Web Letters: The Stuff of Heartbreak

The Hubbard Glacier is hardly threatened. It has been consistantly getting larger since the 1880s. It is about to cut off the Russell Fjord, which would interfere with salmon migrations and flood villages.

Reid Robinson

Salem, OR

Absolutely agreed that many of our economic problems are homegrown, lack of universal health care chief among them.

That said, part of what's wrong with the WTO is precisely that it puts limitations on what tools we can use to resolve these domestic problems. (Public Citizen did a memo on these for state policymakers that goes through this.)

Other trade pacts also have serious implications for domestic, non-trade economic policy. There's talk of using CAFTA to challenge SCHIP expansion (because it will be financed in part by cigar taxes that disproportionately effect the Central American producers that supply most of our cigars), while the proposed Peru FTA would limit Peru's options on its domestic social security policy (See this alternet.org article).

So the monied interests aren't making a distinction as to whether they are using domestic or international means to lock in the barbarous status quo.

Todd Tucker

Washington, DC

I was on the Oosterdam this past week during the same time that the Nation-sponsored conference occurred. My experience with the people attending this conference was so negative that not only will I never consider subscribing to this magazine (even though I regularly agree with the viewpoints expressed) I will have a difficult time ever supporting a candidate or legislation The Nation endorses.

On a regular basis I watched members of the conference (wearing their "The Nation" badges proudly around their necks which made it easy to identify them) treat the hardworking international staff of the cruise ship with utter disdain. In fact, during our entire week long cruise the six members of our party heard only one member of The Nation conference say "please," "thank you," or "excuse me" to these staff of the Oosterdam. As my father put it, "I don't believe I met a single member of this conference over the past week who was a nice person."

Additionally, we saw members of the conference act with a contempt for those beneath them (at least in their eyes) that was appalling. We saw a man jump ahead of two people in the guest services line at the front desk, and when my mother intervened (she was one of the two people he cut in front of) he turned, stated that his business was "very important" and then began to discuss his problems with the front desk workers. We saw such occurrences on a regular basis but I mention only one for the sake of brevity.

The ultimate insult to what we thought The Nation stood for occurred on our final night on board, when the ship visted Victoria, British Columbia. As our group reboarded the ship we saw a group of the conference attendees leaving the ship to explore this charming city. Ralph Nader himself comprised a member of this group. As these five individuals walked by us, we (and others in the line as well) were stunned when they committed theft and fraud right in front of us. Because of where the ship docks you have to take a bus to the city proper, and to ride the bus you must purchase a six-dollar round-trip ticket. Well, the tickets are never collected, so the participants of the conference who were boarding the boat simply gave their tickets to two members of Mr. Nader's party, who were grateful to receive them (full disclosure: Mr. Nader himself was not offered nor did he accept a ticket from anyone) so that they could save themselves from paying the six-dollar fee. The six-dollar fee that pays the salaries of the bus workers.

The group of people who participated in the conference exhibited some of the worst behavior by an adult any member of my family had seen in their lifetimes. This reflected poorly on The Nation (guilty by association) and the ideas your publication espouses. The word that comes to mind to describe these individuals, and the publication associated with them (yours) is "hypocritical."

I have spent the last several years simply waiting for the second term of the worst President in modern history to end. I will now spend the next two years fearful that the next President may have among their supporters the participants in your conference.

Rob Almony

Brentwood, MO

Talk about contradictions: a Nation website with an ad for Ann Coulter. Are there no enemies?

I've been reading your great LBO for years, met you twice over the years (at an NYC conference and during your visit to UCLA a few years ago) and read your books. Your insights continue to inform and inspire, and your brief Nation comments were moving and on the mark. It's not only Ivan that needs you.

John Marciano

Santa Monica, CA

I've been a subscriber since the mid-1980s, and I've always wondered about the Nation cruise. Sure, it does sound like fun; I'm sure I'd have fun on one, if I could afford it. But like Doug Henwood, I wonder about an organization such as The Nation undertaking these seminars on a cruise ship. What kind of political statement does it make? Not a great one, I'm afraid, without some examination of the specifics.

According to the Surfrider Foundation, an organization geared toward, among other things, reducing ocean pollution,

A 3,000-passenger cruise ship (considered an average size, some carry 5,000 or more passengers) generates the following amounts of waste on a typical one-week voyage:

• One million gallons of "gray water"
• 210,000 gallons of sewage
• 25,000 gallons of oily bilge water
• Over 100 gallons of hazardous or toxic waste
• 50 tons of garbage and solid waste
• Diesel exhaust emissions equivalent to thousands of automobiles

In addition, these ships take in large quantities of ballast water, which is seawater pumped into the hulls of ships to ensure stability. This water is typically taken in at one port and then discharged at the ship's destination, which can introduce invasive species and serious diseases into U.S. waters. A typical release of ballast water amounts to 1,000 metric tons.

I would hope that The Nation at least has checked that their cruise line uses the most up-to-date pollution control technology. If so, they should advertise the fact. Maybe they should also consider an alternative to a cruise, such as a Grove-like retreat, but at a place that dedicates itself to alternative energy such as wind and solar power, and/or at least explores the use of what E.F. Schumacher called in his book Small Is Beautiful "appropriate technology." Examples, like words, matter.

Stephen Blackburn

Los Angeles, CA