Letters to the Editor
alexgl
Published Letters: 6 Editor's Choice: 1
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Plato
[Read the article: I dream of living a heroic life but I fear I'm just mediocre]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From The Myth of Er in "The Republic"
There he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus choosing the life of a swan out of enmity to the race of women, hating to be born of a woman because they had been his murderers; he beheld also the soul of Thamyras choosing the life of a nightingale; birds, on the other hand, like the swan and other musicians, wanting to be men. The soul which obtained the twentieth lot chose the life of a lion, and this was the soul of Ajax the son of Telamon, who would not be a man, remembering the injustice which was done him the judgment about the arms. The next was Agamemnon, who took the life of an eagle, because, like Ajax, he hated human nature by reason of his sufferings. About the middle came the lot of Atalanta; she, seeing the great fame of an athlete, was unable to resist the temptation: and after her there followed the soul of Epeus the son of Panopeus passing into the nature of a woman cunning in the arts; and far away among the last who chose, the soul of the jester Thersites was putting on the form of a monkey.
There came also the soul of Odysseus having yet to make a choice, and his lot happened to be the last of them all. Now the recollection of former tolls had disenchanted him of ambition, and he went about for a considerable time in search of the life of a private man who had no cares; he had some difficulty in finding this, which was lying about and had been neglected by everybody else; and when he saw it, he said that he would have done the had his lot been first instead of last, and that he was delighted to have it.
The full context can be found here: http://www.davidson.edu/academic/classics/neumann/CLA350/ErMyth.html
I still remember this passage from several years back when I read The Republic in school. It seemed relevant.
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Let's be clear
[Read the article: Should there be an Office on Men's Health?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Only in average life expectancy do men live 5 years less than women. The key word is average. Young men die in disproportionately high numbers compared to women, and as a result this lowers the AVERAGE life expectancy for men. Make it to 60 and it doesn't matter if you are a man or woman, your chances of making it to 80 are very similar.
This is especially true for minority men, who have dramatically lower life expectancies than any other demographic. Wonder why?
This is not a gender issue. It is a socio-economic issue. A class issue. Just going out on a limb here, but regardless of race, gender, or any other factor, I would be willing to bet that income is the single biggest factor in determining life expectancy. So fear not, rich white men of the world, the world you have created and continue to run will no doubt continue to serve your interests above and beyond all others.
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Oswald
[Read the article: Awaiting Mexico abortion vote]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know if what you are saying is accurate or not. My gut feeling is not, but looking around (briefly) on google, I didn't really find much on wealth and gender in the US. The average net worth of households headed by women is significantly lower than the net worth of married couples or men, but since most of the wealth is concentrated in the top percentage of the population, averages don't tell us much.
However, if true, it underscores what I was thinking as I read the Ms. article. Much of the tax code is not so much biased against women as it is biased against the poor and biased towards business. Women are greatly affected because they are generally poorer than men, but minorities are also affected. But even so, there are millions of people of all colors, sexes, ages, etc that are extremely poor, and the tax system is quite regressive towards them. Pro-family tax measures would generally be anti-business, and the tax code is designed to do anything but hurt business.
I think the critiques in the article are very true, and the ideas for fixing the system are great, and would no doubt affect a great many women for the positive. I just think the regressive nature of the tax system hurts a great many people and shouldn't be considered a strictly feminist issue. That said, the disparity of wealth in this country is out of control, and the more people who think this is an important issue the better.
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Most likely illegal firing...
[Read the article: I was fired because I was the fall guy. What do I say in interviews?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I was fired on a pretext, but my supervisor made it plain that I was taking the blame for a costly accident, which might not have occurred if he had given me training I had asked for (and that the company requires)."
So basically they violated their own policy to force you to work in a situation you were not trained for, and then punish you for it? Hogwash!
Companies cannot violate internal policy to put you in a bad situation and then blame you and fire you for an accident. My previous job was in HR counseling managers who wanted to do just that sort of thing. A firing under those circumstances would expose the company to serious liability. From the few details you have shared, you have an extremely solid case against your former company. If they paid you severance and you took it, you probably signed some agreement that may limit your options, but I would suggest giving an employment lawyer a call, just to see what they have to say.
Much better to be able to say you were fired illegally then to offer up convaluted explanations. Plus you might be able to take a nice long paid vacation to sooth the spirits :)