[Peace-discuss] My letter

[David Green]

I like the title they gave to it--

Call to help needy apex of dishonesty
Mon, 12/10/2018 - 10:41pm | The News-Gazette
<http://www.news-gazette.com/users/digitalmedia>

In the recent "Another Thanksgiving" editorial, the editors write that in
spite of "general" affluence, "too many people suffer from a variety of
maladies that range from poverty and family dysfunction to physical and
mental illness. ... Let's be sure as the Christmas season approaches to
keep those people in our hopes and prayers."

The assumption is that "those people" are not among those "general"
individuals reading this editorial.

Given the expense of a newspaper and its lack of political interest in
"those people," this is likely mostly correct.

Nevertheless, it's rude to talk about others in a room in which they might
be present, no less so in an objectifying and condescending manner.

Moreover, poverty is not a "malady" but a structural condition enforced by
radical social inequality. This inequality adversely affects at least half
of us: those who are on the short end of federal policies, historically
supported by News-Gazette editors, that have seen four decades of
de-industrialization, "free trade," deunionization, enforced unemployment
and decreases in federal and state funding for social programs — all in the
midst of trillions for criminal wars, supported by the editors, and fought
largely by "those people."

Certainly, the other "maladies" mentioned will always be with us. However,
the risk factors associated with them would be significantly decreased by
the very feasible elimination of poverty, the existence of which is a
political choice made by predatory capitalists and their acolytes in the
media and academia. In this context, appeals to "Christian" charity are at
best disingenuous.

DAVID GREEN

Champaign
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