Inbox

Economic Hurricane
Re your cover stories on the economic crisis: For much of the 20th century, the nationalization of financial institutions and industry was seen in the U.S. as a rejection of economic liberalism and tantamount to an embrace of communism [Oct. 20]. It’s hard to ignore the parallels between, for example, President Salvador Allende’s nationalization of Chile’s banks and copper industry in 1970, and the U.S. government’s recent purchase of part of insurance giant AIG and its bailout of several financial behemoths. It is interesting that the crisis in the capitalist system has been met with the kind of government interference in the economy that was once viewed with dismay.
Elliott Wollner,
Melbourne

Nobody doubts that the U.S. is passing through difficult times, but so is the rest of the world. Financial profligacy is not an American monopoly but is common to all free-market democracies. The U.S. and the world have seen worse times, and this one too will pass, pessimists and naysayers notwithstanding. To predict “the end of the American era,” as Michael Elliott does, is both premature and foolish. The U.S. still has a huge population of highly educated, smart and hard-working people who continue to excel in innovation and industry. Readers who live outside the U.S., as I do, have only to look around them to see how American products and culture have influenced their life. That is not about to change in a hurry.
Bhupi Singh,
Adelaide, South Australia

Americanness at Issue
In response to Peter Beinart’s question “Is He American Enough?” [Oct. 20] my question is, What is an American? My idea of an American is one who upholds the laws of the land and leads a morally convicted life free of prejudices of any kind.
A.B. Madyun,
Oakland, California

The characterization of conservatives’ thinking as uneducated, racist and antiforeigner is insulting. Conservatives welcome immigrants of all cultures to America’s shores just as liberals do; they part ways on who should foot the bill and how immigrants should be integrated into society. If Obama loses the election, rather than revealing our views on race or our lack of receptiveness to other cultures, it will show that Americans prefer governance from the middle — not from the far left.
Kathleen Sliwiak,
Gaithersburg, Maryland

I am a British national living in the U.S. Upon discovering where I am from, countless Americans reply with “Oh, I’m Irish/Scottish/quarter-English/half – French Canadian,” etc. Given that a lot of Americans are proud of their non-American ancestry, why do some people use it as a negative point for Obama?
Tim Parkinson,
South Burlington, Vermont

Beinart refers to a poll indicating that many white voters who lack college degrees would not vote for Obama because he is too “globalized,” too “multicultural,” too “cosmopolitan.” I have news for Beinart. Many of the emigrants from the U.S.S.R. who came to the U.S. in the ’70s and ’80s support John McCain. A lot of us have undergraduate or graduate degrees. There is a simple reason for our choice: we already lived in a socialist country and left it. The U.S. surely would move in that direction should Obama win.
Mikhail Godkin,
San Diego, California

Criticizing Obama by suggesting he isn’t American enough is absurd. America is a nation of immigrants; they built it and thrived in it. I would say that because Barack Obama exemplifies this melting pot, he is more American than many of us. But this brand of attack is not new, as the article implies. I think of the 1920s and the red scare and the extreme nationalism that led to immigrant quotas. Don’t we all look back at that time and shudder at how we treated those who came from another place? Our incredible ingenuity, our innovation, our ideas, our universities — all these are the product of our ability to attract the brightest minds from all over the world. The Statue of Liberty? A gift from France. “God Bless America”? Written by an immigrant. Why do we continue to submit to an antiforeign ideology?
Emily Feder,
St. Louis, Missouri

Clean Ayers?
Claire Suddath’s article “A Brief History Of: The Weathermen” might well have been written by the Obama campaign [Oct. 20]. It implied that Bill Ayers’ terroristic activity was ancient history and that he reformed his ways long before his relationship with Obama. Quite the contrary: In 2001, Ayers said of his group’s activities, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” Not to report this salient fact was misleading and biased.
Andy Horvath,
Elverson, Pennsylvania

Who cares what Ayers did nearly 40 years ago? It’s what he’s doing now that matters. Let us not forget that at least two major Watergate figures — Jeb Magruder and Charles Colson — rehabilitated themselves as respected members of the clergy.
Stephen V. Gilmore,
Charlotte, North Carolina

Your item on the weathermen was a masterpiece of misleading journalism. Imagine how different readers’ takeaway from the article would be if you had included details such as these: Charges against Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn were indeed dropped, but only because of a procedural technicality. Ayers has publicly stated that he was guilty. By the time Obama met him, Ayers’ days as a Weatherman were past, but his beliefs had not changed — indeed, he has openly reaffirmed them. And his work for public-school reform can be seen as an attempt to spread his radical beliefs throughout the educational system.
John Keenan,
Chicago

Does Size Matter?
In his article “Sizing Up Your Body,” Sanjay Gupta writes, “One healthy response [to body image] has been programs that promote … the idea of loving yourself as you are” [Oct. 20]. But he immediately negates that by citing a health professional’s claim that these programs can result in people “accepting that they’re overweight.” So apparently it’s healthy to love yourself as you are, but only if you’re thin; if not, better keep up with that self-loathing! A study on dieting by the National Institutes of Health showed that virtually all dieters regained all the weight they lost within five years. Until the medical community can offer people effective solutions to obesity, I suggest that Gupta not knock the self-acceptance route.
Kelly Murphy,
Hunter, New York

The Candidates Onstage
Joe Klein would like Obama to tell the truth to the American people regarding the sacrifices they will need to make during this economic free fall [Oct. 20]. But it is clear that such truth-telling is not what the American people want to hear, nor does such directness help the candidate during an election campaign. In August, in the midst of the oil-price surge, Obama tried to suggest to Americans that maintaining inflated tires could conserve fuel. The suggestion, backed by experts, was mocked by the McCain campaign. Clearly Obama learned the lesson of Walter Mondale’s attempt to tell the truth in 1984 about the need to raise taxes.
Steve Charing,
Clarksville, Maryland

Klein wrote that, asked by tv journalist Tom Brokaw whether health care is a privilege, a right or a responsibility, “Obama began his response with a simple declarative sentence: ‘I believe that health care is a right for every American.'” In fact, Obama began his response by saying: “Well, why don’t — why don’t — let’s talk about this, Tom, because there was just a lot of stuff out there.” Brokaw replied, “Privilege, right or responsibility. Let’s start with that.” Obama then said, “Well, I think it should be a right for every American.” If accurate quotes do not support Klein’s opinions, he must change his opinions; if the words said do support his opinions, there is no need to falsify them.
Daniel Kirchheimer,
Monmouth Junction, New Jersey

In his otherwise excellent column, Klein made a significant omission. The reason employer-based insurance is failing is not that employees fail to act in their enlightened self-interest or that employers are “slouching away from that responsibility.” Costs have risen to the point that most employers cannot afford to provide insurance, and individuals cannot come up with the $27,000 a family must pay on average for annual coverage. The only long-term solution is to eliminate insurance companies through a national single-payer health plan, or “Medicare for all.” Without the profit motive and with Medicare’s demonstrated efficiency, enough would be saved to insure everyone.
Richard K. Staggenborg,
Coos Bay, Oregon

How Voters Decide
I resent David Von Drehle’s implication in “The Limits of Race” that whites who do not vote for Obama are motivated by racism [Oct. 20]. Obviously race influences some voters, but what about blacks? Certainly some African Americans will vote for Obama because he is black. How many of these voters will cancel out white voters who vote for the wrong reasons?
James C. Perley,
Little Sioux, Iowa

It is disappointing that racial bias continues to be highlighted in the media. Giving so much attention to this social folly of the past is regressive journalism because it holds us back from a future in which people are seen for who they are, not in terms of their skin color.
Regina Devine,
Milton, Canada