Letters to the Editor
MXC 100*193
Published Letters: 39 Editor's Choice: 5
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A person's worth is their existence.
[Read the article: Why they stunted their daughter's growth]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dataguyx;
So you see a man severely affected with Downs' syndrome and you wonder if his life is worth anything. And yet you go to church! Hasn't seemed to have had much effect in the empathy and compassion department! And if your church membership is worth its salt, presumably they'll all (you included, of course!) help somehow to look after that vulnerable man when his father is gone.
Downs' syndrome people don't need any special equipment or technology to survive. So what do you suggest, just suffocate them at birth? Is the fact that they're not going to be productive members of society really such a big deal? They're still human beings, and the fact they don't perceive or experience life in the same way as you or me is part of what makes life, just life, you know, interesting, painful, sad, funny, unexpected. The worth of a life is very hard to gauge. You can't know the level of consciousness a person experiences, and how they effect the people around them. They can be a great lesson and gift to their parents and care-givers.
Disability's just part of humanity's experience, either through birth defect or acquired later in life, and I think life just wouldn't be as rich, terrible and beautiful if we were all sufffering from the boring affliction know as 'normalism'.
The argument about whether it's right to invest so much money in keeping someone alive when there are so many other pressing medical and educational needs, is a bit difficult, because it kind of assumes that if all the funds you need would be available if only x y and z didn't use it all. I think it's much more complex than that.
Oh, and about the actual subject of the 'pillow angel's' surgery, it seems a bit creepy, but the reasons do make sense.
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First get a life, develop your talent, then consider writing!
[Read the article: The best-laid plans]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This sort of stuff really belongs to a blog. I'm surprised it was published. The writer is a competent enough writer, but being a competent-enough writer isn't really grounds for writing a memoir-type book, unless you've lived an unusual life, or are a very unusual person. I found this to be kind of trite and twee, a very 'so-what?' sort of read. Why bother to waste trees when you've nothing worth saying?
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One Good Man Still Standing.
[Read the article: Seduced by the Dalai Lama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What more can the Dalai Lama do? He's a leader in exile, and even his photo isn't allowed to be displayed in Tibet. His people are ruled by tyranny, and it's a very strong tyrant. The Dalai Lama has said he'll talk directly to the Chinese regime, and is appealing to the world to put pressure on China to stop the oppression and cultural genocide of his people. What will the world do? In real, meaningful terms, diddly squat is what it'll do. Because its own interests are at stake, because Politics means swallowing ones principles and morals if it's for the economic benefit of its citizens. So the Dalai Lama stands out like a beacon on a dark night, because he doesn't take the narrow nationalist view, he takes a long term humanitarian view. Resistance, especially violent resistance, isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially if the oppressors are armed and determined. After all, have the Palestinians, for example, gained anything, really?
Would it have made any difference if he'd asked the Tibetans to resist? How can those poor people, with so few resources, win against such a brutal regime? The Dalai Lama has done his best to raise Tibet's profile, and disseminate the teachings of compassion and peace. So please, let there be One Good Man left who still preaches non-violence, and walks the talk.
In the meantime, a lot can happen. It's the Olympics soon.
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moon cups and magick.
[Read the article: Is your vagina magic?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I saw an advert for moon cups today. They work like magic. For vaginas. I think they'd they'd go well with snowflakes.
By the way, I think the pimp man was meaning 'magick', not 'magic'. So we should all be having a different discussion. A Darke one.
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Publicity's the key
[Read the article: Modern slaves]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm surprised Benjamin Skinner got away with posing as a slave buyer; looks too clean-cut and wholesome by far, but kudos to him, that's one book that was really worth writing, though I think it will make harrowing reading.
The fact that modern day slavery has so many different faces of is one of the reasons that people aren't that aware of it. Some of the Gulf Arab states, for example are unbelievably evil when it comes to poor migrant workers, coming from Asia and Africa, who are treated essentially as slave labour. Their stories are chilling. I hope Benjamin covered this scandal in his book.
Some of the forms of slavery just beggar belief, like generations of Indian families in debt over what was originally the equivalent of a few cents. Who are all these people who enslave others? What on earth makes them so blind to human suffering?
I think that world-wide access to education is one of the keys to ending poverty and slavery. That and access to a global audience via the internet and other media, publicising and if necessary naming and shaming the perpetrators will help to eradicate this. This issue really needs to be aired.
I hope Benjamin's book gets maximum publicity and is sold all over the world.