‘Peace: Challenge and Opportunity’

Your editorial (Dec. 12) addressing the challenge of making peace work in the face of a perceived diminishing of the communist military threat gets to the essence of the problem, but proposes the wrong solution. It is naive to expect the American military/industrial/governmental complex to voluntarily reduce defense spending.

American taxpayers have willingly accepted heavy taxes for defense spending, believing the nation faced a formidable enemy. When taxpayers are convinced that communism is no longer a military threat to the nation, despite the expected heavy protestations, they will demand that leaders relieve them of the onerous defense tax burden. Taxpayers so enlightened might decide it’s better to spend money on schools, bridges, medical care, housing, etc. Ultimately, taxpayers make these choices through the leaders they support and elect.

CHANCE WILLIAMS

South Pasadena