Letters to the Editor - Weekly Issue of October 25, 2010
Readers write in about capitalism and school reform.
Praise for capitalism?
John Hughes's column in the Oct. 11 issue, "Now, even Cuba finally gets it: Capitalism works" gave me pause. I find it ironic that Fidel Castro has given the impression that he favors capitalism at the very same time that the world is in the middle of another of the serious recessions that capitalism inevitably and regularly produces.
Though Mr. Hughes does make some important points about the Cuban dictatorship, he seems to ignore the fact that the US style of capitalism has also failed, again and again.
Look at the results of unbridled deregulation and greed over the past 20 years, which have bankrupted the world's economies, decimating the middle class and benefiting the very rich.
One can hardly glorify capitalism so unreservedly when it must be bailed out time and again by the government and taxpayers. It is time to reevaluate whether capitalism really does work as well as we think, or whether it is a myth propagated by those who benefit most from it.
