The cars and the stars
The front-page image on the 16 February edition (The billionaire’s space race) should give us pause. A Tesla car plus mannequin driver, helmeted, floats in space, dominating the moon or Earth in the background. What does this really tell us about our culture and Elon Musk?
Once, such an image might have suggested, in the style of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, a triumph of the human spirit. Now it tells us that Musk has pulled off the largest possible advertisement for the sale of his electric cars. It is a strictly consumer image. It tells us also of a kind of triumph for one of the most damaging technologies in human history, the private car.
It also tells us literally of the backgrounding of our space environment, in the cause of sanctifying a shallow, hi-tech society that is rapidly losing the language and the imagery which might have helped us to retain a concept of nature and possibly, a fair part of nature herself.
Denys Trussell
Auckland, New Zealand
• Our space race billionaires need to get a life. Why don’t they come to the rescue of our millions who are homeless and hungry?
Ron Willis
Perth, Western Australia
Korean thaw ignores anger
• Re: your recent leader comment (Korea’s Olympic thaw, 26 January). One of the most misguided and often neglected areas in our understanding of North Korea is that we are dealing with a country which has no parallel in its abuse of human rights and terrible record of provocations, mostly towards South Korea: not to mention numerous killings of innocent civilians and soldiers.
The anger shared among many South Koreans, including younger generations, is that the current government is offering an olive branch of dubious nature despite the fact that the North is still threatening our country with nuclear weapons, and there is no progress at all on the major issues. When dealing with countries like North Korea it is no use talking for the sake of talks, as modern European history with Nazi Germany amply demonstrates.
The comparisons made with US-China, US-Soviet Union, and South Africa are misplaced in my judgment. I cannot agree with your leader comment, which reflects neither the reality of geopolitics nor human anger in the South towards North Korea.
Park Je-Geun
Seoul, South Korea
Journey to the Trump within
After articles on Donald Trump by David Smith and Lauren Gambino, and Jonathan Freedland, in the 12 January issue, I felt the need to see him in a different light. Capricious, ego-driven and careless of public opinion, Trump is not stupid but neither is he smart enough to be a team player in the world of ethical politics.
Instead, I see Trump’s appearance as a long-overdue wake-up call for all Americans, government leaders and the electorate to use Trump as a mirror to honestly recognise our own “Trumpisms” – where the government has gone wrong - and where each of us has our own “blind spot”.
Mary MacMakin
Kabul, Afghanistan
Hostages, not detainees
Thank you for continuing to track Australian abuse of refugees (World roundup, 23 February). Ian Rintoul and the Refugee Action Coalition you mention are stalwarts of the resistance here in Australia.
The people on Manus and Nauru are, in truth, hostages, not “detainees”. Detention is for a short time. These innocent people have been imprisoned for over four years, hostages who are even subject to people swaps with the US, that you report. Was any hostage crisis ever given less publicity? Only the Guardian Australia website and its reporter Ben Doherty do this violation justice.
Stephen Langford
Paddington, NSW, Australia
Briefly
• I note with interest the number of books written recently about death and dying (How death got cool, 9 February; and Books, 16 February). I am amazed at the way in which both the authors and reviewers regard the question of life after death as unworthy of serious consideration.
I guess that a large majority of the world’s population have some faith or expectation of life after death, whether it be reincarnation or resurrection or whatever. If any of these believers are right, then nothing could be more important to consider than this.
Martin Down
Witney, UK
• In praise of questions by Kenan Malik (23 February) was interesting, so some facts and a few questions. The universe is about 14bn years old, life appeared on Earth 3.8bn years ago, Homo sapiens appeared 200,000 years ago, and today we have approximately 4,000 religions, faiths, beliefs, and the sun will eventually consume the earth.
Questions: is this a bad design fault as far as humans are concerned? If we do go to heaven for eternity what will we do to prevent boredom? And therefore time being so precious, is it worth listening to the president of the United States?
Rhys Winterburn
Perth, Western Australia
• Oliver Burkeman (16 February) should stop his rationalising of the benefits of ageing with respect to youth. As the old saying goes, “Youth is wasted on the young.” Can’t do better than that.
Robert Logan
Carterton, New Zealand
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