Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________ THE RELUCTANT CAPITALIST BY HEATHER CHAPLIN (05/15/98)

Thank you for creating a new column to cover finance issues. I enjoyed Heather Chaplin's starting column as well as her initial contribution profiling new investors. I can at best sympathize with Chaplin's personal conflict -- my parents were raised during the Depression and I am now teaching them about stocks, funds, real estate investment trusts and so on. I hope her continuing columns will focus on foundation topics including funds, dollar-cost averaging, IRAs, 401Ks and other staples we just don't get as a part of conventional schooling.
Chaplin labors over her internal conflict with the apparent resolution that investing in various stocks is a necessary evil, but evil nonetheless. I may not have interpreted that point correctly, but I would like to argue that approaching society's ills through rhetoric is fine, but you can better hit your opposition in the pocketbook. Socially conscious investors have several like-minded funds available to them, and can also exercise their interests as individual stockholders, depending on their relative amount of ownership. The irony is that Wall Street becomes less the bastion itself than a tool for the rest of us.
Again, thank you for adding this segment to your wide array of columns. Thanks also for fighting the "good fight," and not lingering in the depths of sensationalism the mainstream has found itself in.
-- James Wright
I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Reluctant Capitalist." The question of how to reconcile personal beliefs with economic realities interests me. I believe involvement in a capitalistic/market economy does not necessarily conflict with socialistic beliefs. Economic activity should be regulated to eliminate the harmful effects of the market economy. I think that any economic activity is permissible as long as it is done in a legal, moral and ethical manner that minimizes harmful effects on people, the environment and society as a whole. Much of my thinking on this has been shaped by "With All Your Possessions: Jewish Ethics and Economic Life," by Meir Tamari, and "Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, His Life and Legacy," by Sanford D. Horwitt.
I look forward to a liberal view of the market economy and investing in a manner consistent with one's beliefs. I always enjoy reading Salon Magazine, and its in-depth approach to news.
-- David Mayer-Sommer

_______________ TRASHING THE FLAMERS BY MIKE GODWIN (05/15/98)

I'm an American living in Hong Kong and working for a cyber-business that publishes content to and from some of the more repressive countries in this part of the world including China, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Living out here and observing the debate in America about censorware, PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection) and encryption, I have been stunned by how parochial these people are. They hardly seem to think about the world outside the United States. For example, I was floored by the advocacy for PICS and against the Communications Decency Act. The CDA sucked, but it only affected the United States. PICS, on the other hand, is a whole different kettle of fish.
If we embed the PICS standard into the Internet infrastructure, how long do you think it will be before countries like China set up groups to rate the Internet and require all Internet service providers and inbound network carriers to block all traffic from disapproved sites? PICS should have been aborted before anyone wrote a line of code because of its potential to help repressive governments control their citizens' access to information on the Internet.
This also leads to some thoughts on export controls and cryptography. Let's take the controls off of crypto exports! Think about it. What will be the impact in China if all information being transmitted over the networks is encrypted? It will be an enormous loss of control for the government.
That tells me that we should go a step further. Let's put controls on export of crippled crypto. It should be illegal to export a weak crypto version of any product for which a strong crypto version exists. Cryptography should also be the default setting for all exportable products. It should only be possible to transmit plain-text information while diagnostics or debugging settings are turned on.
The idea here is really simple. Let's use our position of technological power to move the entire world's communications infrastructure to strong cryptography whether they want it or not. The Chinese government knows it cannot afford to not stay up to date with the Internet so they will scream -- after all, cryptography is illegal today in China and we will be forcing it on the entire country -- but they will capitulate. Because of this the nascent opposition will be able to communicate using strong crypto without having to worry about government eavesdropping.
And finally, let's go one step further. Individual users' filtering their content is freedom. Bulk filtering by governments or others is un-American and not something we should support. Let's ban all export of content filtering tools that can be used by one party to bulk filter groups of other users' communications. Censorship is un-American and we should not be exporting those tools.
When we plan our Internet censorship and crypto policies, let's think about the rest of the world while we do it. We are in a temporary position of incredible power due to our domination of the Internet. Let's use that power while we have it to make the world a slightly freer place.
-- Mike Friedman
I am also a big opponent of any kind of censorship. However, you pointed out a definite shortcoming of pluralist ideology. The problem is that pluralists feel that everyone should have the right to any ideology, as long as their ideology also includes pluralism. The problem with this is that some people -- be they evangelical types, or just very morally self-righteous -- have as part of their belief system a compulsion to impose their views on others (be it their children, or all society).
These sorts of people are the ones attacked by anticensorware types, by pro-choicers, by cultural relativists (and I'm all of these things) who say, "I'm tolerant of them, why can't they just live and let live?" The answer is that they (through their belief structures) cannot allow others to live in ways that they don't agree with. Some believe that by imposing their beliefs they will "help" others (save them from hell, etc.), and some feel that it is their right to dictate morality.
Now I don't agree with their point of view, but it seems, in order to move forward (and perhaps in some cases, there is no middle ground), we must understand this very different way of looking at the world.
As for censorware, it's all fine and good for parents who have a lot of time to spend with their children to decry blocking software, but what about parents who don't have this luxury? What about working parents who want to give their children the advantages of the Internet, but can't be there to supervise? Personally, I don't think a little accidental porn-viewing is going to destroy a child, but some parents do, and part of true pluralist ideology is allowing those parents to hold and act on those views.
-- David Isbisiter

_______________ ASTRAL PROJECTION, HUGGING TREES AND BBQ CHICKEN WINGS BY ALAN KAUFMAN (05/14/98)

I almost cried reading today's feature story. What a story! What a life! What a redemption!
The image of that beautiful little girl that I've never seen, Isadora, the author's daughter, is vivid in my mind. I see her because I see my own daughter every day -- almost 2 and so full of life, wonder, adventure, newness, joy, laughter, love.
What a miracle life is. What an ongoing continual burst of wonder life is. Such a tragedy when we forget, when we trudge, when we kill time, when we hurry up and wait.
Thank you for reminding me.
-- John Koetsier
Thank you so much for Alan Kaufman's story today. Sitting here with my face covered in tears actually feels good -- it's always a revelation to read writing that's this good. God bless him.
-- Jill Wandrey
New York

_______________ PASSAGES: HOTEL PARADIS-O BY ROBERT STRAUSS (04/30/98)

Robert Strauss' piece on Japan and love hotels was condescending and insulting. In addition, it revealed how blind and unaware a traveler he is. Only an idiot could "unwittingly" find himself in a love hotel. Only a nincompoop would suggest that love hotels lay off the beaten track in Japan.
-- Tom Murray
SALON | May 21, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| TOM CRUISE IS NO CRUISER BY CAMILLE PAGLIA

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_______________ THE RELUCTANT CAPITALIST BY HEATHER CHAPLIN (05/15/98)
	Thank you for creating a new column to cover finance issues. I enjoyed Heather Chaplin's starting column as well as her initial contribution profiling new investors. I can at best sympathize with Chaplin's personal conflict -- my parents were raised during the Depression and I am now teaching them about stocks, funds, real estate investment trusts and so on. I hope her continuing columns will focus on foundation topics including funds, dollar-cost averaging, IRAs, 401Ks and other staples we just don't get as a part of conventional schooling. Chaplin labors over her internal conflict with the apparent resolution that investing in various stocks is a necessary evil, but evil nonetheless. I may not have interpreted that point correctly, but I would like to argue that approaching society's ills through rhetoric is fine, but you can better hit your opposition in the pocketbook. Socially conscious investors have several like-minded funds available to them, and can also exercise their interests as individual stockholders, depending on their relative amount of ownership. The irony is that Wall Street becomes less the bastion itself than a tool for the rest of us. Again, thank you for adding this segment to your wide array of columns. Thanks also for fighting the "good fight," and not lingering in the depths of sensationalism the mainstream has found itself in. -- James Wright I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Reluctant Capitalist." The question of how to reconcile personal beliefs with economic realities interests me. I believe involvement in a capitalistic/market economy does not necessarily conflict with socialistic beliefs. Economic activity should be regulated to eliminate the harmful effects of the market economy. I think that any economic activity is permissible as long as it is done in a legal, moral and ethical manner that minimizes harmful effects on people, the environment and society as a whole. Much of my thinking on this has been shaped by "With All Your Possessions: Jewish Ethics and Economic Life," by Meir Tamari, and "Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, His Life and Legacy," by Sanford D. Horwitt. I look forward to a liberal view of the market economy and investing in a manner consistent with one's beliefs. I always enjoy reading Salon Magazine, and its in-depth approach to news. -- David Mayer-Sommer
_______________ TRASHING THE FLAMERS BY MIKE GODWIN (05/15/98)
	I'm an American living in Hong Kong and working for a cyber-business that publishes content to and from some of the more repressive countries in this part of the world including China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Living out here and observing the debate in America about censorware, PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection) and encryption, I have been stunned by how parochial these people are. They hardly seem to think about the world outside the United States. For example, I was floored by the advocacy for PICS and against the Communications Decency Act. The CDA sucked, but it only affected the United States. PICS, on the other hand, is a whole different kettle of fish. If we embed the PICS standard into the Internet infrastructure, how long do you think it will be before countries like China set up groups to rate the Internet and require all Internet service providers and inbound network carriers to block all traffic from disapproved sites? PICS should have been aborted before anyone wrote a line of code because of its potential to help repressive governments control their citizens' access to information on the Internet. This also leads to some thoughts on export controls and cryptography. Let's take the controls off of crypto exports! Think about it. What will be the impact in China if all information being transmitted over the networks is encrypted? It will be an enormous loss of control for the government. That tells me that we should go a step further. Let's put controls on export of crippled crypto. It should be illegal to export a weak crypto version of any product for which a strong crypto version exists. Cryptography should also be the default setting for all exportable products. It should only be possible to transmit plain-text information while diagnostics or debugging settings are turned on. The idea here is really simple. Let's use our position of technological power to move the entire world's communications infrastructure to strong cryptography whether they want it or not. The Chinese government knows it cannot afford to not stay up to date with the Internet so they will scream -- after all, cryptography is illegal today in China and we will be forcing it on the entire country -- but they will capitulate. Because of this the nascent opposition will be able to communicate using strong crypto without having to worry about government eavesdropping. And finally, let's go one step further. Individual users' filtering their content is freedom. Bulk filtering by governments or others is un-American and not something we should support. Let's ban all export of content filtering tools that can be used by one party to bulk filter groups of other users' communications. Censorship is un-American and we should not be exporting those tools. When we plan our Internet censorship and crypto policies, let's think about the rest of the world while we do it. We are in a temporary position of incredible power due to our domination of the Internet. Let's use that power while we have it to make the world a slightly freer place. -- Mike Friedman I am also a big opponent of any kind of censorship. However, you pointed out a definite shortcoming of pluralist ideology. The problem is that pluralists feel that everyone should have the right to any ideology, as long as their ideology also includes pluralism. The problem with this is that some people -- be they evangelical types, or just very morally self-righteous -- have as part of their belief system a compulsion to impose their views on others (be it their children, or all society). These sorts of people are the ones attacked by anticensorware types, by pro-choicers, by cultural relativists (and I'm all of these things) who say, "I'm tolerant of them, why can't they just live and let live?" The answer is that they (through their belief structures) cannot allow others to live in ways that they don't agree with. Some believe that by imposing their beliefs they will "help" others (save them from hell, etc.), and some feel that it is their right to dictate morality. Now I don't agree with their point of view, but it seems, in order to move forward (and perhaps in some cases, there is no middle ground), we must understand this very different way of looking at the world. As for censorware, it's all fine and good for parents who have a lot of time to spend with their children to decry blocking software, but what about parents who don't have this luxury? What about working parents who want to give their children the advantages of the Internet, but can't be there to supervise? Personally, I don't think a little accidental porn-viewing is going to destroy a child, but some parents do, and part of true pluralist ideology is allowing those parents to hold and act on those views. -- David Isbisiter
_______________ ASTRAL PROJECTION, HUGGING TREES AND BBQ CHICKEN WINGS BY ALAN KAUFMAN (05/14/98)
	I almost cried reading today's feature story. What a story! What a life! What a redemption! The image of that beautiful little girl that I've never seen, Isadora, the author's daughter, is vivid in my mind. I see her because I see my own daughter every day -- almost 2 and so full of life, wonder, adventure, newness, joy, laughter, love. What a miracle life is. What an ongoing continual burst of wonder life is. Such a tragedy when we forget, when we trudge, when we kill time, when we hurry up and wait. Thank you for reminding me. -- John Koetsier Thank you so much for Alan Kaufman's story today. Sitting here with my face covered in tears actually feels good -- it's always a revelation to read writing that's this good. God bless him. -- Jill Wandrey New York
_______________ PASSAGES: HOTEL PARADIS-O BY ROBERT STRAUSS (04/30/98)
	Robert Strauss' piece on Japan and love hotels was condescending and insulting. In addition, it revealed how blind and unaware a traveler he is. Only an idiot could "unwittingly" find himself in a love hotel. Only a nincompoop would suggest that love hotels lay off the beaten track in Japan. -- Tom Murray SALON \| May 21, 1998