Views in brief
The violence of the system
I WANT to applaud Matthis Chiroux for his brave comments regarding the Fort Hood shooting ("Where the violence came from").
In terrible incidents where individuals resort to violence against other workers and oppressed people, I think many progressives and radicals hesitate to blame the system. It's easy for the mainstream and the right to dominate the airwaves and push the "common sense" explanation for tragic incidents. Individuals are blamed and demonized. Bigotry is stoked. The idea of putting our trust and our safety in the hands of the authorities is shoved down our throats.
To have a radical analysis of these tragedies is desirable and absolutely necessary. If we do not get to the root of the problem, similar tragedies will probably occur in the future. The root is our violent capitalist system. The system drives countries into war; the system relies on racism to justify mass slaughter; the system prioritizes putting guns in soldiers' hands over giving medical and psychological help.
Would we continue to have such incidents if we stopped these imperialist wars, ended racist discrimination and created a fully funded universal health care system?
In the aftermath of a tragedy, the left should not hesitate to make a stand and decry an insane system. Thank you Socialist Worker.org, Matthis Chiroux, and the Fort Hood Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against War for speaking a hard truth.
Alessandro Tinonga, Oakland, Calif.
How Wal-Mart stole Christmas
WAL-MART JUST just fired hundreds of workers hired for the holiday rush. These workers had hopes of having a little money (emphasis on little) to help get through the holidays. This company needs to be exposed for its cruel and inhumane treatment of workers across the country.
As a national organizer with the American Federation of Government Employees, I am appalled that any company operating globally, as Wal-Mart does, can get away with treating people--the people who have to shop there because of the wages they pay--like they don't matter.
This needs to be brought to the attention of the folks who shop at these stores so they can see where their hard-earned dollars are going. Shame on Wal-Mart. Merry Christmas to all those poor folks who were lied to once again by one of the biggest companies of our time.
Bob Duggan, national organizer, American Federation of Government Employees
I'm leaving too
REGARDING "WHY I'm leaving the Democrats": I, too, am leaving.
A social-democratic agenda would be a great thing for the Democrats to adopt, but clearly, for decades, what has been and is important to them is the success of the party at any cost. With the addition of the "Blue Dogs," especially with the outcome of the 2006 elections, they are essentially indistinguishable from the Republicans.
What's the point of re-electing someone, when he's doing things that are, essentially, just as bad as what John McCain would have done, had he been elected? Abortion? Stupak Amendment. Peace? Afghan/Pakistan war escalation. Queer rights? No change there. The environment? Cap and trade--don't make me laugh!
People will, no doubt, try and tell us that a vote for the Democratic candidate is a vote against the Republicans. Don't buy it. We can hardly tell them apart!
Zac Dettwyler, Fairfax, Va.
Who's covering up torture now?
I GUESS you have heard that the Supreme Court recently ruled against the American Civil Liberties Union, preventing torture photos from being released.
The Department of Defense has photographs that obviously show terrible acts of abuse by American government employees. All three branches--Congress, the Supreme Court and the president--of ''our'' federal government apparently believe that torture and censorship are allowable under certain circumstances. So much for transparency and change.
No matter how much things change, the two-party state stays the same.
Chuck Mann, Greensboro, N.C.
Why aren't our protests more diverse?
AFTER FINDING out about the results of the gay marriage vote in New York, I was angry and wanted to protest. I had heard via Facebook that there was going to be an emergency protest against the bigoted and hateful cowards (only one clown out of 38 had the guts to defend his bigotry) of the New York state Senate. I was eager and went to protest after work.
To my shock and dismay, I was greeted with an overwhelmingly white crowd---with the exception of a few people of color (that I could count on just one hand) out of a fairly large crowd.
As I left, to my surprise, there was another emergency protest on the recent escalation of the Afghanistan war--so much for change you can believe in! This time it was a slightly more diverse crowd, yet still it was a majority white and older crowd.
New York City is made up of a majority of people of color. As a bisexual person of color who almost joined the military due to economic reasons, with a lesbian sister who is a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and who joined the military to pay for her education, I ask, what gives? Is this the result of major weakness of the left, or does it have a foundation in racism?
Roberto R., New York City
