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Letters from our readers

Below we post a selection of recent letters to the World Socialist Web Site.

Just wanted to express my appreciation for a very well written article, “US political life 227 years after the Declaration of Independence,” by the editorial board on 4 July 2003.

I will certainly pass this around and hopefully wake up a few sheep in the process. We are at a point where it does not matter whether one lives in Zimbabwe, Ireland, US or Canada (where I live), we all need to act against these multinational ruling elitists. Your “President” G.W. has to be removed ASAP for the sake of the entire planet. I totally agree with you as well about how the two-party system is a ruse to deceive the American people into thinking they actually have a choice.

I say, no more countries, no more capitalism, we need to create a truly “New System.” The first thing we need to do is to take the power away from the banks. Turn banks into non-profit organizations, return to a gold/silver-backed currency. Simultaneously, we need to work on the environment. Blow the dust off of the excellent and innovative plans for alternative energy sources. I am certain that taking those first steps is paramount in saving the planet and the people living upon it. The disease we call the ruling elite must be treated immediately.

Unfortunately almost every American and Canadian has their chubby faces pressed up against the boob-tube to absorb the rhetoric and BS that are fed to them by the mainstream media spin doctors. Perhaps G.W.’s actions will be the wake-up call to the sleeping masses.

I don’t know if there is a God out there to help us or not, but I don’t think we should wait around to find out. The time to act is now.

NR

4 July 2003

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Your July 4, 2003, article “US political life 227 years after the Declaration of Independence” provides a good description of the US political system in which a wealthy few control both major political parties and the mass media, decide policies in secret and then implement these policies by manipulating apparently democratic elections through propaganda. Here is the political formula of the United States: Two party system + bipartisanship = de facto one party system.

ER

4 July 2003

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On “Amid propaganda campaign over Iraq: Guatemala’s mass graves ignored by mass media

Bill Vann’s timely article on the truth of Guatemala is both sad and at the same time enlightening. I read many articles about the horrors perpetrated on the peoples of the world, all around the world, which are totally ignored and supported by the regimes of Washington.

I wonder...are our elected officials in Washington aware of these travesties? I think when you publish these articles that they should be sent also to every member of congress. They should be flooded with the truth on a daily basis on their fax machines and emails. Maybe they will wake up and start to smell the coffee and realize that this country cannot keep going on this way.

Sincerely,

JZ

2 July 2003

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It is about time that the American people start wakening up and demand that our government starts taking care of our own country, which is falling apart. California and other states are going bankrupt, schools are closing due to shortage of money, etc., etc. What is wrong with the American people? Don’t they see that this country is going to hell? Millions of people have no more healthcare insurance and have no money to see doctors etc., many doctors also close their practices as they are fed up with our horrible system !

European people have excellent health care all their lives and do not have to worry about getting old, etc., and going bankrupt. When we talk to Americans here about this, they claim “this is socialism,” not even knowing what socialism is! Our relatives in the Netherlands and Italy have the best care, they do see private doctors and specialists like here and never have to worry about losing all their savings. We are very much behind other countries and keep getting more and more in debt. We live here in California, which is also going broke. Where are the brains of our politicians and the American people?

RD

2 July 2003

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On “The Times’ William Safire: an old Nixon hand covers for Bush’s WMD lies

Safire is quite proud of his close relationship to Sharon and his ability to get inside information on Sharon’s intentions. He often seems to be functioning as a mouthpiece for Sharon.

One of the things uninvestigated about Sharon and his infamous visit to the Temple Mount was his visit to the US just before doing so. This was revealed in a Safire column in connection with noting that he had had lunch with Sharon. Considering that Republicans from the Bush campaign had approached PM Barak in June of 2000 asking that he not reach any agreement with Arafat, a visit by Sharon to the US prior to the march should have raised questions as to whom he visited and why. After all, there is a long-standing close relationship between Likud and the Republicans. No one in the Congress or in the media seemed interested in probing that relationship. No one has been interested in determining what the Republicans were offering Barak in June of 2000 and whether there was a connection between that action, Sharon’s visit to the US, Barak giving Sharon permission to visit the Temple Mount and providing 1,000 protectors, Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount, and Republican efforts to derail the peace process and prevent any accord before the November elections.

This is not a far-fetched conspiracy theory. Nixon in 1968 interfered with the attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in Vietnam. There is ample evidence to conclude that in 1980 the Reagan campaign made a deal with the Iranians to hold the embassy hostages until the election. So, the Republicans have a track record of doing what it takes to win an election even if that results in undermining the US government. Treason is the word for it, but none dare call it treason.

RR

Florida

5 July 2003

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On “Women in the Russian Revolution: The letters of Natalia Sedova to Leon Trotsky

Dear Editor,

Thank you for Vladimir Volkov’s article on Natalia Sedova. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find objective accounts of the lives of the revolutionaries of this era. In the case of Trotsky, the Soviet bureaucracy seems to have devoted considerable time and energy towards demonizing and discrediting him. Thus, most of what has been written about Trotsky is but part of that mountain of lies that constitutes Soviet historiography.

Thatcher’s book clearly falls within this category. It is significant that he has so much confidence in the account of a representative of the repressive monarchical order, which was swept away by the October Revolution. A fellow traveler of Thatcher’s, Robert Service, similarly lends much credence to the accounts of members of the Czarist secret police in making his assessment of Lenin.

Unfortunately for characters such as Thatcher and Service, Trotsky’s predictions about the fate of the Soviet Union have been borne out by events over the last decade and a half. If Trotsky was correct, then it means that socialism is by no means dead. However, Trotsky and Lenin’s philosophical legacy is never examined by such historians. Instead, they resort to the tried and tested method of character assassination. As we all know, there is no shortage of negative information on Trotsky—the generation of such material was virtually a Soviet industry.

The books of charlatans such as Thatcher and Service are characterized by intellectual laziness, a blithe indifference to truth and a penchant for “yellow” journalism. As such, they interlock perfectly with the debased state of popular consciousness and contribute to a task vital to the maintenance of the present order—namely, the promotion of historical amnesia.

The article on Natalia Sedova, although brief, is akin to finding a gem long hidden from public view.

Yours,

EG

4 July 2003

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