October 2008

Letters to the Ethical Spectacle

Spectacle Letters Column Guidelines. If you write to me about something you read in the Spectacle, I will assume the letter is for publication. If it is not, please tell me, and I will respect that. If you want the letter published, but without your name attached, I will do so. I will not include your email address unless you ask me to. This is in response to many of you who have expressed concern that spammers are finding your email address here. Flames are an exception. They will be published in full, with name and email address. I have actually had people follow up on a published flame by complaining that they thought they were insulting my ancestry privately. Nope, sorry.


Hello,

Rarely, if ever, have I read a piece that spoke to me as loudly as An Auchwitz Alphabet. I am not Jewish, although my ex-wife is. I was born in 1952. And Yet I find myself fascinated with the Nazis and their horrors. I've often remarked to friends that it's like a train wreck: You know it's going to be awful but something inside you insists on looking anyhow. Thank you for making this web page available to the world. I only hope that we can learn from our mistakes and create a better world so that the Holocaust can never happen again.

David Parsons


Dear Mr. Wallace:

Re Democracy and Capitalism,

A more appropriate title - Democracy for Sale.

Jeff Simonian


Dear Mr. Wallace:

Regarding Natural Rights: You said:

But I challenge anyone who believes there is a natural right of self defense to explain to me why there is no right of rape,

Simply because rape is accomplished against the will of the victim.

Self defense is being done because the other party has violated your own right to self preservation.

See, the simple concept of individual rights must take into account that every person has the right to not be violated by other persons, even if that other person considers it their right to violate.

Steve Diver