European Heroes

Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005

Oct. 10, 2005

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European Heroes
In your wonderful selection of people who deserve to be called European Heroes, you featured Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen [Oct. 10]. That is too much praise for a man who is mainly known for his prevarication and tardy approach to very real problems that affect this city. It is important to realize that in Holland, mayors are appointed by the crown. The good citizens of Amsterdam are thus not allowed to vote for their first citizen, and they instead got a refugee from the political establishment who needed a place to hide. After filmmaker Theo van Gogh was assassinated, it took Cohen hours to make his first move. Cohen's career is based on acting only to further his personal ambitions. He apparently sees his mayoral stay as a temporary post. In the meantime he avoids any decision that may jeopardize his return to the corridors of power.
Peter van Gorsel
Amsterdam

Your profiles of the Heroes were truly inspiring. Lebanese entrepreneur Asma-Maria Andraos put it best: "If you have a few good people, maybe you can change the world." It would be wonderful, however, if profiles of such inspirational people could focus more on heroes who come out of Africa. We need to highlight the positive occurrences on our continent instead of famine, wars and institutionalized corruption. Despite what the world usually hears, there are great stories in Africa.
Mudiaga Sota
Lagos

I was totally engrossed by your special issue on European Heroes. In a time when governments are ineffectual, human trafficking persists and natural disasters upend tens of thousands, it is so inspiring to read about "normal" people performing huge personal acts of generosity, sacrifice and brotherhood. Rather than a European issue (which was broad enough to include a Lebanese woman and an Arab-Israeli soccer player), perhaps you could introduce a special worldwide issue to remind readers that no one is too small to make a difference.
Deirdre Smith
Abu Dhabi

Time did not tell the whole story about Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar and his portrayals of the gay lifestyle. Far from being a liberal (in the European sense), Almodóvar is a sectarian leftist in mind and soul. His systematic attack against family and religious values is not really intended to "liberate" the homosexuals who live in Spain or to make the country more modern. Almodóvar's attacks aim to undermine the values that fortunately are still the core of Spanish society. I reject the notion that he is changing the world for the better.
Jorge Angell
Madrid

Almodovar is probably the last person I'd think of as a hero. The mediocre quality of the films he makes on taxpayers' money is exceeded only by his third-class café Bolshevik political comments. He is definitely not my idea of a hero.
Peter Schmidt
Madrid

The Amsterdam television station at5 conducted a poll about Job Cohen. Only 40% agreed that he was a hero — 60% disagreed. Maybe the real hero in the days after Theo van Gogh was killed was Cohen's ally, Alderman Ahmed Aboutaleb.
Bert Knol
Amsterdam

What a mistake to pick Lars Josefsson, managing director of the Swedish power company Vattenfall, as a hero of the environment! Now you have really lost your credibility! Even if it's very clean in Sweden, Vattenfall operates some of Europe's dirtiest power plants, in Poland and Germany. How can your magazine be so poorly informed?
Charlotte Thege
Sweden

I am deeply shocked and saddened by your decision to include the mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama, in your list of European Heroes. You praise his campaign to paint hundreds of buildings in the city in tutti-frutti colors, but the owners and residents were not even consulted and could not oppose the mayor's ukase. Is that your model of a political hero in a democratic society? While pursuing that caprice, he left the water, sewer and electricity networks in dire condition. You're right that he has leveled hundreds of illegal buildings, particularly in the city center, but these were mostly houses of poor and powerless people, who needless to say were not offered any alternative places to live. Illegal building by the rich and powerful is flourishing — even skyscrapers! A similar pattern is evident in our streets and sidewalks: rebuilt mostly in the business district, while the rest are full of holes, lack drains and are not much more than muddy paths. I fully agree with Rama when he says that his generation was "not prepared for being politicians in a democratic society" — something he has largely proved over the last five years.
Arben Muça
Tirana, Albania

Thank you for including in your list of Heroes Italian comedian Beppe Grillo, known for his barbed social and political commentary. We Italians have become used to political corruption and abuse of power in such a way that we neglect to praise the country's freely critical voices.
Andrea Silvestri
Dalmine, Italy

Congratulations on your special issue on European Heroes. I was very pleased to see that one of your choices was footballer and antiracism campaigner Thierry Henry, one of my favorite players. It made my day! The choice of famous as well as unknown individuals makes one realize that anyone can do something to make the world a better place to live in.
Margret Van Royen
Etrechy, France

It was a bit ironic that your portrait of Natalya Dmitruk, the courageous translator and signer to the deaf for the Ukrainian state-run television station ut-1, included a reference to her parents as "deaf mute." Deaf people are just that: deaf. The erroneous and condescending term deaf mute went out in the 1950s. Please don't revive it.
Robbin Battison
Stockholm

A Battleground Untamed
the crux of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq is summed up in a quote in Tim McGirk's article "War in the Shadows" [Oct. 10]. He wrote that after an ambush outside Kandahar, an American officer directed his men not to shoot wildly at the shadows flitting through the chaos because "Dammit! It's civilians mixed with enemy." The U.S. is trying to fight a gentleman's war. There will be civilian casualties in any war. We have to quit trying to pick and choose when we raise our weapons. Either get out now or fight.
Denise Fitzgerald
Shelby Township, Michigan, U.S.

When an Afghan commander refused to let his men join in a rescue mission, you quoted a U.S. sergeant who said, "Look at these Afghans. Why the hell should we be fighting their war?" Well, after 9/11, the war against the merciless Taliban regime suddenly became our war as well. I completely understand what men say in the heat of battle because I spent a year in combat myself. But slowly American troops will weed out the enemy, and as its desperation grows, we will continue to stride ahead with confidence and assurance, knowing we will punish those who dared to mess with our country, an America we have sworn to protect.
Albert Shepard, Sergeant, U.S. Army
Camp Navistar, Kuwait

Ignoring its bitter experience trying to save democracy in Vietnam, the U.S. again finds itself bogged down — this time in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seems the U.S. doesn't learn from history. Whereas the basic objective that led American troops into Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq remains noble — projecting America's commitment to democratic ideals — subsequent developments have proved the Washington strategists wrong. Once the immediate, specific objective has been achieved, it is time to get out, leaving it to Afghans and Iraqis to sort out their internal problems. Afghans without the Taliban and Iraqis without Saddam Hussein can rebuild their countries and manage themselves. Prolonging those missions weakens the most powerful nation on earth.
Vellore S. Thyagarajan
Madras, India

My husband is in Kandahar providing intelligence support for the units on the front lines. He is glad to be in Afghanistan instead of Iraq. But at least part of the answer to the question "Why haven't we caught Osama bin Laden?" is that we took on Iraq before the job in Afghanistan was truly finished. The U.S.'s monetary and human resources are stretched too thin for either task to be completed anytime soon. For far too long, Afghanistan has been pushed out of the spotlight. I hope our mission there will regain the attention it needs so we can be successful in that country in the not too distant future.
Renee Masilon
Darmstadt, Germany

Nice Work if You Can Get It
Peter Gumbel's article on increasing employment problems across Western Europe [Oct. 3] perfectly highlighted the plight of a bleak, stagnant, not so efficient European labor market. The reasons lie in outdated and wrongheaded policies implemented by local governments that can't cope with the fast and ever changing rules of the marketplace. In addition, there seems to be an increasing number of young people who are immature, not motivated enough or simply not ready to compete and find a decent job. Discouraged, they rely on poorly paid, insecure jobs or, even worse, simply stop looking for any work at all. Global competitiveness, market flexibility and the uncertainty of today's economies do the rest. The unemployment problem is a social time bomb and may end in the crumbling of major Western economies.
Giulio Cicconi
Teramo, Italy

The work-ethic issue is one of those nature-vs.-nurture debates whose popularity rises and falls with the availability of jobs. Unfortunately, Europeans who start their own businesses are crushed by corporate and other taxes. If they can hire support staff, these small one- or two-person businesses in many cases have to fund benefits that the employers themselves do not have: sick leave, paid four-week vacations, holidays, maternity leave, a 35-hour workweek and more. In a turnabout of the exploited and the exploiter, small-business employers feel used, and many dream of the day when they too can be employees. That is no way to get an economy moving. Somehow governments and voters can't make the leap of imagination and realize that less taxation can bring greater benefits to the country — not the American-style tax breaks for the rich, but incentives for independent and struggling entrepreneurs.
Suzanne Nash
Taby, Sweden

I know of a company in which employees agreed to work longer hours without extra pay in exchange for a guarantee of no layoffs this year. But then the ceo raised his annual salary more than 50%. In an instant, he lost the respect of his workforce. If ceos would set a good example, roll up their sleeves and cut their exorbitant salaries, workers would gladly tighten their belts. But when the ceos make big salaries, often without doing a good job, it is not surprising that the workforce doesn't want to do them any favors.
Sylvia Dörflinger
Hilden, Germany

Turning Down the Heat
The discussion over what causes global warming and whether it is responsible for more severe hurricanes can go on for a long time [Oct. 3]. There are many variables, and there are also a lot of political and economic vested interests that try to make us believe there are not enough data to reach a firm conclusion. But we cannot afford to wait until there is strong evidence that human activity is at least part of the problem. By then it would be too late. On the other hand, curbing our carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions will cost very little, other than requiring some relatively small changes in our lifestyle and some economic adjustments. But if we don't make a serious effort, and human activity is in fact causing global warming, the consequences could be disastrous.
Gabriel Ruiz
Valencia, Spain

The earth is reacting to the overuse of natural resources and the pollution of air, water and soil. Hurricane Katrina is an example. The U.S., one of the major consumers of fossil fuels, needs to lead the world in reducing global pollution by implementing the use of clean forms of energy. We are at the edge of the abyss. Let's step back before it is too late.
Franklin Milman
Tel Aviv

Why doesn't George W. Bush consider the possibility that greenhouse gases — mostly produced by his own country — can fuel hurricanes and become as dangerous as weapons of mass destruction? If we humans do nothing to help save the environment, it will surely do something to us. And the disasters may have already begun.
Arnaud Chassac
Ormesson sur Marne, France

Your report on recent american hurricanes included a large photo of an evacuation from Houston with the highway clogged with suvs, trucks and large cars in long lines. When are Americans going to realize that their extravagant way of living and their reckless consumerism are prime culprits for many environmental catastrophes in the world? We should thank God that there is only one U.S.; otherwise the human race would have been wiped out a long time ago.
Ramin Akbari
Tehran

Japan's Wasted Asset
Thank you so much for your article on the lack of effort being made to utilize the intelligence and abilities of Japanese women [Oct. 10]. I am a Canadian woman teaching English in Japan, and I was shocked by how patriarchal Japanese society is. Your story quoted a women's rights activist as saying, "Women must work twice as hard as men to advance their careers because of prejudices within Japanese companies ... And then they have to go home and work three times as hard there." Japanese women work until their backs are literally bent to the ground and get no thanks from their husbands and sons. I am glad that a high-profile publication like Time is shedding light on this important subject.
Amy O'Dell
Obihiro, Japan

I was very impressed with your report on women in Japan. Here in this country, it's unusual to see such critical opinions on the condition of women given freely. For a long time, I have not been proud of being a woman. It makes me want to cry out to all Japanese men, "We women are not birth-giving machines!"
Kimie Ueno
Nishinomiya, Japan

Mutual Rejection?
Your article "Continental Divide," on the admission of Turkey to the European Union, noted that a recent poll found that "nearly two-thirds of French and Germans are opposed" to Turkey joining the E.U. [Oct. 10]. I believe that all European leaders who want to accept Turkey as a member are completely ignoring the will of their citizens. There were moments in European history when people's freedom was severely threatened. But now it seems there is no freedom to speak of. Decisions are made over the heads of European citizens without any respect for their opinion.
Rudi Verstraeten
Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

Since roughly 30% of Turks do not think it would be beneficial to enter the E.U., why doesn't that country start negotiations with some other international organization? Or may I suggest the formation of a new economic union with the U.S., Britain and Turkey as member states?
Apostolos Syropoulos
Xanthi, Greece

DeLay's Indictment
House Majority Leader Tom Delay [who defiantly rejects charges of illegal campaign-finance dealings] projects mean-spiritedness [Oct. 10]. He has smirked his way through many media moments. I wonder why some political leaders seem to choose an adversarial approach to situations that actually call for amiable discourse. Admired leaders demonstrate nonarrogant and confident behavior. That demeanor and knowing the right thing to do are what we constituents desire from our leaders.
Joanne M. Petroske
Churchville, Pennsylvania, U.S.

A Squid with Backbone
Your notebook item "Catch Of The Century" reported on the hunt and temporary capture of an 8-m-long giant squid [Oct. 10]. You described how the squid finally freed itself by tearing off one of its 5.5-m-long tentacles, leaving it behind on the hook that had impaled it. Giant squids may not be the most likable of creatures, but do they deserve such treatment? I think I would be somewhat "active and aggressive" too if I were forced to tear off my own limb while scientists sat back, casually making their observations.
Fergus Mahon
Kielce, Poland