LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
LETTERS to the Editor What's in a Face? I have no quarrel with your characterization of Elliot Abrams as perhaps "the most despicable official of the Reagan Administration" ("Man for All Seasons,"...
...State Department, AID, and the sponsoring governments give it definite political underpinnings...
...Ask what you can do for your country...
...it was unfair and, in any case, gratuitous once I had satisfied myself that the remarks attributed to Fang Lizhi accurately reflected his position...
...I have visited Nicaragua five times since 1983, and have been given the same message by many Nicara-guans: "Go back to your country and try to stop the war against us...
...But more important is Schultz's implication that Ebert represents a reasonable alternative...
...I am not so naive as to suppose that a march on Washington will have much effect on U.S...
...But you'll simply have to make up your mind between Babyface Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd...
...If you disagree, it would have been more responsible journalism to discuss why you find error in what has been scientifically validated by experts in the field...
...Douglas Morea Newark, Delaware The author replies: I do not disagree that marches in Washington, D.C., for justice and peace in Central America and Southern Africa (and for other progressive causes) can convey a sense of solidarity and exhilaration...
...The American medical-care system is an instrument of sickness care, not health care, just as an army is an instrument of warfare, not peacekeeping...
...The justifications for compulsory military or civilian service are based on disrespect for the individual and fundamentally fascist reasoning...
...Matthew Stark Executive Director Minnesota Civil Liberties Union Minneapolis, Minnesota Options for Liberation Saul Landau reveals admirable empathy for liberation movements in his review of Peter G. Bourne's new biography of Fidel Castro (Books, January issue...
...But everything else you do is pretty good...
...And here I thought America had finally abandoned the idea of slavery...
...Timothy Noah (Letters, April issue) might think Knoll is being "horribly selfish" for opposing compulsory national service, but I think Noah is being horribly totalitarian in supporting it...
...Elizabeth Toohy Indianapolis, Indiana Timothy Noah's letter in the April issue infuriated me...
...for none will it be the final step...
...No one can stop him from being a cheerleader for capitalist exploitation, but to accuse people who don't share his toadie perspective of being "horribly selfish" is another matter...
...He'll miss the chance to take part in an action that will effectively disrupt the CIA's activities...
...foreign policy ("Peace Corps Follies," by Steve Donziger, March issue...
...I have no quarrel with your characterization of Elliot Abrams as perhaps "the most despicable official of the Reagan Administration" ("Man for All Seasons," Comment, April issue), and I agree that he has brought to his office all the grace and class of a gangster...
...And what about religion...
...For most of the mental disorders for which people are hospitalized at Willard, drug treatment has been scientifically proven to be effective...
...Our sickness-care system is bankrupting the nation while leaving our health (as measured by longevity and infant mortality) in last place among developed nations...
...Yes, it is published by expatriate Chinese intellectuals, but they have no ties to Taiwan...
...I know many other volunteers who have similar, positive impressions...
...One reason we still have this bloated system is that the media keep referring to health care in the United States, so it never occurs to the public that we have no health-care system at all...
...When I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, I found my own work to be extremely rewarding...
...As for patients requesting his visits, Ebert says he was also required to obtain prior approval, in writing, from the staff...
...In a democratic society, citizens should be free to volunteer or to refrain from volunteering as they see fit...
...However, when a criminal walks free solely because of this rule, justice is not being served...
...George A. Huhn Devon, Pennsylvania For a long time I've reacted with revulsion to the Kennedy "ask not" quotation...
...Therefore, I feel I must do all I can to try to change U.S...
...There is no body of scientific literature showing that nondrug treatment is effective...
...Many people I know are involved in being their own peacemakers...
...What, for example, do the feminists believe...
...Hugh S. Hu Perkinston, Mississippi The author replies: My statement was more than somewhat injudicious...
...When an officer does not inform a defendant of his or her rights, the officer should be punished...
...The experience of 120,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers is, nonetheless, valuable...
...Arthur Rijkin, M.D...
...As Christianity, with its roots in cosmic fatherhood, grows new leaves among us, how readily will it share the sun with the progressive motherhood of secular humanism...
...I'm glad someone has finally nailed it for what it is...
...has gone to the heart of the problem—changing the way we resolve conflicts...
...Timothy McDevitt Westville, New Jersey Be Your Own Peacemaker I was dismayed by Samuel H. Day's "Be Your Own Peacemaker" (Reflections, April issue...
...Still we can dream and work to bring about an effective resolution, and part of that process is for us to march together, literally and figuratively...
...Bernice Tollefson Encino, California Does the peace movement lack a mass base...
...suggests, the beginning or the end of peacemaking initiatives in the United States...
...The real battlefields of the antiwar movement were the college campuses, not the corridors of Congress...
...as the essence of fascism (Editor's Memo, January issue...
...We need to know ourselves, and be known, if we are to do productive work...
...True, we need a mix of tactics...
...If someone recommending a particular type of religious faith-healing or "natural food" were discouraged from promoting that point of view, would The Progressive consider it news...
...If anyone "owes" anything to the country, it is the fat cats in the military-industrial complex who rip us off to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars...
...I hope the Left will unite and give us a libertarian response on this issue...
...Steven Tiger Monroe, New York Saying 'No' to Psychiatry Mark Schultz's "Saying 'No' to Psychiatry" (Datelines, February issue) focused on George Ebert's right to speak with patients at the Willard Psychiatric Center but failed to address the wisdom of his contention that drugs and electroshock should not be used...
...What about anarchism, and ecology/bioregionalism, and feminism...
...Becky Buell Food First San Francisco, California Involuntary Servitude I'd like to thank Erwin Knoll for his courage in describing John F. Kennedy's famous remark, "ask not what your country can do for you...
...Why must they invoke the power of the State to force youngsters into military or civilian service...
...My apologies to the editors of China Spring...
...Peace and justice in Central America and Southern Africa are less likely to be secured by people marching in the streets of the nation's capital than by people taking a stand in Akron, Chicago, Encino, Newark, and Madison...
...I am going to the upcoming Washington march...
...Joseph Regna Medford, Massachusetts Let a Hundred Flowers Wilt In "Let a Hundred Flowers Wilt" (March issue), Ron Dorfman made a somewhat injudicious statement concerning China Spring magazine...
...Samuel H. Day Jr...
...Many of them, having seen the effects of U.S...
...Are women for peace also feminists even if they are pro-life activists...
...I see such involvement as not only healthy for the nation but empowering of the individual...
...Our youth do not wish to volunteer...
...The one suggestion I have is that you refrain from referring to what we have in this country as a "health-care system," just as you refrain from referring to the military as a "peacekeeping force...
...Rather than petitioning, pressuring, or pleading with the Federal Government to mend its ways—a futile exercise—we should look to ourselves as agents of change...
...I'm sure the police will have an even greater respect for defendants' rights when they risk losing their jobs or otherwise being penalized for their infractions...
...Such involvement is true participatory democracy, posing no enemies but simply seeking better solutions...
...The psychological exhilaration one can gain from participation in a national demonstration like the one planned for April 25 is enough to make it worthwhile...
...influence in the Third World, have gone on to work for change in U.S...
...Now we are here in the nation's capital to tell the U.S...
...The report was murky even on the issue of visiting, stating that the Center allows Ebert to see patients who request his visit...
...On Penalty of Penury I appreciate your Comment, "On Penalty of Penury" (April issue...
...Eric Probst April Mobilization Coalition Chicago, Illinois Samuel H. Day Jr...
...Although it is commonly perceived as a benign form of public service, its connections to the U.S...
...But when Samuel H. Day Jr...
...Their movement is, in fact, a many-headed creature...
...The fact that the magazine has not been allowed to enter Taiwan speaks for its purpose: to promote freedom for the Chinese people, including those in Taiwan...
...I agree that each of us should work at home to bring about change, but I disagree that such efforts can be the only successful ones...
...foreign policy...
...For some, it may be a first step in peacemaking...
...He'll miss the chance to meet citizen peacemakers from all over the country...
...It is gratifying to see it in a national periodical...
...I also disagree with Day's observation that the peace movement is going nowhere "because it lacks a mass base...
...As a clinician who is no longer beholden to the medical establishment, I have been delivering precisely the same message...
...But I believe it is an essential ingredient among a wide variety of efforts...
...It's called coalition...
...there was no Babyface Floyd...
...At the very least, a demonstration serves to bring together a coalition of groups that are unable to work together on a continual basis and creates a feeling of solidarity...
...More of us should be taking matters into our own hands through tax resistance, civil disobedience, alternative communities, and other actions that directly challenge the governmental authority in which odious policies are rooted...
...As you pointed out, almost everyone from a twelve-year-old television junkie to a career criminal knows about the rights to silence and legal counsel...
...Of course not...
...This includes street demonstrations and marches on Washington, as well as contacts with members of Congress and various other groups and individuals...
...Should patients be visited by anyone who wishes, even if the patient does not want to see that person...
...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness...
...Robert Sommer New York, New York If the arguments for requiring youngsters to serve in the military or "good" civilian service are so worthwhile, why can't those who advance those arguments persuade our youth to volunteer...
...calls for a positive movement based on the "best of American history and tradition," he leaves "best" undefined...
...Frank J. Kendrick Akron, Ohio Demonstrations in Washington, D.C., are not, as Samuel H. Day Jr...
...James A. Jackson Washington, D.C...
...I believe the answers are obvious...
...We put on a show for the media, and they make the folks back home see and hear us...
...If you really want to attack the position I am presenting here—and I realize there are many people, like Ebert, who don't accept it— wouldn't it be better to present the facts head-on and allow the reader to make a responsible choice...
...The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...
...More Americans should have this opportunity to step beyond their national boundaries without sacrificing their political beliefs...
...At issue are George Ebert's First Amendment rights—specifically, whether his right to speak is being restricted precisely because of what he has to say...
...In the United States more than in any other civilized nation, we pay taxes on virtually everything but we do not receive such benefits as national health care, free higher education, subsidized housing and transportation, child care, or paid maternity leave...
...I would like to assure The Progressive's readers that despite the follies in Belize, there are many excellent Peace Corps programs elsewhere in the world...
...There is no other available revolutionary thought or language...
...Kennedy, this country's mo** overrated President, was the first to send draftees to Vietnam, demonstrating that conscription and military adventurism go together...
...Elmhurst, New York The author replies: There is substantial evidence indicating that many drugs are effective in treating mental disorders...
...This nation chews up our young as cannon fodder in amoral wars fought for corporate interests, enslaves us as taxpayers, and still we are told we "owe" compulsory national service...
...What's wrong with that...
...Those who believe it is good for the country to have young people serve in the military or in certain civilian occupations should spend their time trying to persuade our youth...
...It's a mess...
...History provides many examples of the importance of mass street demonstrations—in the women's movement, the labor movement, the civil-rights movement...
...Rifkin asks that the choice be left to the reader...
...Ron Dorfman Chicago, Illinois Correction In the April Report Card column, an incorrect price was given for AIFLD in Central America, published by the Resource Center, Box 4506, Albuquerque NM 87196...
...Compulsory national service is State-supported slavery...
...I assume you agree, or you wouldn't have published the article...
...They write and call elected representatives and the media to express their deep concerns in non-aggressive ways...
...That is a gross exaggeration and oversimplification...
...foreign policy...
...foreign policies...
...But I would argue, as my article did, that Washington marches are not a promising way of bringing about political change...
...Government and the American people that policies like those being pursued in Southern Africa and Central America cannot be tolerated...
...My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you but what together we can do for the freedom of man...
...That, however, was not the subject of my story...
...Michael Marrone Buffalo, New York Steve Donziger's article brought out the essentially political nature of the Peace Corps...
...The civil-rights struggle was won in Selma and Montgomery, not in Washington, D.C...
...I believe a failure to reiterate those rights should not invalidate an arrest...
...Richard Clark Salem, Indiana Here is the complete quotation that Erwin Knoll described as "the essence of fascism": "And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you...
...I'm going so that I can help generate a media event...
...Irene Brown Farmington, Michigan In a country like the United States, where the goodies are so unfairly distributed, Timothy Noah has a helluva nerve demanding equality of sacrifice...
...They see the interconnectedness of the universe and believe that we are one, that war is obsolete, and that a new way of thinking is needed to resolve conflict without violence...
...Ebert says the choice should be left to the patient—but the patient must first know he or she has a choice...
...By staying away from Washington, Day will miss many opportunities...
...It is the peace movement's backbone, but it is also the backbone of the Far Right...
...Although we are not often aware of them, we do have choices other than Marxism-Leninism when it comes to "available revolutionary thought or language from which to carry out basic social and economic transformation...
...The Left is composed of many sub-movements, each of which shares a degree of overlap with some others but also embodies profound differences...
...We effect changes in many ways...
...Mark Schultz Ithaca, New York Subverting Miranda I understand the importance of the Miranda rule and support it fully ("Subverting Miranda," Comment, March issue...
...Ebert, a self-described radical, believes drugs are not the answer...
...If you agree, you should have indicated that Ebert is recommending that patients give up a proven treatment for an unproven one...
...Readers who would like to have a resource guide listing some of the less-recognized options for obtaining Third World experience should send $3 (plus $ 1 for postage and handling) to Alternatives to the Peace Corps, Food First, 1885 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103...
...And there is something seriously wrong when the party punished in such a double infraction is the society that has to tolerate it...
...Madison, Wisconsin Peace Corps Follies It is unfortunate that the I Peace Corps is being used in Belize as such an unsubtle and unpopular extension of U.S...
...But we need not accept Landau's assertion that "all modern revolutionaries, except those associated with fundamentalist religion, are Marxists and Leninists...
...But maintaining visibility is a form of survival...
...But we have barely begun to tap the power of direct action...
...When a criminal is set free because the Miranda rule has been violated, two unlawful acts go unrepri-manded...
...If people kept hearing news about the cost of sickness care, they would eventually start wondering why we don't have a health-care system—and that, of course, would be the essential first step toward establishing one...
...He believes he has been singled out because his views are in direct conflict with practices at Willard Psychiatric Center...
...To get the President's ear—the ear that can barely hear even Nancy...
...Of course...
...The correct price is $5 for single copies, $4 each for five or more...
...I hope thousands will go to Washington this spring...
...But they are an opportunity for those who regularly take part in such activities to come together and say, "We have power...
Vol. 51 • May 1987 • No. 5
