Thanks for your cover story “Whatever Happened to Having Kids?” (Sept. 4). It struck a nerve with us old-fashioned parents. Now I have two requests for your efficient journalists: Please write a follow-up and interview the same happy childless people in, say, 30 or 40 years. And, for those of us who will probably not be around at that time, find a few golden-age childless people and interview them now. I am sure you can find older people who did not have children out of choice. Everything we do affects the rest of our lives.
Michal Lichtenstein
Bet Shemesh, Israel
Your report on people opting not to have children reminded me of overpopulation research performed decades ago with rats. Hundreds of them would be packed together in pens and subjected to a variety of environmental conditions–no food, poor lighting, insufficient air, extreme temperatures. No matter what, certain behaviors invariably manifested. Some test subjects went on killing sprees; others starved themselves to death. And there was a significant drop in reproduction. Instinct told these rats that there were too many of them, and they’d stop breeding. People can give reasons for not having children, but they shouldn’t have to do so. If they feel compelled not to have children, so be it.
Mark Wilkinson
Paris, France
You say that today’s low birthrate is boosting real-estate sales, thanks to the increased number of childless buyers with greater spending power. Well, I hate to burst their housing bubble, but what will happen when middle-class populations continue to sink to record-low levels? Or later, as the baby boomers die off? Who is going to buy all the empty houses then?
Bill Fahber
Villennes-Sur-Seine, France
You write, “In Japan, which is in the midst of a child-free revolution, support for working mothers is almost nonexistent.” I disagree. Some companies may not be supportive, but the many foreign companies offer the same support as most firms in the West. I’ve worked for three of those as a single parent and have had the most child-supportive employers imaginable. Local governments are supportive too. Single parents get financial support and other benefits from them. Those not in the highest income bracket get a child-rearing benefit of approximately $50 per month. Public medical insurance covers 80 percent of medical bills and medication; the local government covers the remaining 20 percent of a child’s medical bills, so health care for children is free until grade school. And you get a tax break for dependent children: as a working parent with a dependent child, earning $3,000 per month, I had an income tax of 3 percent. Single parents in low-income brackets get many other perks such as subsidized day care, housing benefits, free medical care and free transportation. Finally, day care in Japan is great and is charged on a sliding scale, and after-school facilities are inexpensive.
Yuko Hoshino
Thanyaburi, Thailand
Your Oct. 9 article “Roll Over, Adam Smith” says, “Government in Hong Kong isn’t small anymore. Public spending now accounts for roughly 23 percent of gross domestic product.” This is not true. Over the past few years, we have worked very hard to reduce the size of government. The size of the civil-service establishment has been reduced by 18 percent since early 2000, to about 162,000 now. Wages for civil servants are now at 1997 levels. Public-sector spending actually accounted for only 17.7 percent of our gross domestic product in 2005-06, and our budget guideline is to keep public expenditure at 20 percent, or less, of GDP. To put that in perspective, the ratio for OECD economies averages above 40 percent. Our policy is to limit government-spending increases to within the trend-growth rate of the economy: we spend only what we can afford. We continue to adopt a low tax regime and a pro-market economic policy. Indeed, Hong Kong has consistently been rated by various organizations as one of the freest economies in the world. “Market leads, government facilitates” has been our guiding principle, and this is why our economy remains vibrant–economic growth was 6.6 percent in the first half of 2006, following growth of 8.6 percent and 7.3 percent in 2004 and 2005, respectively. If anything, Adam Smith would be smiling.
Henry Tang
Hong Kong
Jonathan Alter’s column on Karl Rove’s strategy on Iraq is right on the mark (“How to Beat ‘Cut and Run’,” July 3/July 10). The problem is that the Democrats keep falling into Rove’s web by trying to offer solutions to a problem they never created. The Republicans have repeated “cut and run” like a voodoo mantra. The Democrats need their own mantra. How about “You got us in; how are you going to get us out?”
Jere Donegan
Bellingham, Washington
While I appreciate that Karl Rove does, in fact, utilize the “slime machine” campaign approach Jonathan Alter discussed, it seems disingenuous to suggest this is a Republican-only strategy. Has Alter listened to Howard Dean lately, or the Democratic congressional leaders? Come on, be fair–they all do it. Perhaps Alter’s disdain is based on the fact that Rove is much more successful at it.
Craig Chapman
North Brunswick, New Jersey
It is amazing that Karl Rove, like almost every other member of the Bush administration, has never served his country in uniform or been to war, yet criticizes those who have served with honor in battle and have become decorated war heroes. The true “cut and run” cowards are those in the Republican Party who “cut” out of service and “ran” with fear of serving. They believe in sending others to be wounded or killed, while they languish in safety behind the White House fences.
Sam Schoolsky
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Jonathan Alter makes the point for the Republican Party when he writes, “Unless things improve dramatically on the ground in Iraq, Democrats have a powerful argument.” Since all reasonable Americans should want a successful conclusion for a safe and democratic Iraq, Alter’s admission to the possibility of improvement will have me voting for the Republican Party that is still working toward success, supports our military and sees a hopeful future for Iraq. The Demo-cratic Party sees only political benefits from our possible failure.
Lynden J. Wenger
Alpharetta, Georgia
Jonathan Alter misses the Republicans’ main political strength throughout the past six years. They simply script better sound bites than the Democrats. It requires no brain cells to understand “cut and run,” “flip-flop,” “you are either with us or against us,” etc. To understand the “Levin-Reed Amendment” the Democrats are touting, or any number of other issues they support, one actually has to read and think. The Democrats don’t need a well-run campaign to win congressional seats this fall or to win the presidency in 2008. They need better slogans. And that’s a sad commentary on all of us.
Anne Krick
Wheaton, Illinois
Once again terrorism has reared its ugly head in the most cosmopolitan city of India (“More Terror on the Tracks,” July 24). Hundreds are dead and wounded. Why does this happen repeatedly in Mumbai? What is the role of India’s intelligence agencies in uncovering such attacks before they occur and preventing them? If Mumbai returned to work within hours or a day after the attacks, it was a tribute to the resilience of the citizens, not to the government. After nearly 60 years of independence, Mumbai still struggles with a single rail artery. There have been plans and talks about overhead rail metros, a sea link and bridges. All the plans have remained empty talk. The rebounding of the city is commendable. However, the criminals behind this dastardly act must be caught and punished. The intelligence agencies that have failed must be overhauled. India’s claims of becoming a global player and power are hollow when we read that CCTV cameras are being installed at some railway stations only after these bombings. These are very basic pre-emptive measures.
Rajendra K. Aneja
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Greek Cypriot demand that Turkey open its ports to Greek Cypriot traffic (“More Bumps in the Rough Road to Europe,” June 26) is part of the agreement between the European Union (EU) and Turkey: Turkey must obey the same requirements as any other country to become an EU member. But the usual practice of Turkey, for at least the last 50 years, is to twist any existing agreements with new demands for further negotiations, with the threat that it will rescind its original application.
Leo Gabrielidis
Thessaloniki, Greece
Thank you for the excellent article on Johnny Depp (“A Pirate’s Life,” July 17). I hope Depp is aware of how much we in the industry appreciate both his talent and his integrity. He is rapidly becoming the actor on whom younger, upcoming actors strive to model their careers, much as he did with his own icon, Marlon Brando. One side note: while his dual performances in Julian Schnabel’s “Before Night Falls” were not mentioned in your article, it’s amazing to discover how many young performers rank them right up there with Depp’s performances as Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Don Juan DeMarco. Fans especially admire his performance as the transvestite prostitute in that movie (for which he, remarkably, received no billing), awed by his total commitment to the role and his complete truth without one false moment. This, indeed, should have been his first Oscar nomination and should have won him the best-supporting-actor award. It was absolutely superb work from our most unafraid, original and inventive actor.
Hugh Harrison
Los Angeles, California
You use eight pages to cover Johnny Depp, making a total of 10 pages on movies. Is this the most important thing in the world? There are very few times when you use this many pages to cover a single person or topic. Is Johnny Depp really that important to the world?
Bob Potter
Asaka, Japan
Thanks for your very interesting and insightful reportage on Johnny Depp. He proved that he is intelligent and thoughtful and not just another pretty face. I have enjoyed his fine acting over the years and had eagerly awaited the release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” in order to continue this appreciation. Will the photograph of him lounging be available as a life-size poster any time soon?
Leslie Dean-Stokes
Burton, Michigan
You neglected to mention Johnny Depp’s post-9/11 comments about America in which he stated, “America is dumb; it’s like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive,” and “I’d like [my kids] to see America as a toy, a broken toy.” Depp also indicated that he prefers to raise his children in the south of France. Apparently, it is acceptable for Depp to make movies in Hollywood while at the same time publicly disrespecting the country where he was born and from which he reaps enormous financial benefits. Until Depp retracts his foolish statements, I will not pay a dime to see any of his films, no matter how wonderful an actor NEWSWEEK thinks he is.
Marc Tarrasch
Los Altos, California
Due to an editing mistake, we incorrectly identified the maker of the garden tools in “Scottish Style,” an Oct. 9 good life item. It should have been Dayles-ford Organic (daylesfordorganic.com). NEWSWEEK regrets the error.
As one of many expatriate Malaysians, I read your article “Signs of Stress” (July 3/July 10) with interest. For Chinese-Malaysians in Malaysia, the New Economic Plan (NEP) is a lifelong, permanent obstacle. But it has also pushed many of them to work hard and succeed in business undertakings and careers. That is something to be prouder of than if everything had been served to you on a silver platter. I believe this community will continue to weather the stormy Malaysian political climate. Some brave souls like the opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, will continue to speak out and express their views in public. And perhaps the rather remarkable ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim might be able to make an eventual political comeback and help to create a fairer, more democratic Malaysia.
Paul Hwang Huat Sing
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Signs of stress? It’s nothing new. The current social structure in Malaysia is of tolerance and harmony among the main racial groups–at least on the surface. Returning from abroad, I noticed that electronic signboards on highways now indicate prayer times, and the amplified call for prayer (five times a day) of a nearby mosque is louder than ever. While Islam is continuously associated with the Malay race, a bold film called “Sepet” by Yasmin Ahmad indicates that Malay culture is not necessarily Islamic. Her film, about an ethnic Chinese boy falling in love with a Malay girl, reflects her frustration with restrictive Malay customs influenced not only by Islam but also by peer pressure. She strongly shows her disagreement with the NEP policy of selecting students to study abroad by race instead of merit. Malaysians are used to living in this “stressed” environment, as depicted by your article. But what is different now is that there are other global and local forces, which are redefining the political outlook and creating new dichotomies between various groups: middle-class Malays and the rich, NGOs and the government, Malaysian civil society and the political elites. The general society in Malaysia will be “stressed” as long as the NEP continues to feed cronies and is not reformed to target the poor and give merit to the best, regardless of race.
Lilian Lau
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mahatma Gandhi lamented the split of India into two nations after he had successfully fought for Indian independence (“Back to Square One?” Aug. 7). If he had witnessed the nearly six-decade-long continuing wrangle, he might have regretted even more profoundly not putting his foot down to halt the separation. The two South Asian giants, still entrenched in the Kashmir conflict that has already cost tens of thousands of lives, have been incapable of seeing eye to eye on religious and political matters. While trying to be amenable to the Indian request to restrain Pakistan’s extremists, President Pervez Musharraf unfortunately has his hands tied. There are simply too many overwhelming parameters beyond his control. Nevertheless, the recently suspended dialogue between the two nations due to the Mumbai bombing should resume. No matter how fruitless it may seem, talking is always much better than balking, which eventually could result in worsening hostilities. Let sanity and common sense prevail so that we never go back to square one.
Tan Boon Tee
Terengganu, Malaysia
I was displeased with the portrayal of M. Night Shyamalan in the July 24 issue (“Career Intervention: M. Night Shyamalan”). Although none of his recent films has been as brilliant as “The Sixth Sense,” it is unfair to paint Shyamalan as an egotistical villain simply for wanting to maintain artistic control over his projects. I was especially dismayed by the comments of one producer who claimed that “when someone is given total artistic freedom, the result is usually bad.” Let us not forget that when Orson Welles co-wrote, directed and produced “Citizen Kane” he had virtually complete creative autonomy over his project. The result was one of the greatest films ever made. Although “Lady in the Water” does not live up to “The Sixth Sense,” why suggest that Shyamalan “take a break” from writing and directing his own works and pursue some mega-blockbuster studio script?
Andrew Valencia
Dinuba, California
