Mashed metaphor
May I respond to Mr. Presley’s comments, questions and Marxist metaphor (Letters, March 2)? Regarding the division of wealth in the Islamic and “free” world, the former was accumulated through violence and tribal or religious affiliation while the latter was obtained overwhelmingly by personal investment, enterprise and invention.
Mr. Presley’s potato story requires substantial modification to accurately reflect contemporary reality. Of the hypothetical 100 people in a room competing for two potatoes, the person who gets the one potato borrowed the money to buy the land, equipment, seed and fertilizer. The 19 persons’ labor was compensated for bringing the potatoes to fruition.
The other 80 persons lounged in the room waiting for their “fair share” to be delivered by a politician who confiscated it from the other 20. Not satisfied with their portion, these 80 non-contributing persons demand “social justice” and riot until all the potatoes are seized, given to them or destroyed.
It’s not the indigenous “starving,” if there are any, being “harangued,” given the volume of letters in this forum disparaging the productive. The question regarding class warfare must be rhetorical, for it’s exclusively a progressive tactic, which Mr. Presley, an obvious adherent, surely knows.
Gary Warren
Spokane