013
16
Letters A comedy of manners It was unsurprising to watch Dave Chappelle prod the boundaries of American propriety in his latest special on Netfl ix (Lexington, October 16th). Flirting with infl amma tory rhetoric is the hallmark of his work. Thus his special, “The Closer”, is peppered with the usual jokes lobbed at AfricanAmericans, Chinese and Jews and, mostly these days, trans people. What was surprising was his support for “team terf”, a pejorative term applying to those who argue that trans women are funda mentally not women. Some would call this gender realism. But to many trans people, to be “transexclusionary” is to deny their right to be themselves, the very right to exist. Declaring oneself to be a transexclusive feminist is surely just a diff erent type of the “group politics” that Lexington describes as “zero sum and exclusionary”. And it was clear who was being ex cluded from Mr Chappelle’s compassion. There was no punchline. If he was being sarcastic, the point was lost. Standing ovations don’t make it good, or right, or funny. Once upon a time, yet not that long ago, a popular posi tion on homosexuality was that samesex attraction was biologically deviant, domes tically pernicious and deserved to be derided. Discrimination against gays isn’t extinct, but thankfully the culture has changed. jedd horvath Victoria, Canada
As the parent of a trans young adult, and seeing fi rsthand the challenge and joy of watch ing someone I love becoming more and more truly them selves, I watched “The Closer” with a mixture of understand ing and dismay. I applauded Mr Chappelle’s emotional story of Daphne Dorman, a trans woman, and his friend ship with her. But Sir Terry Pratchett, a more thoughtful and empathetic social observ er, got it right when he said, “Satire is meant to ridicule
The Economist November 6th 2021
power. If you are laughing at people who are hurting, it’s not satire, it’s bullying.” sarah murphy Hillsborough, California I appreciated Lexington’s take on Mr Chappelle. As a liberal, socially progressive gay person, I have been impressed by The Economist’s clearhead ed analysis of topics that are too hot to touch in most other media, such as transgender rights versus women’s rights and the rise of the “illiberal left”. Mr Chappelle’s new show did not receive good reviews, which is surprising because, as the column pointed out, the woke left’s take on transgender issues is a fringe opinion. It makes one wonder why these reviewers felt obliged to pander to this vocal fringe. james jiang New York Spain’s right wing Not once in your entire article on Isabel Díaz Ayuso (“Liberty lady”, October 23rd) did you mention that she could not have become president of the Madrid region without the support of Vox, a farright party that is antifeminist and nostalgic for Franco. Ms Ayuso can’t pass a budget or any of her initiatives without convincing Vox to lend her its votes. She has expressed her comfort with Vox many times and adopted its rhetoric. colton walworth Naperville, Illinois
Kings of the road I invite anyone on the staff of The Economist to come to my company and learn to drive a heavygoods vehicle (“Only the best”, October 9th). We may not ask for people with lots of letters after their name or fancy degrees, but the job of being an hgv driver is a life long professional learning experience, requiring practical skills, strength of character, emotional intelligence and years of dedicated service. The task of piloting a fully laden 44tonne hgv on Britain’s roads comes with a huge
responsibility for personal and public safety. A momentary slip in concentration can have fatal consequences. Drivers are accountable for every minute of their working day under an overbearing system of regulation and compliance. I wonder how many of the unquestionably skilled writers at your paper could pass the test as easily as implied by your article? charles downie Managing director Bacton Transport Services Woolpit, Suff olk Voters v greens Ordinary consumers were mostly left out of Schumpe ter’s analysis of introducing a carbon tax to pay for emissions (October 9th). Looking at the negative reaction among con sumers to higher fuel prices in Europe and North America I wonder how much support there will be for carbon taxes as they move from a policy concept to pocketbook reality. Consumers are also voters. How will they react when carbon taxes make it harder to aff ord to travel and enjoy many other things that we take for granted today? Schumpeter believes con sumers will adapt their behav iour. But governments are doing nothing to educate and prepare them for these future changes. I would expect to see a lot of questioning and chal lenges to carbon taxes, whatev er the merits of such a policy in reducing emissions. rod dobson Oakville, Canada
Tree surgery “Treedemic” (October 9th) reported on how the global trade in trees is spreading tree diseases in Britain. The atten tion in Britain has rightly focused on the threat that infected nursery stock poses to forest biosecurity. In fact, the treedemic is a global public good dilemma. Without collective action, it will imperil society’s best eff orts to sequester carbon through forest conservation and initia
tives to plant trillions of trees. In America alone the annual biomass loss from treedemics easily matches what is lost to fi re. Meanwhile, treedemics are poorly studied in the developing world, where more people depend directly on forest resources for their livelihoods and survival. Rules from the World Trade Organi sation guard against economic protectionism but do not help shield forest ecosystems from treedemics. As new agree ments emerge, scientists must ensure that they give teeth to climate action by empowering partners to protect forest biosecurity. geoff rey williams International sentinel network coordinator us Forest Service Washington, dc Your article leaves one feeling a special kind of grief for lost trees: “treef” julian haber Montreal Split cover
I noticed that your auction of a nonfungible token for a recent cover raised $420,000 for charity (“How our nft auction went”, October 30th). At considerably less expense, I have acquired my own nft of The Economist’s rabbithole cover: a NonFramed Tearoff . don sancton Beaconsfi eld, Canada
Letters are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor at The Economist, The Adelphi Building, 1-11 John Adam Street, London wc2n 6ht Email: letters@economist.com More letters are available at: Economist.com/letters
