HOOK & MUDEDE'S THIRD WORLD

EDITORS: "Soiled," Jamie Hook and Charles Mudede's bizarre rant about capitalism, Dubya's election, and Third World countries, is chock full o' nonsense [Dec 21]. They assert that "capitalism, in itself, lacks an ideology. It has no justification outside of the bottom line." But capitalism--an economy based on private property and voluntary exchanges of goods and services--is the natural consequence of a firm commitment to protecting individuals' rights to life, liberty, and property--an ideology called "libertarianism." Hook and Mudede may dispute these rights (I hope not), but it's disingenuous to claim that capitalism can only be justified by greed.

They [go on to state that] capitalism ("naked, greedy, corrupt") is to blame for the crookedness of our government. But history has shown that concentrations of power will attract the unscrupulous, regardless of a country's economic system. The more economic power a government wields, the harder the power-hungry will try to get into office.

After Dubya's election, they write, "American citizens woke up in a Third World nation"--redefining "Third World" to mean "any nation whose political system [is] rife with dishonesty." But under this new definition, pretty much every country qualifies for the Third World. Their assertion becomes meaningless... although it has a nice ring. In the end, they glibly write off capitalism as an "impossible moral order (loss is bad, profit is good)." If, in their world, loss is good, I will be happy to visit and do business with them.

Joel Grus, via e-mail


ROUND TWO: CITY OF SEATTLE VS. THE ETC

EDITORS: I'm glad others can see that Mayor Schell and the Seattle city council are still trying to sink the [Elevated Transportation Company, or ETC] by any means possible, and I'm also glad that the ETC has employed [attorney Chris Beer] to represent Seattle citizens' interest in having a successful monorail- development project ["Don't Go There," Dan Savage, Dec 21]. I've noticed that TVSea, Seattle's cable-access information channel, has not been televising recent ETC meetings either. I hope monorail advocates have people in mind to run for upcoming mayoral and city council elections.

Anonymous, via e-mail


SUPERMODEL = "BIMBOLIC TWERPET"

EDITORS: What a loser Eddie Vedder is, [dating] some cheeseball model! [It's My Party, Kathleen Wilson, Dec 21.] A friggin' asshole!

I mean, what the hell is going on here? I've been stalking up the wrong tree all this time?! What the fuck!? Vedder's just another idiot who doesn't know what love is. That's why a guy like him can easily dump his soul mate for some bimbolic twerpet of a supermodel. I'm just glad I lost interest in him long before he divorced his wife.

Anonymous, via e-mail


JUVENILE MASTURBATION

EDITORS: The Stranger, a paper that you have to give away because no one will buy it, accuses the Seattle Union Record of reading like "the senior project of an earnest high-school journalism class." ["The Real Strike Paper," Dan Savage and Josh Feit, Dec 14.] What a riot--and how juvenile! I hope you enjoyed masturbating!

Anonymous, via e-mail


HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT PAY INCREASES AND IMPROVED BENEFITS ARE "UNEARNED"?

TO THE EDITORS: I can agree with [Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild spokesman] Art Thiel on one thing: Printing the names of people who choose to continue working during the Seattle Times/P-I strike is out of line, and definitely portrays a negativity I wouldn't want associated with my cause ["The Real Strike Paper," Dan Savage and Josh Feit, Dec 14]. The only thing name-printing can do is encourage others to treat those people badly. They've made individual choices that are not your--or anybody else's--business, and they do not deserve to be publicly lynched. If they can, I hope they sue you for libel.

Additionally, I am a liberal democrat, but would someone please explain to me why I ought to support striking workers all the time? Unions served a great purpose many years ago, particularly with the improvements they helped bring about in labor practices and safety. However, I cannot empathize with workers like these, who strike based on wages and benefits. They were aware of the terms of the job when they accepted it, and if they later find it to be unacceptable, they need to get their resumes out and find a better job. It is not the obligation of business owners/managers to provide workers unearned pay increases and improved benefits just for existing. Whatever happened to paying people what they deserve based on merit?

Also, I have a hard time believing Art Thiel is barely getting a "living wage" and is forced to live paycheck-to-paycheck, as he says in his radio ads. But even if that is true--join the real world Mr. Thiel! Most Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck.

Anonymous, via e-mail


UNORGANIZED UNIONIZING

DEAR PHIL CAMPBELL: I have been an employee during (as well as before and after) the attempted unionization of the Pacific Science Center. I read all the articles you have [written], and consider them incredibly slanted and inaccurate--bordering on slander. I personally saw no evidence of discouragement from management [toward] pro-union employees, for any reason ["Science News," In Other News, Dec 14]. In my experience with management, they were open, honest, and eager to clarify any questions I may have had concerning their side of the issue. The people who were for the union were unorganized, lacked information, and, for the most part, lacked conviction in their own cause. When I was first approached by people who were for the union, not only could they NOT provide me with any information on paper, but they also couldn't tell me verbally what the union was going to do for the employees, or if they had any plans for issuing such information in the future.... I was for the union; I changed my mind because they lost interest in their own cause.

Rachel May, Pacific Science Center employee


SMOKE SUPPORT

"HI, I [read] The Stranger, and I would like to say that "The Smokers" [Dec 21] was one of the best things I have ever read. Rebecca Brown did a very good job. It was really good. I couldn't put it down, and I have a neighbor who [couldn't either]. Rebecca is a good writer. Thank you."

Judith Willis, via voice-mail


WOODRING'S WARRIORS

DEAR EDITORS: Regarding the anti-Jim Woodring letter in the most recent Stranger [Letters to the Editor, Dec 28]: If [Lola Estelle and Jeff Buckley] are going to take the time to write to a newspaper and whine about comics, they ought to be whining to the P-I about Marmaduke and B.C. A piece of real art is open to all interpretation; but to suggest that it ought to be removed because it offends your dainty eye? That's just ridiculous. What a couple of hothouse flowers these two alleged twenty-somethings must be, to have to ask a third party to protect them from the images on a corner of one page.

Tom Dougherty, via e-mail

DEAR STRANGER: In response to the whiners who cried about Jim Woodring's comic, I would challenge them to draw something better. Until they can make a better argument than "it is grotesque, just awful," I don't even want to hear their worthless bitches. The "grotesqueness" and "awfulness" of his comic are what make it good, and the brief words that usually accompany it make your imagination go crazy.

David Boudinot, Olympia

EDITORS: What do a stupid pair of self-proclaimed Capitol Hill hipsters know about the subject of comics as a whole, and the subset of comics that Woodring's work represents? Nothing! Carry on, Mr. Woodring--carry on!!

Rick & Ariel, via e-mail

DEAR STRANGER: We are 20-ish Capitol Hill dwellers. We are your target audience. We normally enjoy your paper and read it frequently. That said, we both strongly delight in Jim Woodring's comic strip. It is fantastic. Just sublime. We praise it as a better comic.

Scott Meyer & Katie Toft, Capitol Hill

DEAR EDITOR: I can't understand why Ms. Estelle and Mr. Buckley are so offended by [Jim Woodring]. I can only assume that Jim's strip makes them see things they can't comprehend, and that somehow upsets their comfortable little world view. So they don't like Jim. Fine. But to ask that it be removed from a publication? I gotta say I "strongly object" to this kind of dull, unimaginative, knee-jerk conservatism.

Justin Miller, Medina, Ohio

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: In Emily Hall's beautiful essay about Sylvia Plath's journals ["I Have Had to Kill You," Dec 21], she mentions Ariel, a collection of poetry Plath wrote in the last six months of her life. Due to a computer glitch, the correct word was replaced with 0 in the text. That was silly. Of course we meant Ariel.