The Economist - USA (2020-11-07)

18 The EconomistNovember 7th 2020

Lettersarewelcomeandshouldbe

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Letters

What is nature?

Your use of quotation marks

around “natural” shows the

strange turn that word has

taken. But your analysis of the

rewilding of Scotland missed a

deep irony in the effort to

create a landscape purified of

human influence (“In their

sights”, October 3rd). This

concept of natural excludes

humans, but at the same time

envisages a highly managed,

human-constructed landscape

achieved by human processes,

undertaken for human goals,

and based on the best human

guess of what those landscapes

used to be like.

The reality is that it is im-

possible to go back. Whatever

natural world existed before

humans is lost to us for ever.

What is created in the project

of rewilding is but a simu-

lacrum of the prehuman ideal.

In addition, this concept of

“natural” morally bypasses

issues of justice. This is an

exercise of the hyper-wealthy,

with a contempt for the lives of

people, plants and animals

whose home this has been for

millennia. It could be de-

scribed as a project in environ-

mental colonialism, where

those enlightened, wealthy few

civilise the locals or take their

land in order to make the world

as it should be.

Rewilding is also selective

about what is part of “real

nature” and should thus be

saved or recreated, and what is

unnatural and can be disposed

of. This project requires the

killing of thousands upon

thousands of animals, namely

deer. One would hope in the

very least that these animals

will be properly processed and

eaten, but even still they re-

main a waste product in the

pursuit of a “natural” Utopia.

None of this is to say that it

is inherently wrong for hu-

mans to cultivate and shape

environments. But let us call

rewilding what it is: another

attempt to manage our natural

environment for specifically

human goals. It should thus be

morally evaluated and debated

like all other human projects

and goals, with reference both

to the human and environ-

mentalimpact.It isthis,and

notsomemysticalprehuman

status,thatmakesit properly

natural.

robynboeré

AssociatelecturerinChristian

ethics

UniversityofStAndrews

neilstange

Professionalagrologist

StAndrews,Fife

Findingnorth

Inmyearlierletter(October

31st)I erroneouslyidentified

thenorthernmostpointof

contiguouslandinthe“New

World”asPointBarrow,Alaska.

Thatisthenorthernmostpoint

oftheUnitedStates.The

correctnorthernmostpointof

mainlandNorthAmericaisin

factMurchisonPromontory,

markingtheextremityofthe

BoothiaPeninsulaintheBellot

Straights,Nunavut.

kenhedges

Barrie,Canada

Born to be president

Your review of Fredrik

Logevall’s biography of John

Kennedy did not persuade me

that it succeeds in deflecting

“myths” about the family (“The

road to Camelot”, October 17th).

On Joseph Kennedy, you say

“it’s not every multimillionaire

father who takes such broad

interest in his children” and

“instils in them a firm commit-

ment to public service.” It isn’t

every millionaire, perhaps, but

I’m not sure that grooming

your children to become the

president of the United States

counts as instilling in them a

commitment to public service.

John Kennedy himself is

“cursed by a sense of enti-

tlement”—poor Jack, what a

cross to bear. Can there ever

have been a more self-aggran-

dising book than jfk’s “Profiles

in Courage”, which your

reviewer regards simply as a

reflection on the role of leader-

ship. In reality it was a first step

in staking a claim to become

leader of the democratic world.

As for the assertion that the

Kennedys “had every reason to

hate America’s waspelite”.

Hardly. As the review makes

clear, they had not just beaten

butjoinedthatself-sameelite

totheirownenormous

advantage.

andrewclifford

London

Protectingchips

Settingasidethefactthatthe

civilisedworldhasanobliga-

tiononmoralgroundsnotto

sitidlybyandwatchTaiwan

fallintothehandsofChina

(“Straitshooting”,October

10th),it isalsoa matterof

nationalinterestfornearly

everycountryintheworld.

Germancars,Frenchtelephony

networks,Britishchipmakers,

Americansmartphones,Japa-

neserobots,andalmostevery

otherproductwerelyonrelyin

turnontheTaiwanSemicon-

ductorManufacturingCom-

pany.Youpointedoutitsim-

portanceinanarticlelastyear

(“Thepivot”,December21st

2019).Theworldmayrunon

data,“thenewoil”,butdataare

processedontsmc’s chips.

harolddeelean

Hsinchu,Taiwan

Ode to joy

“What exactly is European

culture?” asks Charlemagne

(October 17th). That there is

such a thing as European cul-

ture seems undeniable. The

inhabitants of Europe have

shared Roman occupation,

conversion to Christianity, the

Renaissance, the Reformation,

the Enlightenment, the French

Revolution. They may have

reacted to some of these in

massively different ways, but

the depths of consciousness

they stirred are very wide-

spread. Indeed, the European

Union could one day become,

like China, “a civilisation

state”. This is not even to

mention music, painting,

architecture (before and after

Bauhaus). There is no need to

be self-conscious about this;

European culture is at a state of

maturity where development

simply happens. One does not

need to define it, only live it. So

says one who must regretfully

soon view this process from

the outside.

antony black

Dundee

With regard to the eu’s plans to

take up cultural projects, you

seem to have forgotten that the

organisation has very capably

turned Beethoven’s 9th

Symphony into Eurokitsch.

j.a. houlding

Nuremberg, Germany

Capitalist lives matter

I enjoyed Bagehot’s insightful

column on the Tories’ new

culture war, until he claimed

that banning anti-capitalist

material in schools is wrong

(October 3rd). As a lifelong

capitalist I’m keenly aware that

there is precious little taught in

schools in favour of capitalism

these days to level up against

the considerable anti-capi-

talist propaganda that per-

vades all aspects of Western

cultural life. I can only assume

you think anti-capitalist liter-

ature is okay because we are a

much smaller minority than

most others. You must educate

yourself on the need to protect

us as much as any other group.

nick walker

Burnley, Lancashire

Now open for business

You noted the many failings of

the new Berlin Brandenburg

Airport (“It’s built, but will they

fly?”, October 17th). I chuckled

when I realised that its desig-

nated airport code, ber, is also

an acronym used in manufac-

turing to mean Beyond

Economical Repair.

philip nagle

Dublin

Comedy gold

There are more to “The Albani-

an all-stars” (October 3rd) than

Mother Teresa and Enver

Hoxha. John Belushi was also

of Albanian heritage. So, along

with the saint and the sinner

you also have the silly samurai.

david gilefski

Wilmington, Delaware