Inbox

Militias in the U.S.
The growth of militia units undoubtedly has more than one cause [Oct. 11]: politics, racism and perhaps a fascination with perpetual adolescence. Boys like to play games in which they are make-believe soldiers. In combat, actual soldiers are lonely for their loved ones. The militiamen look young and healthy. What keeps them from volunteering to serve as real soldiers?
M. Fayne Wilson,
Riviera Beach, Fla., U.S.

TIME showed great restraint by applying the word deranged only to would-be assassin James Cummings, but the term fits virtually every extremist militia as well. Members seem to share specific obsessions: a fixation on weapons and an extreme distrust of authority. They seek out confrontation to bring about self-fulfilling prophecies, then justify violence as pre-emptive self-defense. Whereas everyday citizens regard paying taxes as necessary (for roads, for safety services and, yes, for a national army), these groups liken the IRS to the Gestapo. With their hateful rhetoric urging each other to violence, and by not promoting peaceful change through discourse and democracy, these militias embody the most un-American traits.
Darren McKellep,
Oslo

I appreciate the article. However, I personally have spoken to men in militia groups who welcome people of differing races in order to protect their common interests.
Cleve Sharpe,
Oolitic, Ind., U.S.

I live a few miles away from where the Hutaree-militia members were arrested. Not long before that arrest, I purchased a handgun because I was concerned about the possibility of a violent militia group attempting a terrorist attack. The members of these groups ought to remember that there are Americans who believe in democracy and not anarchy, or their version of how the U.S. should be.
Terry Frownfelder,
Adrian, Mich., U.S.

So Mike Vanderboegh is antigovernment to the point where he would kill U.S. soldiers representing our elected government, but he doesn't mind cashing government disability checks. Craig Wright declares he would fight U.S. soldiers attempting to enforce martial law, so that he himself could impose it and "rule the countryside." The hypocrisy of these two is astounding.
Ian S. Mayville,
Boca Raton, Fla., U.S.

Richard Mack's theories on the power of county law-enforcement officials have an infamous history in the U.S. Alabama's Bull Connor and Willis V. McCall of Florida demonstrated what happens when county sheriffs or police become the law; each instituted a reign of terror, especially against minority populations. If this is the type of government that these self-proclaimed "patriots" propose, they are no better than the terrorists and alleged federal oppressors that they claim to be protecting us against.
Holmes Brannon,
Woodland Park, Colo., U.S.

Whitman's Millions
As a resident of a country where $120 million could save thousands of lives and provide homes and education, I was amazed and sickened by the massive amounts of money spent on Meg Whitman's campaign for governor of California ["What $120 Million Buys," Oct. 11]. Surely such amounts spent on self-promotion for public office should be regulated. Maybe a policy of dollar-for-dollar donations to charity should be instituted for money spent on buying popularity. Is it just me, or do others also miss the days when political candidates were elected on the strengths of their actions and policies rather than the size of their wallets?
Clive Battell,
Knysna, South Africa

The West Bank's Economy
I applaud your positive piece on economic growth in the West Bank ["A National Economy Without the Nation," Oct. 11] and, from experience, I can highly recommend IT investment there. However, readers seeing the pictures of new malls, gyms and coffee shops may need a reminder that even after 8% growth in the West Bank, these photos represent tiny oases surrounded by dire poverty and other hardships.
Zvi Schreiber,
Jerusalem

Anything but a Delicacy
Killing sharks for nothing more than their fins is shameless ["Killer Cuisine," Oct. 11]. We should go one step further than the efforts Krista Mahr describes and ban the sale of the extravagantly priced shark-fin soup here and in all U.S. territories. Such acts are crimes against nature. The practice of shark finning and the like should be a thing of the past, not the future if there is to be a future.
Charles Sobczak,
Sanibel, Fla., U.S.