Open Economies

According to your special report on the world economy (Sept. 16), only two nations practice an open economic system: the United States and the sick man of Europe, Britain. Sure sounds like the proud mother of a soldier son when she saw him marching in a military formation, “Everybody’s out of step but my Johnny.”

Now try to guess which country, among the major industrialized nations, shows the greatest discrepancy between the rich and the poor: the good ol’ U.S.A.

So who benefits? The government of the people has now become the government for the few. If we did indeed defeat fascism in the last world war and Marxism in the last decade, why do we still cling to a system that serves up huge economic benefits for our wealthy elite only?

ROY W. JOHNSON

Camarillo

Home Run Race

Re “For Latino Fans, Sosa Puts the ‘Home’ in Home Run,” Sept. 16:

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I’d like to take issue with Paulo Aguirre Cortes, the radio host from Tijuana, who made the statement that the media focused on Mark McGwire because he is American, white and blond. McGwire received major media coverage because he was the first to break the home run record, not because he is white.

I personally am rooting for McGwire to win this race with Sosa because he is a fellow countryman. According to Aguirre, I should root for Sosa just because he is a Latino like myself. This radio host is an embarrassment to all Latinos, and I want to apologize to McGwire for Aguirre’s ignorance and to all Americans for his obvious racism.

ROBERT CHAVEZ

Sylmar