFTA's rules on agriculture, and exporting their jobs to China. We have helped destroy the small farmer base of their agriculture, and flooded them with WAL-Marts.
So Mexicans have no choice but to get out of their poor country, a country the rich in the U.S. had a hand in helping rape. And they come here. Makes perfect sense. If you don't 'like' Mexico or Mexicans, then support the overthrow of their slavishly pro-US whore government, and put in the PRD. They will at least improve things for the actual people, and tell the U.S. to take a hike. That will indeed slow immigration, AND slow down poverty. Mexico needs another Hugo Chavez, not more 'suits' running it.
The same people raping Mexico are those who destroyed the U.S. industrial economy, and instead put 'financial services' in control. And folks, it was bi-partisan. And these people still rule America.
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Actually, most violence is against 'coalition troops.'
[Read the article: Leave the Muslim world alone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Victoria,
While the media reports this is nothing but a 'sectarian bloodbath' the vast majority of the violence is against U.S. and other troops, and against the puppet Iraqi army and police.
The sectarian part of the violence is a far second.
So this laughable stuff about 'leftists' seeing the obvious is very complimentary. Actually, even Republicans see the obvious now.
Muslim political terrorists have to be fought with 'intelligence' - and I mean that in all ways. Invading a country is the fool's way to do it. And, actually, if Iraq wasn't sitting on the largest pool of UNEXPLORED oil in the world, I doubt there would have been an invasion.
You notice we didn't invade North Korea! No oil there, of course.