The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

20 The Economist December 18th 2021
Letters

Britain’sroleinEurope YourarticleonLordFrost, Britain’schiefnegotiatoron Brexit,ratherunderplayedthe extenttowhichthepolicieshe ispursuingrepresenta break withBritain’sroleinEurope, notjustinthepastfewdecades butinthepastfewcenturies (“Portraitofa Brexiteer”, December4th).Afterall,a successionofleadersfrom MarlboroughthroughPittto LloydGeorgeandChurchill strovesuccessfullyandat considerablecosttoensure thatBritainexerciseda partin shapingthepoliticsandecon omyofthecontinenttowhich webelong.Nowthatobjective seemstohavebeenabandoned withouta thoughtastothe unintendedconsequences. Moreover,thegloriﬁcation ofnationalsovereigntywas triedinEuropeaftertheﬁrst worldwarandit didnotend terriblywell.Nearlyallofthe Americanpresidentssince 1945,andcertainlythepresent incumbent,havetakena contraryviewonBritain’srole inEuropeandthedangersof unfetterednationalsover eigntyinthatcontinent. So,quitea fundamental rupture.Whetherornotthose youdescribed,somewhat dismissively,as“theoldguard ofthediplomaticservice”in facthateLordFrost’sgutsis, frankly,irrelevant.What mattersiswhetherheisonthe rightsideofhistory. davidhannay HouseofLords London

Nary starry night We read your article on how bright satellite constellations are blocking the view of the cosmos for astronomers (“Goodbye darkness, my old friend”, November 27th). In America the Federal Commu nications Commission has already approved licences for thousands of satellites and associated Earth stations. In doing so, it has failed to meet its legal responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires agencies to analyse environ

mentaleffectswithpublic inputbeforetakingsuchac tions.Invirtuallyallinstances, thefccauthorisessatellites withoutanysubstantive environmentalreview. Realandpotentialenviron mentalharmfromproposed satellitemegaconstellations gobeyondinterferingwith astronomy.Lightpollutioncan affectmigratingbirds,sea turtlesandpollinatinginsects. Italsodegradescelestialviews sacredtomanythroughout history.Thesatelliteswilladd significantamountsofdebris andchemicalstotheatmo sphere,includingonethat depletesozone.Butthefcc continuestoauthorisethese satellites,fundamentally changingthenightskyfor everyone. ruskinhartley Executivedirector InternationalDarkSky Association Tucson,Arizona ericarosenberg FormerattorneyattheFederal CommunicationsCommission Washington,dc

Apinch of salt A point missed in your leader about the deduction on state and local taxes (salt) in Amer ica is that states with high state taxes generally contribute more in federal taxes than they receive in federal funds (“salt in the wounds”, December 4th). States with low state taxes generally receive more from the federal government than they contribute and are more dependent on the federal purse. I live in California and pay significant state taxes as well as the regular federal taxes. California chooses to finance its own social programmes whereas other states choose to rely on federal handouts. California residents thus subsidise the lowtax states. Without saltwe get to pay twice: once for ourselves and once for the deadbeat states. Kentucky is a fine example. Low state taxes, federal sub sidies and poverty. The sena tors from Kentucky despise socialism but their state sub

stantiallyreliesonfederal supportfromotherstates.I willnotdrinktheirwhiskey. clivemccarthy SanFrancisco

Cheesefortheseason I tookexceptiontoyour disparagingcommentsabout Americancheese(Obituary, October30th).American cheesehadplentyofvarieties andqualitybeforeAnneSaxel by,whomyousaidhad“no domesticcheesecultureto buildon”.Poppycock!Mostof theearlycheesepractitioners wereofEuropeanoriginand theirdescendantscarryon thoserichtraditionswiththeir owninnovations. I tookparticularumbrageat yourcommentsaboutour cheddar,“paleattempt” indeed.I urgeyoutotrysome topqualityAgedNewYork stylecheddarfromCabot Creamery,someWisconsin stylecheddar,orgreat TillamookCreameryWest Coastcheddar.Allthreeare distinctlydiﬀerentanddareI saybetterthantheoriginal. Ifyoureallywanttogetthe ﬂavourofAmericancheese youshouldattendtheWorld CheeseExpoinMilwaukee nextApril.Itholdsa cheese championshipwith3, entriesfromallovertheworld. jeromelippert Formerpresident NelsonJameson Marshfield,Wisconsin

That last-minute gift? I read with interest your article on Apple making a Damascene conversion by allowing customers to repair its devices (“iMac, iPhone, iRepair”, November 27th). One trailblaz er in the world of mobile phone repairs is Fairphone. The same iFixit website you referred to gives Fairphone top marks for repairability. There are arguably down sides to the ease of repair, however the series of Fair phones have come along in leaps and bounds in terms of performance and reliability over the past decade. It seems only fair to give Fairphone due

credit for having led the way over these past years, waiting for the rest of the industry to wake up and take notice. ulric schwela Director Salus Mineralis Thornton, Lancashire

Heading for the exit “Safeguarding art” (November 27th) looked at how museums decide which pieces of work to save in the event of a ﬁre. The director of a big gallery in London was once asked which one work he would save. After a moment’s reﬂection he said, “the one nearest the door”. keith collard Ilkley, West Yorkshire

You say tomato... The obituary on Stephen Sond heim (December 4th) quoted a line from “Could I leave you”, a song he penned for “Follies”, as: “Could I bury my rage/with a boy half your age/in the grass?/Bet your arse!” The last word of this line is actually “ass.” The two words do mean the same thing on opposite sides of the Atlantic, but “ass” rhymes with “grass” (not to mentions “pass” in the previous line). As an advocate of true rhyme, Sondheim would never have used “arse” here. brad beaver Long Beach, California

So this is Christmas “A long and winding ode” (December 4th) reviewed Paul McCartney’s recent 960page memoir. Sir Paul’s essays on his lyrics apparently aim “to aﬃrm his status as a writer”, and “he makes a strong case for treating his work as poetry.” That is why we all like John Lennon more. matthew draper Charlottesville, Virginia

Letters are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor at The Economist, The Adelphi Building, 1-11 John Adam Street, London wc 2 n 6 ht Email: [email protected] More letters are available at: Economist.com/letters

The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

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