New World Disorder
Rana Foroohar's analysis of what ails Europe contains some interesting observations ["The End of Europe," Aug. 22]. But early on in the article, she reveals that she suffers from the very delusion that underpins all the economic problems faced by Europe and the U.S. She writes that "Britain, like the U.S., has been a center of ... great wealth creation." The correct statement would be "Britain, like the U.S. and the rest of Europe, has been a center of great debt creation, leading to the illusion of wealth." That illusion is now unraveling, despite desperate efforts of governments in the U.S. and Europe to keep the party going.
Alex Smeets, CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND
Your article mistakenly implies that the current "crisis of the old order" is forever going to penalize the American citizen and businessperson with reduced expectations and a lower quality of life. For one thing, the worldwide recession isn't going to last forever. Second, when Americans wake up to the fact that an increase in taxes, along with reasonable spending cuts, is imperative and would again put the nation's fiscal house back in order, we'll be back on the path to prosperity. With the exception of goofballs in Washington and the conservative right, everyone knows having the lowest taxes in 60 years is unsustainable and a foolish fiscal strategy. Supply-side economics, which primarily benefits the wealthy, isn't working. There's nothing wrong with America that Obama's and the Democrats' balanced approach to fiscal stability wouldn't cure.
Ellsworth Frankson, SOUTH BEND, IND.
To speak of current global challenges as if they meant the end of Western ideology ignores the many lessons taught us by the Greatest Generation. Our shifting economies are more likely birth pains of a new day. We should view and report the future through the distant past, which tells us we are a spoiled generation that needs to appreciate that things have been far worse--and learn, as did our forebears, to work for solutions rather than pour gasoline on the burning embers.
The Rev. Russell J. Levenson Jr., HOUSTON
Publishing the burning scarlet image of a young man presumably destroying his world wasn't just reporting the news but adding to it in a sensationalistic way. You may have sold copies, but are you selling out a higher good?
Paul Bryan, KATY, TEXAS
Prayerful Politician
One wonders how Governor Rick Perry can explain why his prayers for rain have not ended the worst drought in Texas history ["The Lone Star Warrior," Aug. 22]. The Christian preachers who helped Perry with his Aug. 6 rally are known for saying publicly, just before they ask for donations, that God caused Katrina to wreck New Orleans because it is a sinful city and that God punished this nation on 9/11 because of our tolerance for gays. So one has to wonder, is God punishing Texas with this big drought for the sins (pride? big hair?) of Rick Perry? What punishment will the U.S. endure if Perry actually gets elected President?
Robert P. Curran, BEVERLY HILLS, FLA.