The following is a selections of letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.
On “Polls indicate growing dissatisfaction with two parties in US”
I have just finished reading The Swedish Secret, in which an American ex-politico compares the economies of Sweden and the US.
One particular aspect struck me as an effective mechanism in establishing a fairer and more responsive government. In Sweden any party who gets over 4 percent of the vote gets representation in the government. It is amazing that Perot got 19 percent and gained nothing. If the American populace had a more effective way of expressing disapproval, such as a multitude of parties offering different ideas whose coalition would force a more conciliatory view, then we wouldn’t have to worry so much about campaign reform (which seems destined to remain a fond hope).
Time to change our elector representation by allowing any party garnering over 4-5 percent of the vote to be represented in our law-making body. It has the beauty of completely sidestepping the campaign finance issue, and as such, would have absolutely no chance of enactment. But we can hope, can’t we (in as much as we have nothing else)?
KS
30 July 2006
On “US-Israeli war aim is to annihilate Lebanon”
Your article is illuminating and correct. The Balfour Agreement between Rothschild and Balfour was designed in part to purge Britain of its radical leftist Jews and position them under right-wing leadership in Palestine to control the oil-rich lands Great Britain was then in the process of detaching from the Ottoman empire, six years after Churchill had converted Great Britain’s Navy from coal to oil. The Zionist collaboration with the Nazis to save a thousand Hungarian elite by sacrificing a million common Jews is well-known hidden history. (See Ben Hecht’s Perfidy and Lenni Brenner’s Zionism in the Age of Dictators.) Zionist patriarch Jabotinsky warmly embraced Hitler’s program by stating explicitly that it (at last!) sanctioned Zionism taking the same path in Palestine. The Jewish people, as people, mattered little except as they served the Zionist ends.
The expansionist Zionists have remained in power in Israel, despite periodic setbacks. See Ben Gurion’s February 27, 1954 letter to Moishe Sharett advising the destruction of Lebanon by provoking chaos and civil war to install a Maronite Christian fascist rule congenial to Zionist aims, which the comparatively decent Sharett declined. See also Mossad’s PNAC for Israel in 1982 anticipating the energy crisis by carving an imperial role for itself in the Middle East by Googling “Oded Yinon,” who authored the plan.
Regards,
MG
Los Angeles, California, US
5 August 2006
* * *Another excellent analysis. Israel is not a nation without defined borders. It is covered in Genesis 18:15, from the Nile to the Euphrates and is endorsed by Christian fundamentalists, the Orthodox, and allegedly secular Israeli political leaders. There is also the question of Lebanon as an economic rival for international investment. You mention the coveting of the Litani, which is an existing dispute and the Israeli practice of seizing economic resources (the water rights of the Palestinians, for example). A peaceful undevastated Lebanon has a long history of financial and business knowledge, and because of its beauty has always been a desirable tourist destination. It also has a highly educated workforce and some 40 colleges and universities. Lebanon has been called the Switzerland of the Middle East and Beirut the Paris of the Middle East. Israel has many economic problems and income disparities. It needs foreign investment to create the jobs necessary for immigrants. It needs to expand its tourism beyond the religious. If you were an investor, wouldn’t a peaceful multi-religious and cosmopolitan Lebanon be more attractive than a religious state in constant conflict with its neighbors?
BR
Orange Park, Florida, US
5 August 2006
On the Socialist Equality Party (US) election campaign
I hope that the Socialist Equality Party can have some effect upon the political culture wherever they have representation. Unfortunately, in this neck of the woods it is highly unlikely. However, as a committed socialist for as long as I can remember I retain my optimism that this world will be a better place when there is a progressive socialist culture in the daily lives of the peoples of this planet.
It lifts my spirit to know that there is party which is representative of the people who are at the present time disenfranchised by the mainstream parties that are dominating the so-called democracies. I hope that they can make some effect upon the consciousness of people who are disenfranchised and seriously at risk of being obliterated by the forces of mainstream banality and the tentacles of a system so far removed from any grain of humanitarian values. I offer my support to their efforts to awaken the peoples of this world and hope that the possibility of a better world can be promoted through their efforts and commitment. I wish that this could become a normal approach to the troubles of this world.
FH
Perth, Australia
26 July 2006
On “Germany joins US, British, Israeli axis of aggression”
I would like to suggest that you see the documentary called Why we fight, by filmmaker Jarecki. I was impressed by the way it seemed to allow for all voices from the full spectrum of perspectives to be heard in such an open way. I thought at first it would wimp out of telling the truth about things, but ultimately it was very effectively communicating the absurdity of war. We desperately need more of this kind of journalism in order to affect the people who are still straddling the fence—which unfortunately seems to be most people.
Sincerely,
EJ
4 August 2006
On “25 years since the PATCO strike: A historical turning point in the class struggle”
Your article hit the nail right on the head regarding PATCO and unionism. The middle class of this country will be destroyed eventually and discrimination against the PATCO air controllers by the government still continues. I know this beyond any doubt, as I was fired in August 1981 while on vacation. It took vacationing controllers two to three years to win their jobs back, but I never won because I was embroiled in a forged documents case and the government never admitted to forgery, so I lost my job forever. At the time I could not afford private representation by an attorney, therefore because I did not have the time and money that the US government did, I lost my profession for life.
I am more American than most Americans, and it’s a true pity that they are all so greedy that they have lost sight of what America really should and could be, but they are too busy chasing a dollar trying to get by, when their focus should be on what their politically mandated representatives are doing to destroy their very way of life. It is so sad, and I’m glad that I hopefully won’t be around too much longer to see this nation brought to its knees and destroyed like what happened to the Romans.
Thanks for your truthfulness in the press, as much as it hurt my heart to read about it all again.
RL
Naperville, Illinois, US
5 August 2006
On “Fighting in eastern Sri Lanka spreads to the town of Mutter”
Your article on the above subject tells the true story to the whole world and pinpoints the double standard of the Sri Lankan government and its allies, who are interested in war and not peace. The people—Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils—in the area are paying a heavy price because of an unworthy government running the daily affairs from Colombo.
SS
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
4 August 2006
On “US steps up provocations against Cuba amid speculation on Castro’s health”
I have thought the US blockade around Cuba never made sense. One would think that the government would have thought to corrupt the Castro government from the inside, like the US did with Europe, or take advantage of it, much like the US did with China. Instead, the US prevented mostly Americans from going to Cuba. For a while I have thought this made sense only because the US realized there were enough Americans of leftist persuasion who would, if they could have, gone to Cuba and just given the Cuban people all the money and support they ever would have needed. Without the blockade, the US knew Castro would have had a much more successful trouble-free country. Hence the need to blockade Americans from Cuba.
SA
3 August 2006
On “The pope and the Catholic Church mobilise against the Spanish government”
Thank you for the report on the visitation of the Pope to Spain and the attacks on the government by Catholic elements. We should never forget the alliance of the Papacy and the Franco Regime. It is useful to be reminded of the irrational and surrealistic nature of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Give them an inch and they will take a foot. Look at their position on Liberation Theology in Latin America. When they start using “humanistic rhetoric” you know that they are just biding their time.
RLB
Bradenton, Florida, US
1 August 2006
On “Australian Alcoa workers strike over toxic emissions”
I am baffled by reading this. I work for Alcoa CSI Kilore, Texas. Unlike this plant, we deal with plastic injection. This problem doesn’t directly affect me, but it makes me feel as if Alcoa isn’t a responsible company. They inform us that we make an extra effort to please OSHA and other regulators. They tell us we set the bar. Seeing how this problem was ignored and pushed aside by Alcoa makes me outraged. I do not want one Alcoa plant to reflect the negativity on all Alcoa plants. I’m ashamed to work for a company that would not fix the problem, especially when the problem is dealing with health of its workers and others. I think the top dogs at Alcoa need to address the problem immediately.
AG
Kilgore, Texas, US
31 July 2006