The following is a selection of recent letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.
On "Second US presidential debate: Obama, McCain offer platitudes in the face of an economic disaster"
You write, "A woman in the audience noted, ‘Selling health care coverage in America as a marketable commodity has become a very profitable industry,' and then asked, ‘Do you believe health care should be treated as a commodity?' The two candidates responded by repeating their rival health care programs, while avoiding the implicit challenge to a profit-based healthcare system."
As the basic necessities of life--food, shelter, health care, energy-are increasingly subject to the whims of capitalism, we see growing numbers of people who are unable to afford the very bodies in which they live, let alone houses. Along with this we are seeing growing unrest, of course, and an increase on the part of the elite top percent of funding for repressive forces to be deployed should the boiling point be reached (such as a battalion of hardened military personnel being assigned to "homeland security" detail in the event of "emergency").
And yet any mention of cutting taxes for the working class and raising those of the upper crust is declared to be "talk of class warfare."
But let us look at who is dying for lack of medical care, who is shooting themselves when they are threatened with foreclosure, who is starving despite working full-time-at where the hits are being taken, and in which direction the guns and "non-lethal" weapons will be aimed. At the administration and complicit congresspeople who have brought this about? At the speculators and owner-class which have enriched themselves at the expense of the workers? No.
The weapons and troops will be deployed against the weakest elements of society-as we saw in the wake of Katrina, as we saw during Kent State, as we have seen during any number of labor disputes. Invariably it is the working class and the students who are in the cross-hairs. Class warfare, indeed.
CS
Portland, Oregon, USA
9 October 2008
On "Iceland faces national bankruptcy"
I guess that what fascinates me most about the banking meltdown in Iceland is how far-flung the effects are, having a major effect in Britain and elsewhere. This country has a population of around 300,000--about the same as the two northwest counties here in Arkansas, one of our least populous states. The Glitner Bank's debt alone would amount to over $100,000 for every person in the country.
TJ
Bentonville, Arkansas, USA
10 October 2008
On "European Union remains paralysed in face of market turmoil"
The US political crisis began with the fraudulent election of George W. Bush, a nefarious attack on democratic principles, as endorsed by the US Supreme Court, so no wonder there is a financial crisis now. If the US government doesn't incarcerate a significant number of white-collar criminals and impound their assets (both from the private and the public sector entrepreneurs and politicians alike, at the highest levels), no monetary bailout will suffice. A moral bailout is what is needed.
FBR
Thailand
8 October 2008
On "Picked to direct Wall Street bailout: Who is Neel Kashkari?"
Excellent article that does not go far enough. The real swindle is the tax havens where all the money is kept in secret accounts. How does Goldman Sachs and Kashkari relate to the tax havens?
T
8 October 2008
On "Wall Street crashes amid signs of global recession"
Your article and WSWS in general are far more focused on the dangerous political and social costs that may metastasize from this inevitable financial crisis, than merely the economic threats that the MSM and all America is frozen in fear by. As WSWS has noted, Europe is far more aware of the political dangers, the greatest of which is a "corporatist Empire" of fascism.
Peter, you correctly note that, "At the root of the explosion of financial manipulation and parasitism is the separation of wealth creation from the creation of real value in the process of production." It should also be clearly explained that the root of this "manipulation and parasitism" is crony capitalism's biggest and most "gamed" market-failure in history---negative externality cost scamming!
Today, Paul Krugman's op-ed in the New York Times suggested that melding European and American financial policies to halt this crisis might lead to a positive solution. However, as I blogged to Krugman, since the position of European social democracies--tending toward socialism, as opposed to the corporatist Empire's "Vichy" facade of democracy in the US--are vastly different in listening to their "working class" and in supporting income equality GINI index policies, it is just as likely that a melding of government financial policies could positively draw America away from financial Empire and toward democratic socialism, or that Europe could be further negatively infected with the American cancer of "corporatist Empire."
AM
Sanford, Maine, USA
10 October 2008
On "Special prosecutor appointed to investigate US attorney firings"
Don Siegelman, former governor of Alabama who was handcuffed and hauled off to solitary confinement for playing an active role in this very ordeal, has recently begun his own campaign to hold Karl Rove accountable. I learned of it when I saw him make an appearance on Free Speech TV with Laura Flanders. Anyone who would care to lend support to this effort can google "Don Siegelman" to find out more.
NV
South Dakota
9 October 2008