Letter to the Editor: Authoritarian Column

To the Editor,

On April 7 Theodore Gatchell’s column really showed his true colors: Authoritarian. His disparagements of the workers at Microsoft who do not wish to build weapons demonstrates a complete disregard for civil liberties and democracy. The people have a right to say no to the war machine, just as we have the right to say no to the fossil fuel dinosaurs. Telling people that they must contribute to the killing and have no right to tell their bosses that they will not contribute to such projects does not sound like the America I grew up in. The people have always had to rein in the elites who think empire is their right. Right now the people are saying the wars for oil and the wars against Islam are a big waste of humans and resources and are making the problems worse. Eighteen years of war tell us that very clearly. Microsoft is not going to fire all its workers who want peace. It would be left with an empty shell. It is time for the violence mongers in DC to learn the lesson.