Readers write: Mel King's contributions; TPP and climate crisis; fallen officers

Letters to the editor for the Nov. 2, 2015 weekly magazine.

|
Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor
Mel King sits on a bench outside the South End Technology Center in Boston, which he helped found. It makes high-tech training accessible and affordable for city youths.

Local vision, global effect
Regarding the Sept. 28 People Making a Difference profile of Mel King: I enjoyed the profile and its focus on Mr. King’s local impact via Boston’s South End Technology Center, but was surprised that there was no mention of the significant national and international contributions King has also made. Namely, King was at the center of the divestment initiative in Massachusetts in the 1980s, which led to other states following suit. From what I understand, this initiative was a large reason why South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela paid a visit to Boston after serving 27 years in prison.
Jessica Lane
Arlington, Mass.

TPP link to climate crisis
Regarding the Oct. 19 Monitor’s View “Value of Asia-Pacific trade pact lies more in its shared values”: Our global climate crisis is fueled by the very attributes extolled by the Trans-Pacific Partnership: reliance on exports, overconsumption, high emissions industrial agriculture, and the car culture. TPP’s thrust is to deregulate the protectionist policies that would curb carbon emissions and promote regional organic agriculture and small-town businesses. In sum, the TPP will jeopardize our already fragile environment and make local promotion of renewable energy illegal. As to better working conditions, why would international trade organizations not scour the world for the cheapest, most exploitable labor force when profit is their ultimate value?
Maj-Britt Eagle
Santa Fe, N.M.

Killed in the line of duty
The Oct. 5 Briefing, “Are US courts still favoring police?,” rightfully informs us about the trend to doubt a police officer’s testimony, but the article neglects to mention some of the 30 officers who have been killed by gunfire so far this year. A subject such as that deserves some mention on both sides of the problem.
Muriel Horacek
La Cañada, Calif.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Readers write: Mel King's contributions; TPP and climate crisis; fallen officers
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2015/1031/Readers-write-Mel-King-s-contributions-TPP-and-climate-crisis-fallen-officers
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe