Letters from our readers

21 January 2014

On “Ohio prisoner suffers horrific death in botched execution

I, too, am horrifically fascinated by the grotesque spectacle of executions in the US. For some reason, the system of capital punishment there seems even more barbaric than, say, China or Iran.

Surely, life imprisonment, for that small minority of individuals who are incapable of rehabilitation, is more than enough punishment. There is so much that is disturbing: the fact that many belatedly executed people have been allowed to live for decades, and in many cases have grown spiritually as human beings, ridding themselves of whatever darkness in their soul had caused them to commit their crimes in the first place; that, over and over again, we learn many of them had horrific past lives of trauma and abuse that should not have happened in a humane society that cares about its citizens; the deliberate fomenting of vengeance and revenge among the population as a substitute for understanding the dynamics of a society that creates such criminals; the gigantic prison-industrial complex that profits—overall, it is a bleak picture of humanity at the present time.

Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, that chronicle of redemption—how many people can even understand such a story today?

Kamilla V
British Columbia, Canada
17 January 2014

On “An exchange with the Bangladeshi ambassador to the US

The response shows the typical government approach to such tragedies that are result of negligence and callousness— to announce ex-gratia and compensation, followed by punitive actions of a few officials. If that much money was spent on the maintenance repairs and safety, if not reconstruction of the Plaza, the tragedy might not have taken place.

17 January 2014


Shows how widely WSWS articles are being read. Nice and clear-cut response to the bourgeoisie.

Sathish K
17 January 2014

On “Australia: Reactionary ‘law and order’ campaign follows fatal assault on teenager

Thank you for this analysis of what is a current media and political campaign of vilification and revenge, for an act of seemingly mindless violence. There is clearly a hidden agenda there, as the corporate media and the political class try to outbid each other in their paranoia and hypocrisy, while being myopic to the wider scene of social malaise, brought about by their own policies and augmented by the said media, who is not willing, or does not want to ask why.

WSWS is the only outlet that does provide this antidote to this general climate of compliance and myopia that pervades the airwaves, along with gratuitous “entertainment”, consumerism and violence. The paucity of political movements that critically oppose the present social order is reflected in equal parts in the poverty in social consciousness and critical thought. And that would pose a threat to the existing order. Can’t have that!

Mirek S
17 January 2014