Socialism

Re "Now This Is His Kind of Company," by Betsy Sharkey, Sept. 15: Is Michael Moore a cinematic genius? He makes a movie based on the absurdly false notion that socialism works and capitalism doesn't and has the audience roaring in approval at the end. Or is it less Moore's genius and more the liberal audience's ignorance at work here? I wonder how his anti-capitalist screed would play in the run-down barrios of that wonderland of socialism, Castro's Cuba? Carl Moore Lomita :: Michael Moore's last film, "Sicko": An extremely obese man produces a film that lectures people on health.

A powerful federal arts commission is urging that the sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. proposed for a memorial on the Tidal Basin be reworked because it is too "confrontational" and reminiscent of political art in totalitarian states. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts thinks "the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed statue recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries," commission secretary Thomas Luebke said in a letter in April.

The centerpiece for the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall has drawn criticism from a federal arts panel, which says the proposed statue looks "confrontational" and resembles the head of a socialist state more than a civil rights leader. Models of the 28-foot-tall statue depict King emerging from a chunk of granite, his arms folded in front of his chest, his legs firmly rooted, an intense gaze on his face. But the U.S.

Leftist ideology may be gaining ground in Latin America. But it will never set foot on the manicured lawns of Francisco Marroquin University. For nearly 40 years, this private college has been a citadel of laissez-faire economics. Here, banners quoting "The Wealth of Nations" author Adam Smith -- he of the powdered wig and invisible hand -- flutter over the campus food court.

The United States is battling a dangerous new front in its South American drug war -- just as a protege of anti-American leader Hugo Chavez comes to power in Ecuador vowing to shut down a U.S. base dedicated to narcotics surveillance. Officials have expressed growing concern that this Andean nation is being "Colombianized," illustrated by record cocaine seizures in the last two years, the destruction of a major cocaine-processing lab and a recent gangland-style killing. In recent months, U.S.

President Hugo Chavez was granted sweeping powers Wednesday to rule by decree for 18 months to accelerate his push toward socialism, a move that critics said propelled Venezuela toward dictatorship. Convening in a downtown plaza for a session that resembled a political rally, the National Assembly unanimously gave Chavez control in 11 key areas, including the economy, the oil industry, defense and the structure of the state. "Long live the sovereign people! Long live President Hugo Chavez!

It takes barely an hour to drive from downtown Seoul to the other side of the demilitarized zone, but the culture shock is such that you might as well be commuting to the moon. Mobile telephones, newspapers, books, videos, laptops, magazines, MP3 players and many other appurtenances of 21st century life have to be checked on the south side of the border. Also best left behind are any wisecracks about the North Korean regime, in particular those involving its leader, Kim Jong Il.

RE "Satire, Right -- But Comics' Punch Lines Veer to the Left," by Barbara Serrano, May 29: I find this another example of misguided lefties trying to sell their ideology. It hasn't worked on Air America, or anywhere else. With the exception of Bob Hope and Jackie Mason, every comedian I can think of \o7is\f7 liberal, or "progressive." But they are successful comedians because their focus is on \o7funny\f7, not socialism, white-bashing and promoting homosexuality. This "Laughing Liberally" troupe will not convert any "heartland" audiences to their agenda.

Riding a wave of popular disgust with France's political status quo, Segolene Royal on Thursday captured the Socialist Party's nomination for president, a race that could make her France's first female head of state. Royal, 53, is a single mother of four and protege of the late President Francois Mitterrand.