Join the Club?
I have been worried about the problems Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam address in "The Party of Sam's Club" (Nov. 14) for quite awhile, but I had considerably less to offer anybody by way of solutions. Their suggestions offered welcome relief. More and more I feel impatient with conservatives who are becoming the very thing they're so often accused of being: stick-in-the-mud stasis-lovers. I am not that sort of conservative, and I will not vote for those who are. Libertarianism offers nothing but a romantic dream of neverland, and I certainly will not head over to the "Democratic" party. Here's hoping that you gentlemen are prophetic!
James Wilson
Mesa, Ariz.
Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam are merely recommending a new form of collectivism in "The Party of Sam's Club." Nearly every "proposal" they offer hinges on government taking money from some of us and giving it to others. The logic seems to be that if the GOP comes up with a sufficiently clever approach to such transfers, the electorate will be prosperous and content, and the party will remain in the majority indefinitely.
The reasons the American family has declined over the past few decades are cultural, not economic. While becoming far richer than ever before, Americans have adopted attitudes detrimental to the traditional family and to our society in general.
The authors have the audacity to characterize as "idle rich" those of us who, by working hard all our lives, have saved enough from earned income to live comfortably in our old age. (It would be equally invalid to characterize the vast majority of American children, also living comfortably but unproductively, as "idle rich.") This is a spurious attempt to justify taking money from those who have earned it and giving it to those who have not. The bottom line is that earned wealth is a resource the new collectivists want politicians to tap and use to buy votes.
Complicated rationales for all the proposed "credits for this" and "subsidies for that" do not change the fact that what they recommend is contrary to the principle that has made America the most productive nation on earth: If you live responsibly and work hard to get ahead, you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Walter Staggs
Swan Valley, Mont.
Fight for the Right
William Kristol is absolutely correct ("Fight Back, Mr. President," Nov. 14). The White House and GOP reluctance to confront the wild misstatements of the Democrats is eroding confidence in the Iraq war among both the public and the men and women in Iraq. It is time to set the record straight by proving the fallacy of the "Bush lied" refrain. I am refusing to contribute to the Republicans until they show some courage to fight back. Why is it that the Democrats only seem to fight in politics while the Republicans only fight to defend our country?
Allen V. Bergh
St. Croix Falls, Wisc.
Defining Democracy
James W. Ceaser's portrayal of how religious and nonreligious opponents interact in America, Europe, and the Middle East is an excellent analysis of the present state of affairs ("Faith in Democracy," Nov. 7). Though many in America extol the notion of a "secular democracy," that term is an oxymoron since it does not grant religious and nonreligious citizens equal treatment. For the United States to attempt to establish a secular democracy in Iraq would be a mistake, since the secular Sunni Muslims are in the minority. The United States would be a better example for the world if it were a democracy that allowed the people to include religion in public life.
George A. Kuipers
Pittsford, N.Y.