Letters to the Editor.

• Position: Letter to the Editor

Zinn's Broad Strokes

I have known, read, worked with, and very often been persuaded to follow Howard Zinn. But in his article "Delusion 2000: How the Candidates View the World" (March issue), I am unpersuaded by his charge that there has been "utter silence" from the Presidential candidates on foreign and military policy and that there are no differences among those candidates on foreign or domestic issues. I disagree even more with his conclusion that we can act effectively only outside the party system.

In his charges, Zinn paints with broad strokes and ignores nuances and qualifications that led me to support Bill Bradley on March 7. A few illustrations: In October, The New York Times reported that, in his Senate career, "[Bradley] proposed an increase in the capital gains tax, advocated abolition of a variety of tax shelters, and urged banks to take substantial losses on their loans to struggling economies." In November, The Times stated that "Bill Bradley sketched out a vision of foreign policy today, declaring that he would try to resolve global conflicts with trade and diplomacy instead of force, reduce the threat of a new arms race, and set clearer limits on American military intervention in the world's many ethnic wars." The publication of the Council for a Livable World ran a November 1 headline: "Bradley: Lone White House 2000er against more military $$."

On "sitting out" party politics and the 2000 election, I fear Zinn may contribute to the further disaffection with and alienation from voting. I believe in voting for the most progressive party with a chance at winning and/or the most progressive nominees. Our lives will be profoundly affected by the differences in direction as well as in policy choices in military budgets, tax policy, health care, abortion, and--in ways most crucial--judicial appointments.

Paul Deats, Muelder Professor of Social Ethics Emeritus Boston University West Newton, Massachusetts

I wish to congratulate The Progressive for Howard Zinn's outstanding article in the March issue. Zinn has hit all the right buttons, and has expressed the vacuity of the candidates' policies. And I agree that they've hardly uttered any words on serious problems facing the world. It is the silence that speaks louder than a thousand platitudes!

Gordon Legg South Pasadena, California

Public Financing Is No Answer

I am disappointed that progressives around the country including the editors of this magazine, are obsessed with...