The following is a selection of recent letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.
On “Australian government unilaterally detains doctor after court agrees to bail”
I have just been reading your excellent article about the Indian doctor who is being mistreated badly by the Howard Government in Australia. Your website is always fascinating to read because it is so factual. It’s nearly always like reading reports from highly qualified, literate lawyers, rather than ordinary journalists.
RM
Adelaide, Australia
17 July 2007
***This represents a precedent of what the government is capable of doing by walking over the same legal system they appear to defend so vehemently. It is rather scary in regards to human rights and personal safety. Are they trying to scare us all? The government pretends to be democratic when it pleases their current political agenda, but dramatically changes in an instant its pretend stance about democracy when it fits their election tactics.
Where is their regard for human life? The government does not hesitate to inflict “collateral damage” to obtain its petty political gains. What is also disturbing is this time, they did not even wait to get “better evidence.” It gets me thinking how desperate they are, and how nasty they can get. What is it about our current “democratic system” that allows this to happen? It reminds me of a novel I am reading set in the times of an absolute monarchy in 1830, where the absolute prince could just change the legal system so as to fit his current political aims. It also reminds me of the dictatorships in Latin America.
ET
17 July 2007
On “Georgia parole board issues 90-day stay of execution for death row inmate”
I have read about Mr. Davis’s possible execution without evidence of committing the crime for which he is accused, and am aware of the many similar cases in which people have been executed and found innocent afterwards. I am writing to support Mr. Davis’s human right to be given the chance to defend himself in any possible way and to ask the jury to accept any evidence of innocence that anybody can contribute to in this case. I support the abolition of this horrible way of punishment, since it has been proven to have killed many innocent men and women in the US. Nobody has the right to take away somebody else’s life.
MG
Edmonton, Canada
17 July 2007
***There are arguments for and against the death sentence. It allows innocent people to be legally murdered by the state, via false evidence and witnesses and crooked police. Why are people who give false evidence, including police, not charged with attempted murder of innocent people? On the other hand, what is the appropriate thing to do with people who commit murder and assassination? One thing is sure, dead people can’t be brought back to life again. It remains an unsolvable problem.
FS
17 July 2007
On “US: Public television airs discussion on presidential impeachment”
Bill Moyers was part of an administration, the Johnson administration, that involved the United States in a war against a country that had not attacked the US. And entry into that war was justified by a lie: The Gulf of Tonkin incident. That Moyers steered the discussion of reasons for impeaching Bush away from his getting this country into an unprovoked war via a pack of lies is self-serving. He wishes to avoid having to answer for his own participation in a criminal enterprise.
LG
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
18 July 2007
On “Bush prepares new Iraq escalation as congressional Democrats blather on”
I have criticized you in the past, but will definitely say that, within the limits of your perspective and tendency, you do seem lately to be up to the challenge of the times. The subject article is an excellent case in point.
RJ
18 July 2007
On “A letter on a forum with Norman Mailer and Günter Grass”
It was so gratifying to read the remark that art schools have so many “possibilities” today, and that people with a lack of talent are so widespread. It reminds me of the function of schools of education, among other venues, to give untalented, mediocre people a sheepskin which allows them to write a lot of crap about educational issues and do harm in schools.
RLB
Bradenton, Florida, USA
18 July 2007
On “Privatizing the rain: The Big Sellout—a documentary film by Florian Opitz”
One recurring argument against socialism goes along the lines of, “Over the course of the 20th century the ideology that was communism caused the deaths of some 100 million people.” Yet how many deaths are caused by capitalism in the quest for profits? It’s one thing to provide goods and services for a price. It’s something else again when people are left to die Darwinian-style. How many capitalist ideologists would be honest enough to say, “If people can’t produce enough to get money, then they deserve to die”? Or are honest enough to argue that, if during the 21st century 200 million die from capitalist reforms where poor people starve amidst plenty, then it’s somehow “natural” or “the poor deserved it because they’re too lazy and not motivated enough”?
SG
Australia
17 July 2007