When safety is last
Re "Dine at your own risk in China," Column One, June 27
The horrors of Chinese food safety abuse, in which companies put profit before consumer welfare, are harbingers of what can happen in the U.S. if for-profit corporations are allowed to self-regulate.
Here in the U.S., we constantly have to fight conservatives' efforts to underfund agencies that protect the public from the kinds of horrendous practices found in China: soy sauce made from hair clippings, melamine-tainted baby formula, steroids in pork and recycled oil from sewers.
How much more do we need to know about what powerful companies will do to increase their profit in total disregard of the public's health without agencies to police them?
Sandra Goldman
Santa Monica
Don't know? You can learn
Re "Just say 'I don't know,' " Opinion, June 27
Gregory Rodriguez is onto something when he praises the virtue of admitting ignorance. With the whimsical example of how Miss America contestants are asked their opinions on endemic social problems, Rodriguez highlights the unfortunate extent to which people feign knowledge on complex matters.
Why stop at beauty pageant contestants? Politicians, voters and even economists are often no better when it comes to designing solutions to social problems. We all face a humbling ignorance when we try to control the world beyond our own little bubble.
The unappreciated beauty of our complex world is that while no single person has knowledge of everything, each of us has special expertise about something. So long as we each have exclusive liberty to act on our personal knowhow, we can cooperate to improve society.
Contrary to popular opinion, ignorance can be power.
Ryan Safner
Arlington, Va.
Rodriguez touches on one of the biggest problems in education today. Teachers not only downgrade a student for an honest "I don't know" answer, but they also are hesitant to admit it when they themselves don't know something. The proper answer is: "I don't know, but I know how to find out. I will do so and let you know."
Rodriguez writes: "We have as much right to our ignorance and indifference as we do to speak our minds." Yes, to our ignorance, but never to our indifference to find out.
Joan Kraus
Rancho Palos Verdes
Still wrestling over Jerusalem
Re "Getting on board with peace in Israel," Opinion, June 26
In her one-sided portrait of Jerusalem, Hagit Borer omits many facts, not least among them that in 1948 the Arab armies laid siege to Jerusalem, cutting off crucial medical and food supplies to its Jewish population.
When the war was over, the ancient Jewish quarter of the Old City, which had maintained a Jewish presence for more than 2,000 years, was in the hands of the Jordanians, who destroyed synagogues, schools and homes and desecrated the cemetery. The Western Wall was used as a back wall for housing projects, which were built up to it.
Since the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem under the stewardship of the Israelis, this city holy to so many faiths is not "her" Jerusalem or "their" Jerusalem. It is everybody's Jerusalem, and all are free to worship whichever faith they choose. The holy sites of all religions are respected and protected.
Pauline Regev
Santa Monica
It is heartbreaking to read Borer's recollections of her years in Jerusalem. She witnessed firsthand Israel's master plan to dispossess Palestinians of their land.
For much of my life I believed the Zionist narrative, which portrayed Israel as a victim, a tiny nation surrounded by enemies whose only goal was to drive all Jews into the sea. Unlike Borer, it took me much longer to learn the truth about Israel's brutal treatment of Palestinian civilians.
Three years ago I was a passenger on the first freedom boat to land in the Gaza Strip. This time I will be on board the Canadian boat Tahrir, named for the square in Cairo where the Egyptian people shouted their determination to be free.
Like the Egyptians, the Palestinians are weary of being occupied and brutalized. They yearn to be free. They must be free.
Mary Hughes Thompson
Los Angeles
Borer states that there can be a "true peace." Who is Israel going to make peace with? Hamas? Its charter calls for Israel's destruction. Fatah? It has turned down several peace proposals.
The issue is not expansion or settlements. There is only one issue here: Until the Arabs recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, there will never be peace in the Middle East.
Zach Samuels
Los Angeles
Stadium deals that work
Re "Football follies," Opinion, June 27
Jim Newton points out that regardless of how the public feels about the proposed downtown football stadium, it has a lack of confidence in city government.
The stadium and arena deals are rarely discussed in public. Today, even though city staff and the developers have been negotiating behind closed doors, the entire City Council has never discussed a single aspect of the proposal.
