OPINION

Fighting my corner

Re: "Great debates… and some not so great", (PostScript, March 30).

Roger Crutchley said Alistair Cooke's Letter from America was one of his favourite BBC radio programmes. It was also one of mine. Roger liked the fireside chat approach, the non-pompous tone.

It reminded me that during a mass shooting in the USA last year, I had a letter printed in which I put forward Alistair Cooke's commentary on the Second Amendment's right to bear arms within the context of establishing a well-regulated militia. Roger seems to be in my corner, which I am happy to be in too. In addition, Alistair Cooke became a proud US citizen in the early 1940s.

The wealthy do help

Re: "Tax the lucky few", (PostBag, April 5).

I disagree with the pseudonymous Felix Qui's contention that some of the extremely wealthy he cites in his correspondence have done nothing to benefit society. Has this person never heard of the Carnegie, Rockefeller, or Ford Foundations? Their altruistic legacies are still in effect today, more than a century after they passed, providing relief to millions of disadvantaged.

The tax net lowers

Re: "Tax the lucky few," (PostBag, April 5).

I read Felix Qui's suggestion of raising US income tax, and when the writer said, "...increase taxes on Donald Trump and his billionaire mates," I can offer an unusual reply.

My reply is that income taxes were not always used in America. They were installed as an effort to "tax the rich" and have failed spectacularly to "tax the rich" since 1913; or 112 years.

To close, while I really like Felix Qui, when you hear Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton shout "tax the rich," they're referring to doctors and lawyers -- not the truly wealthy -- and what remains unspoken is that they continue to tax the poor and disabled.

...or, in American slang, this clever plan is not "Robin Hood," but rob your "hood."

Smaller than you think

Re: "Why China's marriage crisis really matters", (Opinion, April 4).

Another Project Syndicate piece which neglects the real issue with facts related to China. Many are fake, some outlandishly so.

The total population as reported by the CCP is grossly inflated to support negotiations regarding international trade by exaggerating the market's strengths, and most importantly because the CCP wants the world to think that challenging their country militarily would be a disastrous decision due to their claimed population size of 1.4 billion.

However, studies by demographic experts using a wide variety of data sources such as salt consumption, grain imports, population statistics cited by cities and villages, and overall economic activity indicate the real population of China is 300-400 million people.

The lingering effect of a one-child policy, surging severe death rates during Covid, depressed economic opportunity, and many other factors which were reported in the article make it utterly impossible for the 1.4 billion number to be factual.

The "marriage crisis" is the least of China's worries. A major purge of top-level officials is well underway in the country and Xi Jinping's tenure is seen as fragile at the moment.

Many Chinese are not happy with their leadership, particularly members of the younger generation who are depressed by the economic situation and see their future as hopeless.

Social unrest is escalating yet this unfavourable news is not often reported by mainstream outlets. However, social media and independent journalists are doing an amazing job covering these issues. Communism is fundamentally flawed and this is producing the severe systemic problems now facing the CCP.

Tickled pink

Re: "Slanted cartoons", (PostBag, April 4).

With regard to the selection of political cartoons published in the Post, I find most of them quite insightful and timely, even when I don't agree with them.

Matt Davies' cartoon in the March 30 edition, depicting soldiers in the besieged city of Troy being tipped off in advance of the Greeks' Trojan horse strategy, was brilliant in highlighting the risks from the careless use of Signal messaging by US military and intelligence officials. Regardless of one's political leanings, if you don't find that cartoon clever and humorous, you probably don't have much of a sense of humour.

By the way, Donald Trump did not win a majority of votes cast in the election, as Gary Fox claimed in his PostBag letter. Even among those who voted (only 64% of those eligible) Mr Trump won only 49.8% of the vote. That means 50.2% voted for a candidate other than Donald Trump. Mr Trump did win the electoral college count handily, thanks to narrow victories in all the so-called "swing states".

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