If you’re liberal, why does Elon deal rile you?
FOR the last 50 years or so Irish ‘liberals’ have been lecturing us about the necessity for respecting differing views/perspectives.
On the surface this sounds very reasonable and civilised. The downside is that in the public domain, ‘liberals’ have had the field largely to themselves, particularly in such important areas as media (in fairness, the Mail has made efforts to provide a platform for differing views) and academia. So paying lip service to diversity has been largely meaningless and painless, from their perspective.
However, a useful litmus test to assess the credibility of these lofty ‘liberal’ ideals is to voice the mildest support for any of the following: Pope Benedict, Brexit or Donald Trump. You can be sure the name calling and condescension won’t be far behind. Respect for diversity will soon be jettisoned.
It would appear that ‘liberal’ ideals are so shaky that they can’t sustain the mildest forms of divergent opinions. The recent news concerning Elon Musk buying Twitter has really set the cat among the liberal pigeons. If liberals are so afraid of differing views and require censorship to maintain themselves, the obvious conclusion is that their world view does not stand up to reasonable scrutiny. At the very least they should drop the pretence that they are really interested in pluralism/diversity. The evidence suggests otherwise.
ERIC CONWAY, by email.
Stand up to Putin
AS with all despots and bullies, threats are the first line of coercion. It is generally the fear of what is threatened that makes the bullied yield. Sometimes the threats are followed through, especially when the bully believes he has the upper hand. And they all think they are invincible.
That is their flaw. As soon as their power is challenged and their supremacy diluted, they cease to be the threat they appeared to be. On an international scale, especially on a war footing, the consequences may be of more concern. Put nuclear power into the hands of a desperate aggressor and we may need to be more circumspect. But nonetheless, we have to stand up to the bully and fight back.
This war in the Ukraine is not just the Ukraine’s war. We, in the free world, whether we admit it or not, are at war. The Ukraine is the first leg of Putin’s aggression, very much as Austria was to Hitler. The world did nothing until Poland was invaded. Are we to let the Ukraine be swallowed up by Putin’s Russia and wait until it’s Moldova or Finland or Sweden or somewhere else who is attacked?
Putin has bellowed threats of making the war more widespread, even nuclear, if Nato or the EU accept these countries into their ranks. Why? Because they are probably next on his list. And then, there are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania whom he calls former Russian enclaves.
We must be prepared to face down this bully and join in the defence of Ukraine if we must. Under no circumstances can we let Putin win. If we do, then we have not learned from World War Two and the Nazi Holocaust. JOHN COLGAN,
by email.
Many causes of hunger
I READ an article online blaming the increase of starvation in the world on the war in Ukraine.
It does not mention that Ukraine was a basket case financially in 2013 and had massive debts.
It was not reaching is maximum potential in growing wheat for some time.
It was known for its corruption and shady oligarchs who were buying up ‘the family silver’ as the IMF urged privatisation.
The war in the Ukraine has not caused the starvation in Yemen or other parts of the Middle East. We can’t blame everything on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and if we do, we have to equally blame US and Nato interference in the chaotic situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. They could now be described as failed states.
At present you have Saudi Arabia and the UAE killing civilians in Yemen with fighter jets bought from US and UK, leaving millions on the brink of starvation. This is not caused by the war on Ukraine. This is a proxy war with Iran. NUALA NOLAN,
Galway.