Letters

Letters
The New Internationalist welcomes your letters. But please keep them short. They may be edited for purposes of space or clarity. Include a home telephone number if possible and send your letters to the nearest editorial office or e-mail to : ni@newint.org

Ecological constraints
It is not kind but cruel to understate the ecological constraints on development as you did recently in the issue on eco-socialism (NI 307). A brutal fact of life is that the world contains only 10.2 billion hectares of ecologically productive land ie arable, pasture, forest and energy land (land needed for absorbing CO2 or for producing energy from renewable sources). After setting aside a not-very-generous 12 per cent for the exclusive use of other species that leaves nine billion hectares for humans.

The minimum amount required to provide one person with a satisfactory standard of living is at least three hectares, ie half the current appropriation in Australia and North America. Such a hypothetical ‘modest footprint’ involves reduced per capita consumption in rich countries and greatly increased per capita consumption in poor countries – and huge reductions in population everywhere, eg a two-thirds reduction in the UK population.

David Willey
Manchester, England

Divide and rule
I was disappointed by your recent coverage of Dorje Shugden (NI 305) and subsequent letter from Dan Coote (NI 307). Reports from my family in Tibet tell me that the Chinese are giving money to Tibetans to erect temples to Dorje Shugden (having spent years destroying our temples) and are actively encouraging this practice. It is the old policy of divide and rule, and a trick that you are guilty of falling for and assisting. Red China may have many good points, but their illegal invasion of my country and their brutish treatment of my people is not one of them.

Like any emerging democracy the Tibetan Government in exile is having teething problems, which I would not describe as a crisis. However, the Dalai Lama, who does not claim to be the political leader of the Tibetans, has worked consistently to try to create harmony between the different schools of Tibetan Buddhism. His discouragement of the Dorje Shugden practice, far from being a curtailment of freedom, is an attempt to iron out traditional divisions for the good of his people.

Sonam Choephel
Clitheroe, England

Get Real
I write to protest against the lingering heterosexism evident in the review of the British film, Get Real (NI 307). Having established the film’s plot (Steven and Linda are both looking for boyfriends), Steven’s motives are immediately qualified: he ‘is a well-adjusted young man who has known he was gay since he was 11’. Though apparently sympathetic to a queer perspective, this comment leaves the reader steeped in heterosexist presumption: gay desire requires explanation, whereas straight desire is a given. As long as homosexuality is approached in these terms, surely the institutionalization of heterosexuality can only continue unabated.

Adrian Renzo
Sydney, Australia

Money and war I would like to take issue with one item in the history section of the issue on Money (NI 306). It stated that modern banking began with John Law. However, although he set up the Bank of France in 1716, William Parsons had created the Bank of England 22 years earlier. One could argue that modern banking started with the Bank of Amsterdam in 1609. This bank operated on the inflatable paper money system which is with us still. Another issue which was overlooked was that one of the major reasons for having such a system was, and still is, to finance wars. In 1609 the Dutch had just signed a truce suspending hostilities in the 80 Years’ War with Spain. The financiers who created the Bank of Amsterdam did so on the understanding that they would lend money to the Dutch Government to continue its war with Spain. In fact the Bank issued notes four times in excess of its asset base. Throughout history this policy has continued to operate and has contributed to the prolonging of wars. It has also generated massive debt and a parasitic absorption of wealth in the hands of the few at the expense of the majority. Furthermore, steady inflation reduces the value of people’s money so that their accumulated wealth is greatly eroded. Ivan Stevens Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand cartoon by VIV QUILLIN

Not just a good thing
Your issue on the money economy (NI 306) dealt with a complex and mystifying topic in a way that clarified, without ever suggesting, that the issues were straightforward. It was particularly heartening to see you highlighting the development of local economies as a way forward. My one criticism would be of your implication that economies, whether local, national, or global, are an end in themselves. They should be a means to the end of meeting human needs and assessed on their ability to do so.

My own view is that we need to start by recognizing that individuals seek to realize themselves and that this can best be achieved through a network of reciprocal relationships that allow everyone involved to explore and express themselves in ways that are acknowledged and valued by all. That is one definition of a community. A local economy (such as a LETS system) is then a means to that end, to be judged as such, and not something to be established because it is seen as a ‘good thing’ or because the alternative is even worse.

Chris Wright
Altrincham, England

Uses of cocoa
I would like to point out the many uses of cocoa that you didn’t mention in your magazine (NI 304), for example, that the cocoa root is used as a chewing stick to cure catarrh, and that its leaves were used for family planning.

A M Kwabena
Osino, Ghana

Sprouting chocolate
In your letter section of the October issue (NI 306) a Canadian reader enquired whether Green and Blacks Maya Gold Chocolate was available in Canada. The editor replied that it is not but in fact I have found the exclusive Canadian distributor.
Write to: Sprout Master, RR#3, Box 43, Site W, Elmvale, ON LOL 1PO.
Tel: (705) 322 2222.
email: sproutm@webgate.net

In addition to many organic foods and seeds, they carry the Green and Blacks organic chocolate and hot chocolate.

Lisa Burnside
Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Fulfilled lives
Concerning migrants to Aotearoa/New Zealand (NI 305) I found your article highlighted very well the way our Government admits immigrants and then dumps them.

Why hasn’t our Government followed up what has happened to individual immigrants? The policy-makers need to know how factors like ages, number of generations in a family unit and country of origin affect how immigrants fare: for example we locals understand some accents in English better than others and I would expect that students would be able to integrate better than qualified professionals with young families.

These people are new members of our national family; it is our responsibility to ensure that they have real opportunity to lead fulfilled lives.

Norman Wilkins
Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand

CORRECTION
In ‘Diamond Dogs of War’ (Mining NI 299) Roger Moody stated that Herb Howe, Professor of African Politics at Georgetown University, had been paid by Executive Outcomes to visit Sierra Leone. We now recognize that the suggestion that Professor Howe had been paid by Executive Outcomes to visit Sierra Leone is without foundation. We are happy to set the record straight.

New Internationalist

The views expressed in these letters are not necessarily those of the New Internationalist

Scream together
Why the bombing of Iraq, and the silence of the politicians,
drove Mari Marcel Thekaekara to distraction.

The saddam-clinton show was on again. Even in a remote town in South India the jokes were circulating. ‘Poor Saddam! This time he’s been bombed by a female. That Monica lady must be some woman. She’s finished off two presidents.’

I felt bemused. There was a surreal quality to the TV coverage. The focus was on the impeachment. The bombing of Iraq – you couldn’t call such a one-sided affair a ‘war’ – was a backdrop. Appropriate no doubt. Members of the American Congress, gentlemen and gentleladies all, Republican and Democrat, reaffirmed their support of the bombing in the midst of arguing about impeachment. I thought it was unbelievable. Or is there something wrong with me?

It was obvious to all of us that this was a war game of the worst kind. The semantics were trotted out. ‘Our objective is to diminish Saddam’s arsenal. It’s a realistic objective.’ But everyone knows that Saddam will come out laughing and still be around when Clinton’s gone.

They pretend they’re doing the world a favour. But not one American politician came out against the injustice of the war or the cruelty of the sanctions. It was, after all, Thatcher’s Britain and Reagan’s US who piously refused to order sanctions against apartheid South Africa – because they couldn’t bear to hurt ordinary, innocent South Africans. Neither Desert Storm nor Desert Fox has caused Saddam any personal or political discomfort. It’s the Iraqi people who continue to suffer. Few people have read about their plight. Even fewer care.

While I watched the news an image of Jassim (‘Endpiece’, NI November 1998) kept coming back to me. Felicity Arbuthnot’s haunting piece, about the 13-year-old child poet dying of a leukaemia caused by the radioactive residue of the 1991 war, should be read by more people. Creating cancer in children and poisoning the earth for generations of unborn children should be treated as war crimes. And the victors as much as the vanquished should be held responsible for their actions, punished when they perpetrate evil in the name of peace.

Britain was mentioned only in passing – people everywhere dismissed Tony Blair as Clinton’s lackey. I watched Blair pounding the desk in front of him to make a futile point which not even the most foolish human being could possibly believe. And yet he, too, was allowed to get away with it. There was so little protest, so little response. I remember a time in the 1970s when ordinary Labour Party supporters in Britain had a strong sense of justice. Not merely when it came to their domestic issues. Television had politicized everyone. Brought the world into everyone’s sitting room. And people protested against injustice. Against stupid wars. Now everyone sits there looking helpless.

God hasn’t been on our side for a long while. Isn’t it time we took to the streets again? Where are the students? The Church groups? The Liberation people? The activists? Even the Red-turned-Pink people?

By the time you read this it’ll be a month since the bombs fell on Iraqi children. But there’ll be other senseless attacks. As we approach the millennium let’s build something better. For the children of Iraq. For the children of the world.

Or at least let’s scream together.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara lives and works in the Nilgris, Southern India.
This replaces the usual ‘Letter from Mongolia’ which will be back next month.