Hitchens Was Right
Christopher Hitchens is a bit of a boob, but he's right about religion ["Hitchens Is Not Great," July 19, 2007]. At least he pays taxes on the money he makes. If churches were properly taxed, many snake oil salesmen would go out of business and we'd all be better off.
Alan Bisbort's defense of religion is total crap. The only thing mysticisms and religions have ever been good for is controlling people or making them feel better about themselves at the expense of others. Or at their own expense.
Until the stranglehold religion and mysticisms hold over so-called "progressives" is broken, humanity has no voice in its favor that is not in the service of capital. Remember, mystical ideology removes you from your history. There has never been anything progressive about that and there never will be.
Scott Foust
Amherst
*
Pitfalls of Privatization
Last week a letter writer suggested that Springfield should sell its remaining assets to the private sector to cover the city's financial debts.
But what happens when the CEO of the new Springfield Water Corporation decides he should be making more money than the CEO of Mass Mutual or Bank of America? Or when he decides to increase profits by cutting back on maintenance?
A better solution would be to simply go where the money is. Levy an income tax on the people in this city and its suburbs who have the large incomes—those in excess of $200,000; the insurance execs, the bank execs, the money market players, those who "let their money work for them," the doctors and lawyers and others who are free to charge whatever they like.
This would be fair because these are the people who make campaign contributions to people like Ryan and Sarno and Neal and Kennedy and Kerry and Bush and Romney in order to make sure that "disaster" doesn't befall them.
John Harrington
Springfield
