THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
PEOPLE'S FORUM Message Returned Dear Sirs: In December we addressed identical Christmas greetings to thirty-five conscientious objectors held in various prisons and army stockades in the...
...Then I encounter another problem in the United States...
...It is time more of our citizens consider the moral aspects of such "defense plants" in their communities rather than the money and jobs such production will bring them...
...It is quite unrealistic to assume that now we will suddenly relinquish this investment and withdraw...
...I sincerely commend the citizens of Redwood, California, who have taken a stand against the manufacture of napalm in their community...
...And have you any demands as to what North Vietnam should stop...
...So it is with me on your attitude toward our Asian war...
...For this to happen, the whole rationale for United States foreign policy would have to change...
...Once over the border where I am free from the predatory small town cops, and with no billboards to obstruct my view, I can enjoy the beauty of the Canadian Rockies and have a wonderful vacation...
...1. The Canadians do not give the advertising industry a free hand to use all the land adjacent to highways to exploit as it sees fit...
...The only time you can "relax" is if you are lucky enough to run out of gas or have a flat tire...
...I work with some of the most deeply-deprived families in the slum-ghetto of Philadelphia, and I have seen the tears in the eyes of the little ones when "Get Set" and "Head Start" programs were cut back...
...As events have proved (documented in The New York Times and elsewhere), the promises of the present Administration usually mean the opposite will happen...
...So when my vacation time comes, I get on the freeway and head straight for the Canadian border...
...We can only hope that our leaders have also reached this elementary conclusion...
...Those who oppose the current war in Vietnam have no outlet other than convincing the American voters that the United States must change the direction of its policy...
...If I kill anyone, I kill a part of myself...
...Unfortunately this vital task is largely avoided and ignored, probably because it conforms to no established doctrines, beliefs, or interests...
...Or is a unilateral cessa j»* tion your policy for making, "sitting ducks" of our troops...
...But even within a closely-knit family now and then, its members may disagree over an issue...
...I am sure, too, that the victims of our bombs and of our determination to pursue the peace in Vietnam by ever-increasing militarism will be able to appreciate Mr...
...I have to pass through numerous small towns...
...only then can we hope to reach a more systematic and successful ad justment to these forces...
...WILL TOMORY Urbana, Illinois Horrible Weapon Dear Sirs: As a World War II Marine Corps combat pilot I am thankful that I was never faced with the dilemma of having to use napalm...
...Military play has been a common practice among children for a long time, even those who may later become pacifists...
...Each one has a constable whose reason for existence seems to be (in collusion with the local justice of the peace) to raise ninety-five per cent of the town's budget from passing motorists...
...When, as in all wars, innocent civilians are killed, you revile Americans but have no words of denunciation against the Hanoi government for murdering thousands of the innocents in the South...
...the discouragement of teen-agers when the Neighborhood Youth Corps was so severely limited...
...FREDERIC K. HARRIS HORNELL, NEW YORK Weep for Humphrey Dear Sirs: I am writing to express my deep sympathy for Vice President Hubert Humphrey, in the light of newspaper reports that he has been promised the place of running mate to President Johnson in the next election...
...If they break their promises, it can only be in the right direction...
...3. I don't like to spend my entire vacation traveling seventy miles per hour on the freeways...
...For the most part, the American voters support this view...
...Science directs us to make a realistic accounting of the biological and technological forces in our nature...
...Eric Sevareid reported from Saigon last spring, "Our boys are enjoying this war in Vietnam...
...They, too, have reason to know the meaning of disappointment...
...Otherwise you are not editorializing, but creating propaganda which I am sure Hanoi would be glad to use...
...Miami, Florida Pastors and Peace Dear Sirs: I want to express my deep appreciation of your February issue...
...Being a church member who believes the clergy should be in the forefront of the efforts for peace, your editorial comment on the part being played by our pastors was especially gratifying...
...At least an equal number are becoming rich at home because of it...
...However, the Confinement Officer at Fort Knox, Kentucky, has just returned the card we sent to a prisoner there with a form explaining non-delivery: the correspondence was "inflammatory or inciting...
...My own state of Oregon advertises in national magazines for people to come and "Relax in a State of Excitement...
...FINNEY BRIGGS Valparaiso, Indiana No End in Vietnam Dear Sirs: The most important idea in The Progressive's February editorial is the impossibility of a graceful exit from Vietnam...
...The only forces that could accomplish this would be internal political forces in the United States...
...I also found the four part survey of Latin America by Sidney Lens that concluded in the January issue quite stimulating and thought-provoking...
...It fulfills a deep-seated drive for excitement and action, present in all of us and especially in the young...
...The UNICEF card, with Oriental madonna and child, carries the following hand-written message: We are all One...
...The Johnson Administration now has, or believes it has, a vested interest in maintaining American military power on the mainland of Southeast Asia...
...K . W. SIMONS Pine Ridge, South Dakota EDITOR'S NOTE: Our error ivas in the February issue...
...While this situation is morally outrageous, it is certainly realistic to expect that THE until the Johnson "team" is defeated soundly in a national election, the end is not in sight...
...MARSH F. BEALL Portland, Oregon Error Dear Sirs: Out here on the vast prairies of South Dakota the cliche "Let George Do It" has taken on a new dimension since the election of our able Senator McGovern in 1962...
...At least Republicans were honest in promising warlike approaches to the intricate problems in Vietnam...
...In George Orwell's 1984, Big Brother used constant little wars to keep the public mind diverted from serious thought, and as an outlet for mass psychological needs...
...In expressing sympathy for him in his prospective disappointment, I am close to what he will feel when the promise is not kept...
...Though I have always voted the Democratic ticket, I feel that it will be necessary to vote Republican next time...
...The Trans-Canada Highway has four lanes...
...Ever since then I have been politically a member of the progressive-voting family of citizens...
...So I take a side road where I hope I can take more time...
...AND MRS...
...Since the experts cannot agree, then the rest of us need make no apology for following logic and common knowledge...
...Its use in close support of troops fighting for their lives is certainly deplorable enough, but quite frankly I cannot begin to understand the thinking that condones the indiscriminate and everyday use of this horrible weapon on villages, farms, and routinely on rebel forces...
...A danger may develop if this view of war as a fun game is never modified...
...Liberals, however, cannot admit that war has this great appeal...
...I wrote both of our Senators from Michigan in no uncertain terms regarding their attitude toward the efforts of the clergy...
...If I give anyone cause for joy, My own heart is made glad...
...The fact is quite apparent that the present Administration has made a substantial investment in South Vietnam...
...DAVID WYMAN Amherst, Massachusetts One-sided Criticism Dear Sirs: In the June 25, 1910, issue of the original LaFollette's Magazine, The Progressive's lineal ancestor, the cover was an anti-Taft cartoon drawn by me...
...Flow of traffic is confined to the two inside lanes...
...Many people, especially the military, continue to see war as an exciting experience, with close camaraderie, carried out in the name of freedom, justice, and democracy...
...Ever since Communist North Vietnam started its war against the South, all your criticism has been solely against the United States...
...PEOPLE'S FORUM Message Returned Dear Sirs: In December we addressed identical Christmas greetings to thirty-five conscientious objectors held in various prisons and army stockades in the United States...
...otherwise you had better keep moving...
...BRUCE STEWART Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan Senator Nelson on Pollution Dear Sirs: "The National Pollution Scandal" by Senator Gaylord Nelson in the February issue of The Progressive was astounding...
...hopefully the public will have learned something by the time this futile war has dragged to a fruitless close...
...In this last five-day truce, Hanoi violated it more than 200 times, killing more than twenty Americans and South Vietnam fighters—just as they did in the two previous truces...
...ELZA JAHN Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Science and War Dear Sirs: The conflicting views on military toys by the psychiatrists in the People's Forum of your February issue were interesting...
...I do not believe that Walter Lippmann's statement to the effect that the President ' must recognize the military situation there has a real bearing on the situation...
...Perhaps you once had a doughty second uncle by this name and made one of the Freudian errors that increasingly both irritate and amuse our society...
...This attitude also interferes with effective analysis and prediction which is possible only from a scientific or objective approach...
...Evidently most were delivered...
...Since the Vietcong will certainly not surrender, and since North Vietnam cannot be made to negotiate, the war will simply have to continue...
...LEE GRANT Detroit, Michigan Canada the Beautiful Dear Sirs: After reading "America—The More or Less Beautiful" by Milton Mayer in a recent issue, I am moved to offer a few comments...
...It's a pesky nuisance to have to lift the hood every time I want to take a picture...
...Stop the Bombing," you say...
...My license plate brands me as an "outsider" and fair game for this two-man combine...
...He recognized clearly and at an early stage that all-out nuclear war ruined the game for everyone...
...we all know that pollution is a problem in this country, but I never realized what a grave problem it is...
...Therefore my eyebrows arched when I read of Senator "Frank" McGovern in your otherwise excellent January issue...
...2. Canadian highways are designed to permit the traveler to enjoy the scenery...
...I am glad to see The Progressive continue to champion the cause for peace in Vietnam...
...Most highways in the United States have signs posted saying "Emergency Stopping Only...
...We can't decide which it is, inflammatory or inciting...
...In any event, well-written magazines like The Progressive continue to be a bea con in the dark and a buoy for those of like sentiment...
...There is no military force which is capable of preventing the United States from bombing North Vietnam for any number of years...
...So did his counterparts in the other two superstates...
...Probably many of them are...
...Both sides are partly right...
...There one can enjoy the beautiful scenery unobstructed by liquor, beer, and cigaret signs...
...Our apologies to Senator McGovern...
...Never a reproof or even a gentle slap on the wrist of the Vietcong...
...I have been soured for some time on the inefficacy of political protest concerning the war...
...The mounties in Canada don't treat me this way...
...MR...
...When I come out of Canada, I am struck by the amount of ugliness that is strewn along our U.S . highways...
...REYNOLDS MOODY Lieutenant Colonel USMC (Ret...
...Their moralistic outlook leads only to expressions of hor ror, condemnation, and exhortations for people to mend their ways...
...The two outside lanes are reserved for the traveler who wants to stop and look...
...the return to hopelessness in the parents when plowshares were turned into guns...
...Humphrey's disappointment too...
...Although I live in the heart of the scenic Pacific Northwest, I like to go to Canada for my vacations for three reasons...
...If you pretend to analyze and offer advice on a problem, you ought to be fair enough to walk all around it—not just half way...
Vol. 31 • April 1967 • No. 4
