Letters

...May I point out, though, that your reviewer has totally missed the central point that both Ivan Illich and I have struggled to make, that "schooling" is only the means to a larger end, "education"—learning separate from the rest of life and directed and coerced by others—to which we are both bitterly opposed...

...Barry Commoner's intent is to reach the roots of the present problems...

...Under Carter the United States might even refrain from trying to crush the next movement for national liberation that arises in the world...

...1 ask all readers of The Progressive to give the Carter-Mondale ticket a fair hearing...

...Why isn't that a better solution than expansion of the Federal bureaucracies...

...Instead, we must begin the task of creating a libertarian movement which will enable working people, through their own organizations—unions, cooperatives, community organizations, and block clubs—to begin the organizing, building, and planning necessary to create a humane social order which will exist independent of both the state and the political hucksterism that have made war, pollution, and poverty a reality, and social equality a dream...

...I would be interested in The Progressive publishing an article called "Syria's and Iraq's Own Jews: A Crisis for Their Jewish Citizens...

...Therefore he suggests that energy problems will not be solved by technological sleight of hand, clever tax schemes, or patchwork legislation...

...I feel that the problem will not be solved as long as the Zionists talk about a "Jewish state...

...He recognizes that specific solutions cannot be advanced until the interrelation between the ecosystem, the production system, the economic system, and—although not mentioned in the book—the social system, is more widely and fully understood...

...Postal Service is a "socialist" entity...

...For the Zionists there can be no thought of granting the same rights to non-Jews as to Jews...

...I, who feel Jewish to the tips of my fingers, am outraged by the Zionists' view and treatment of the Arabs within their jurisdiction...

...I see my students going to smalltown colleges all over the country where they are admitted with little difficulty in spite of pathetically poor reading and writing abilities...

...Tax-supported college entrance admission could be proportional to population by neighborhood or, as in China, by occupation...

...The platforms of the contending parties are either laundry lists of "reforms" or vague rhetoric and slogans designed to trick the voters into balloting for candidates whom they do not know, whose interests they do not share, and whose platforms they have never read...

...It is time that those who, like me, identify themselves without qualification as Jews, spoke out against this...

...Carter believes, as Ford does not, in using government as an instrument for improving the lives of disadvantaged people...

...Pete Kelly Benson, Arizona C.W...

...Those of us who are still proud to be "liberals" should realize by now that it will be a long time before someone we consider ideal will be elected President...

...Sadlowski—along with his dedicated, hard-working supporters who want to get to the "gut" issues of our union—represent a breath of fresh air not only in our union but in the labor movement as a whole...

...Obviously, it is money that talks...

...He does not propose any "final solution" and certainly not socialism in Griffin's sense...

...There are many roads to greater educational equality...

...Failing that, legislation must favor Jews as against non-Jews...

...He also encourages such spe-ialists as engineers, planners, economists, or political scientists to look beyond their special field of interest...

...This hope, however well intended, is misplaced...

...Instead of shipping this tripe to me, I'd suggest you ship it to that gentleman with the gun in his hip pocket, Mr...

...If the editors of The Progressive want a "political movement prepared to deal with the basic problems of corporate power and its manifestations in our daily lives, a movement that gave people a sense of their own potential for solving their own problems,' ' then they will not find it in the birth of yet another political party which, at its inception, promises to change the economic system and once in power becomes wedded to that system...

...Gerald Ford is the man who dropped the bombs on Cambodia to free a ship's crew that had already been released...

...We know what the alternative will be if we don't elect Carter...

...It is here he is most likely to encounter narrowmindedness, bias, and petty criticism...

...Let Griffin know that since the banks, oil companies, gas companies, Lockheed, Am-trak, AFL-CIO, and others enjoy the benefits of socialism, let the rest of us in too, instead of our beating each other's brains out...

...Arab unity may never be achieved, but even disunited, they outnumber the Jews of Israel by a wide margin...

...I may be easily fooled, but I can't believe that Andy Young and Martin Luther King Sr...

...If, as Wolfgang Pfister seems to suggest, disagreement with Commoner's economic proposals constitutes "narrow-mindedness and bias," I happily plead guilty...

...It is quite true that many American universities, especially obscure, tuition-hungry colleges, are anxiously seeking students from these countries...

...Whether internally or externally, Israel's politicians bank on Arab backwardness and disunity to save Israel's skin...

...Colleges are one of the most effective means by which the lower classes are fleeced...

...Once in power, the political parties proceed to violate nearly every principle which, during the election campaign, they claimed to hold dear...

...Your August article by Judith Miller is sickening...

...It is your privilege to publish anything that you believe your readers are interested in...

...But the differences between the two men do matter to the millions of Americans who must depend on the government for survival—for housing, for health care, for jobs that industry can't or won't provide...

...Irving Schactman Short Hills, New Jersey Judith Miller's "Israel's Own Arabs: A Crisis of Identity" was something after my own heart...

...The ratings were based on the public records of the candidates as well as the candidates' answers to a questionnaire...

...To reverse this we need a politics based on participation, not representation...

...There is at least a good chance that if he is elected, a million poor people won't be deprived of food stamps, migrant workers won't lose whatever health facilities they now have, and the 40 per cent of black youth now unemployed may have a chance for public works jobs...

...It is curious that both letter writers ignored my main point: that taxing of energy waste instead of continuing to subsidize it is the fairest, most efficient way to promote energy conservation...

...The maintenance of control and power become ends in themselves, and all principles are expendable...

...The trouble with the British economy is not pseudo-socialism but the loss of sustenance from former colonies, and who besides Griffin is so misinformed as to believe the U.S...

...It seems to me that The Progressive, instead of spreading general disaffection about Carter, could do a far greater service by offering him tempered support and pressuring him as hard as possible to carry out those policies we all believe in...

...But the constant, undiluted criticism of Jimmy Carter has begun to worry me...

...This reflects badly on the academic arguments against affirmative action programs for blacks and other minorities...

...Wolfgang Pfister Lexington, Massachusetts I hope Pete Kelly is kidding with his question about the U.S...

...We should keep in mind, however, that although Sadlowski clearly represents progressive thought in our union, total confidence and support in one candidate or a slate of officers to "do the job" should not be the case...

...A secular state is the only answer, one that has no state religion, one that does not favor Jews over non-Jews...

...Carter does seem to come from this tradition and to feel compassion for black people and the poor...

...Griffin's review of Barry Commoner's The Poverty of Power, in the August issue, should have appeared in The Reader's Digest rather than in The Progressive...

...Michael R. Stimer Evansville, Indiana Israel's Arabs I read Judith Miller's article, "Israel's Own Arabs: A Crisis of Identity," in the August issue...

...They might find it harder to break with chauvinism, but they would have to choose, in the long term, between chauvinism and survival...

...I share Kelly's concern about socialism for the rich, but deny that spreading this feather-bedding waste will promote anything but economic decay...

...C. W. Griffin Denville, New Jersey...

...L.S...

...RabbiPaulJ...

...Tuition could be proportional to family income...

...Griffin's review of The Poverty of Power was a disappointment and needs a reply...

...It is a bundle of smart-alecky misinformation...

...Some schools have even hastily set up remedial programs to ensure the student's progress...

...As an English teacher of foreign students (most of whom are from Iran and other OPEC countries), I was awakened to the reality of politics in this seemingly apolitical environment...

...Leon Hurvitz Vancouver, British Columbia Schooling Thank you for reviewing my book, Instead of Education, in your August issue...

...Given the system, we will have to choose between the less-than-ideal and the undoubtedly-worse, and enough has been written about Carter by now to make it clear that he would be a better President than Gerald Ford...

...One can disagree with this position— most people, including most of your readers, would—but I do wish your reviewer had made it clearer...

...economic system can best be remedied by reorganizing it along socialist lines...

...Control and power are the actual goals of the politicians of the various political parties...

...These two factors, the primacy of power as the goal of aspiring politicians and the triumph of organizational and power considerations over those of the people, help us to predict the fate of "new" political parties whose rhetoric and program may even call for fundamental changes in the economic system...

...That satisfies my definition of socialism...

...Wagle Seattle, Washington New Party No Answer In the August issue of The Progressive, the editors, in attempting to explain the lack of enthusiasm of voters toward the upcoming national election, have correctly assessed the lack of any meaningful difference between liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans...

...Many students have told me of the torture and imprisonment of their friends who returned to Iran after participating in dissenting activities while students here...

...The candidates express the will of the party in its quest for power and not the will of the people in their struggle for a better life...

...Rachelle Marshall Stanford, California For those Progressive readers who feel that Jimmy Carter takes no stands on issues of importance and that there is little difference between Carter and the Republican nominee, I suggest comparing the record of Carter with that of President Ford on the vital issue of the environment...

...In turn, I will do without the garbage that has been appearing in your publication...

...For effective, strong, democratic unions, we need grass-roots rank-and-file movements centered around shop-level and union issues...

...Didn't Congress turn it loose into the brave competitive free enterprise system...

...John Del Vecchio Bridgeport, Connecticut Carter's Record I have been reading The Progressive regularly and gratefully for nearly thirty years and seldom disagree with its writers and editors...

...Domestically he calls for subsidies for corporations and cuts in services for the poor...

...they provide taxes to educate the middle and upper classes...

...If a purpose of public universities was to extend opportunity to those not now privileged, the children of the non-college educated could be charged low rates...

...Anything that befalls Jews I feel in a way that I cannot feel about anything else...

...Tax exemptions could be directed toward the lower classes in proportion to the degree in which they have been subsidizing the education of the affluent, or the affluent could get their subsidized education as a trade-off for something desired by those groups which under-use the universities...

...The fact that he is not Ronald Reagan does not mean that he isn't a militant right-winger...

...Nevertheless, Commoner proposes a dialogue and wants at least to consider the possibility that faults in the U.S...

...Sadlowski represents a movement in the right direction, but it will really be up to concerned and active USWA members, working together, to build the strong, issue-orientated movement needed in our union...

...George McGovern came close to the ideal and was clobbered...

...Carter has said specifically, among other things, that he would establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, take our nuclear weapons out of Korea, and support the rehabilitation of the cities...

...It is a Federally owned, subsidized institution, like the Tennessee Valley Authority...

...In short, what we are struggling against is not merely the mechanism of schools, but the underlying notion that some people in society have and should have the right to decide what other people ought to learn or know, and to make public judgments about them in proportion as they do or do not know it...

...In Israel, as they see it, a majority of the population must be Jewish...

...By the same token, it is my privilege to reject the malarkey and junk being offered by your writers...

...Bob Hayes Nashville, Tennessee Fleecing the Poor On Page 6 of the September issue of The Progressive is a cartoon in which Jerry Ford refers to "my new Robin Hood program . . . take from the low income to help support the high income...

...A case in point is Griffin...

...It's easy for middle-class liberals to be purists—our lives won't be seriously affected no matter which man is elected...

...Menitofj New York, New York It seems that each issue of The Progressive during the past two years has had this anti-Israel and anti-Semitic columnist...

...Postal Service...

...In the same study, Ford is rated as hopeless...

...The parties or, more accurately, the inner cliques that control them, select the candidates for whom the people will vote...

...Arafat...

...If not for Congress, Ford might still be bombing Cambodia and perhaps Angola...

...When 1 lived in the South during the early 1950s I met Southerners whose anguish and concern over the injustices of racism and exploitation were equal to those of any Northern liberal...

...We need to become aware of the penetration of SAVAK and other CIA-type organizations from other countries into our lives...

...Emilie Junge Chicago, Illinois Griffin on Commoner C.W...

...In a recent study of the major candidates for President from an environmental viewpoint issued by the League of Conservation Voters, Carter is given an overall rating of outstanding...

...are equally gullible...

...On the same page Howard Wolf urges governmental generosity toward higher education...

...However, instead of drawing important conclusions about the role of political parties in social struggle, the editors of The Progressive seem to hope for yet another political party to be born which will somehow, for the first time, behave differently from all the political parties of the present and past, whether "left" or "right," "socialist" or "conservative...

...After all, the ruling social democrats in that country, who no more believe in God than I do, would not find it so difficult to stop paying lip-service to a religion about which they did not care anyway...

...However, this particular article is no worse than other comments in your publication...

...The chances are good that he could inject a measure of competency into the bureaucratic shambles that the last three administrations have produced...

...But I wish to emphasize another point which was touched on only indirectly in Van Dyne's article...

...Students could be required eventually to pay the complete cost of the education taxpayers give them, or perhaps a portion based on their future economic standing...

...The irony is that, with the exception of the ruling classes and the rich, an Arab is better-off in Israel than in any Arab country...

...John Holt Boston, Massachusetts Money and Education I was impressed with Larry Van Dyne's articulate presentation, "Oil on the Campus," in the September issue, and his recommendation that we be as vigilant of these academic liaisons as we were of those during Vietnam...

...As a foundry worker and USWA member, I think the issues of union democracy, labor militancy, rank-and-file movements, and independent political action by workers deserve considerable attention in the progressive media...

...Barry Commoner wrote a penetrating, broadly based analysis of some of the most important problems of our time in a language accessible to the concerned layman who wants to understand the world around him...