The compassion industry
LETTERS
From T. E. W. Baldry, David Sanders, J. M. Flood, Dr J. C. Spence, H. W. E. Reynolds, Richard Lamb, John Burns, H. C. Caley, David G. Woodley.
air: At a first reading, Auberon Waugh (22 Sep- tember) seems to present a sound argument— showing that not only will the poor always be with us, but that we somehow need them in order to justify our affluence.
A closer examination shows that this argument is based on a most improbable set of hypotheses. It would possibly be rewarding to subject these to a detailed analysis. One has no time to do so, how- ever, before the whole of Mr Waugh's rickety struc- ture comes tumbling down.
This unfortunate collapse is brought about by the realisation that it is possible to create a sound economy in an atmosphere almost completely de- void of poverty—this, furthermore, in a nation that has had a Labour government for many years! I refer, of course, to Sweden. True, theirs is one of the most highly taxed nations in the world, and there are doubtless disadvantages to living in an almost exclusively middle-class environment. What- ever the drawbacks are, however, the example of Sweden will at least serve to prove that Mr Waugh's seemingly cynical view is really nothing more than whimsical hyperbole.
T. E. W. Baldry 483 Glltersloh, Alsen Strasse 14a, West Germany
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