Letters

New Internationalist, Dec, 2001

'Us' against 'them'

Upon reading Twin Terrors (NI 340), I felt that I had finally encountered some heart and sense after being worn down by a mainstream media barrage of self-righteous indignation, which urged me to pledge my allegiance to Bush and Blair's good, civilized, democratic and free world rather than the evil, uncivilized and oppressive world of the terrorists. I still wonder what this evil world is. Sadly, it would seem that it is all those countries that do not conform to the economic, political, cultural and spiritual aspirations of the West. Eduardo Galeano's 'The Theatre of Good & Evil' gave powerful expression to this awkward position that we all face, and the near absurdity of being put in the position where we feel that we must take sides in this now hateful atmosphere of us and them.

Nick Taussig London, England

Fundamental problems

Dan Bailey (Letters, NI 340) suggests that the attackers of New York 'must have had some pretty compelling motives'. Yes -- to neutralize America's influence in the Middle East and replace it with something actually rather worse: a form of Islamic fundamentalism far to the right of the corrupt Saudis and dogmatic Iranians. These people don't give a damn about the 'legitimate grievances of millions'; Islamic fundamentalists that I have had the misfortune to meet at protests against Israel in London have been crude anti-Semites who would impose on the Palestinians (many of whom are Christian) a form of Islam alien to the region after visiting a 'second holocaust' on the Israelis (their words).

US foreign policy has often betrayed the great democratic ideals on which the US was founded, and its attitudes to Kyoto, bio-weapons, an International Criminal Court, Israel and the global free market are foolish. A true 'war on terrorism' certainly requires rethinking those issues. But misunderstanding the nature of Islamic fundamentalism does not help the fight against injustice.

Richard Bartholomew London, England

Unequal values

For the families of the 7,000 people murdered, the events of 11 September are an overwhelming tragedy. However, the reactions to these events are quite disproportionate when we consider what has happened in the past and what is happening now elsewhere in the world.

How did the world react when a million people were massacred in Rwanda? Or when 250,000 were murdered in Bosnia? Or when the US-sponsored dictatorship of Suharto slaughtered 700,000 Indonesians and 200,000 East Timorese? Or when the US's puppet regimes in Guatemala and Nicaragua murdered 70,000 and 50,000 people respectively? How does the world react as thousands of civilians are killed each year as a result of wars waged by armies supported and supplied by the US? How does the world react as millions die each year as a result of the economic policies initiated by three US-led organizations -- the IMF, World Bank and WTO?

The reaction of the US since 11 September shows that it expects the rest of the world to value the lives of Americans more than that those of non-Americans. The sad thing is that the rest of the world does either value Americans more or is afraid to say otherwise.

K Kumaralingam Maidstone, England

Bhutan (Country Profile, NI 340)5 closer to true democracy than Britain. The monarch can be deposed by a two-thirds vote in the National Assembly. This has not happened due to the present king's popularity. The National Assembly delegates decision-making and budgets into the hands of the Districts, and these delegate decision-making and budgets into the hands of Geogs (villages). Each is responsible for the decisions that are appropriate at their level and advise the higher level of their needs; this is close to Gandhi's prescription for a people's democracy. The star ratings you ascribe to the country are rooted in a Western development mindset and bear little relation to basic human needs.

Western mindset

James Bruges Bristol, England

Vital fiction

Peter Whittaker is right to highlight the power and importance of fiction as a vital part of cultures around the world (New Writing from the South, NI 339).

In many parts of the world local publishing is on a very small scale or absent altogether. This effectively denies authors in many nations the opportunity to reach out and tell their stories to their own communities or indeed to the world. It also means that readers in these communities do not have reading materials on subjects that are of greatest interest to them.

This is a need that Book Aid International, a British charity working to support-education, seeks to meet. We buy African published books and distribute them to libraries and schools on the continent and we also support capacity building for publishers and booksellers.

Nicola Cadbury

Book Aid International,

39-41 Coldharbour Lane, London SE5 9NR, England.

Tel: 020 7733 3577.

Fax: 020 7078 8006.

web: http://www.bookaid.org

Radical recommendation

I enjoyed reading New Writing from the South. However, I'm disappointed to see you promoting large companies like Blackwells and Amazon, especially Amazon which has a woeful labour-rights record and bans trade unions. Why didn't you suggest NI readers order their books from independent and radical booksellers? Not only are they supportive of the NI's concerns, but readers may also get better service from them.