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Mount Holly, N.J.
Burgess on Terrorism
Thank you for Anthony Burgess' Essay on terrorism, "The Freedom We Have Lost" [May 8]. Our demands for law-and-order at the government level will not be met without a commitment at the personal level to fight complacency, to be outraged at any "compromise with justice," and to reject intimidation by those with destructive principles.
Joanne Devere
Long Beach, Calif.
In the 1960s, when the mob burned city blocks, the press said: Take it; do not overreact. When the war in Viet Nam turned into disaster, the press said: Take it; do not overreact. Now the TIME Essay about terrorism says: Take it; do not over react. Shall we retreat into our shell and die? It takes more than "tolerating the intolerable" to preserve this nation for our children.
James Scott, M.D.
Streator, Ill.
Anthony Burgess' Essay is easily the most articulate, lucid and compelling estimate of the failing state of the art of democracy yet published in the news media. But it is a blinkered point of view. Mr. Burgess laments the passage of a sense of individual responsibility for perpetuating integrity, without considering its source. When this country was being settled, and later when it was founded, nearly everyone in it believed in God. And enough of those believed strongly enough to live accordingly and train their children to do likewise.
But once the psychologists and educators were able to convince enough people that God was passe, our democracy became a shell. Long after the life had withered, the shell survived. But now it has begun to crumble, and brilliant, agnostic writers like Mr. Burgess are wondering why.
David Manuel
Hyannis, Mass.
Women and Pension Payments
I applaud the recent Supreme Court ruling that employers must deduct equal contributions from men and women for their pension funds [May 8]. It is curious that we still seek to divide human groups by sex when there are other ways to do it. For instance, nonsmokers have a longer life expectancy than smokers; therefore nonsmokers might be asked to make larger contributions. Or, to use the tired old division of race, since whites as a group live longer than blacks, they might be expected to graciously accept lower pension benefits.
Margaret T. Scott
Fresno, Calif.
Homeowners' Revolt
The Jarvis-Gann initiative to be voted upon in California [May 8] involves an issue that appeals to the voters' emotions and pocketbooks but seems to evade rational thought. The disease is increasing government spending. The symptoms are rising taxes. Giving a painkiller to the voters in the form of a drastic cut in property tax just allows the disease to spread undetected. It will only resurface in a more virulent form.
Michael A. Vanesian
Northridge, Calif.
You buy a lot, build a house, pay off the mortgage, and you're still not home free. For the rest of your life you must rent your own home from the Government, at an ever increasing rate. You have created property for the Government. If you don't believe it, stop paying your property taxes. You will soon find out who the real owner is.
Robert Luce