The Economist - USA (2022-06-11)

18 The Economist June 11th 2022
Letters

KeepthepressureonRussia I agreewithAndreyKortunov (Byinvitation,May20th)that thewarinUkraineistoan extenta clashofsocietiesand politics,buthisarticlemisrep resentstheconflictoverall. Thisisnota collisionofmod els.Thatwoulddepicttwo competingideals.Ukrainewas neverofferinganalternative modeltoRussia,intheway thatAmericaofferedan alternativetotheSovietUnion duringthecoldwar.Rather, theconflictisaboutRussia subjugatingtheUkrainian populacetoa warpedinterpre tationofhistoryemanating fromtheRussiangovernment. TheRussianInternational AffairsCouncilisfundedby theRussianMinistryof ForeignAffairs.MrKortunov, astheriac’s directorgeneral, hasinthepastrepeatedthe mantrathatEurope’ssecurity architectureneedstobe changedtoaccommodate Russia.Hisarticlecontinues thaterroneoustraditionand callsonEuropetostrikea deal withRussia.Whyshould Europeevolveitssecurityto placatea bullythathasalways foundnewexcusestojustify itsunhappiness? Thiswarismoreaboutthe aggrandisementofRussiaand thesensethatweshouldcon ciliatetheKremlinregardless ofitsactions;theseshouldnot berepresentedasanythingbut Russianaggression. stepheng.f.hall Lecturer(assistantprofessor) inpolitics UniversityofBath

Unarm the citizen army After a mass shooting Repub licans always argue that a heavily armed citizenry is essential for public safety (“A senseless slaughter”, May 28th). When I was deployed to Saigon at the height of the Vietnam war the army prohib ited us from routinely carrying ﬁrearms in the city. This reg ulation almost certainly saved lives; oﬀduty troops had easy access to alcohol, but without weapons they were less likely to cause innocent deaths or to

frequent dangerous areas. Those who parrot the views of the National Riﬂe Association about arming citizens might give some thought to the expe riences of the actual army. john wilson London

As a corrective to the repeated slaughter of innocents, and to the maleﬁcent Republican bluster and impotent Demo cratic handwringing accom panying each new mass mur der, we should consider imposing three choices on American gunowners: surren der your guns; play with your weapons under supervision in the National Guard; or be dispatched to Ukraine, where you can serve in a practical way the cause of freedom you so profess to love. joshua nossiter San Francisco

Greener graphene Graphene has indeed taken a slow road to find its place in the world (“Pouring graphene’s bright future”, May 21st). While the 30% increase in strength and other beneficial properties for concrete applications are certainly attracting attention, what has truly excited industry is the direct reduction in carbondioxide output during the cement manufacturing process. The biggest offender, but a necessary ingredient, in cement manufacturing, is something called “clinker”. It is the binding agent created in the way you outlined by roast ing limestone and various compounds at high tempera tures to burn off carbon. Advanced testing by First Graphene in conjunction with some of the world’s biggest cementadditive manufactur ers shows that replacing the bulk of the clinker with very small amounts of graphene can reduce carbon emissions by up to 20% while, at the very least, maintaining the same performance characteristics as current cement products. michael bell Chief executive First Graphene Henderson, Australia

RememberingTokyo Regardingyourfineobituary forSaotomeKatsumoto(May 21st),thefirebombingofTokyo inMarch 1945 hasbecomea merehistoricalfootnote.In fact, 70 ofJapan’slargestcities werevirtuallydestroyedby incendiarybombsinthefirst halfof1945,beforetheatomic bombings.Combinedwiththe navalblockade,thispractically reducedJapaneseciviliansto starvation. Nowhereisthissubject moresensitivelyanddevastat inglyportrayedthanin“Grave oftheFireflies,”ananimefilm writtenanddirectedby TakahataIsaoin1988.It followsthepathoftwo orphanedsiblingsstruggling tosurvivethefinalgrim monthsofthewar.TheTokyo firebombingsaregraphically butsuperblyportrayed. jodyferguson Austin,Texas

British politics 101 Bagehot’s column on the obsession of British politics with America confirmed what I have believed for a long time (May 21st). American job titles and terminology are an unstoppable force. The bbc seems to train its journalists in New York or Chicago. They regularly speak of candidates running rather than standing for office, or of putting their names to a ticket. We hear of stump speeches, no doubt given on whistlestop tours, although I don’t think I’ve ever known a British politician speak from a train “on the campaign trail”. How long until we have primaries or are asked to vote for a district attorney, town sheriff or judge? When we do, I can only hope that they will have more power than that other American import, our toothless metro mayors. mike pavasovic Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire

Countries other than America do feature in contemporary debate in Britain. The level lingup discourse often cites German uniﬁcation, and

demographic discussions quickly invoke Japan. During lockdowns Sweden was watched with fascination. And Australianstyle is a fashion able policy preﬁx. Some di versity does exist, despite the gerrymandered bookshelves. babak moussavi London

Bagehot deplored the singular focus of the British political class on America. One week later, the opening line of your article on the turnaround of John Lewis compared the retailer’s Christmas adverts to America’s Super Bowl com mercials (“Retailer therapy”, May 28th). The comparison was comically spurious, demonstrating that even where an analogy to America is not available, somehow Amer ica must be mentioned. Perhaps, therefore, the root of Bagehot's complaint is to be found with Economistreading British politicos? norman henderson Adjunct professor University of Regina Regina, Canada

If you go down to the woods... I suspect that your leader writer is not an American hiker (“Grisly reality”, May 14th). America’s bear season runs from whenever they come out of their dens to whenever they return to them. Even in the coldest localities, bears are active for ﬁve or six months of the year, not for “two months from September”. As for hikers being advised to stay on their trails in bear season, bears like trails too and we are just as likely to encounter them there as when we are bushwhacking. The good news is that bears do not pursue humans as aggressively as writers pursue arresting opening lines. robert mcwilliams New Haven, Connecticut

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 (2022-06-11)

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