Philistine
Sir: A uberon Waugh thinks that the thalidomide disaster should be seen, not in 'terms of money to be poured into the pockets of undeserving parents', but rather as 'an opportunity for more reflective minds to ponder the fragility of human happiness'. His own mind, I suppose, is too reflective to have noticed that the thalidomide settlement — which did indeed require some display of courage from Harold Evans before it was secured — didn't enrich the parents of thalidomide children. The bulk of the money goes into trust for the children themselves.
What is more disturbing than his immediate inaccuracy is the grotesque character of his basic assumptions. I suppose the Philistines who passed by on the other side may have regarded the man who had fallen among thieves as an 'opportunity to . . . ponder the fragility of human happiness'.
No doubt the Good Samaritan had the same thought. He just didn't think that the extraction of a spiritual benefit for himself necessarily ruled out an attempt to improve the temporal condition of a fellow-being in trouble.
Bruce Page Editor, New Statesman, 10 Great Turnstile, London WC1
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