Dear Arjun and friends,

...[T]he fabulous special June issue on global economics...is the most concise and clear explanation of our global economic problems I have yet seen. I thought it was particularly useful to think of immigration policies in terms of a system of global apartheid -- a connection I had not made until reading your articles....[P]lease continue to write on this topic.

For a just and peaceful world,

Chuck Johnson

Dear Arjun,

You and your team deserve unqualified appreciation for bringing out a special number about democracy. By doing so you have met the challenge which your magazine expected. In fact it is the undemocratic use of science that has plunged the world into the current darkness. Democratic thinking, democratic attitudes and democratic behavior is a must in every part of life. It is so unfortunate that the country most suited to lead humanity to unprecedented heights through democracy has sponsored the most undemocratic acts and persons in the world, unrivalled in human history.

I possess a bit different view about [your claim that] "The dozen years since the sunset of the U.S.-Soviet clash have seen the hopes of millions of people for a new dawn of freedom and equality across the world dashed because of a process of globalization..." At first it was wrong on the part of those millions of people to pin the hopes of a "free and equal" future on the sunset of the U.S.-Soviet clash. ... [The] going-away of the Soviet Union would not turn the world from hell to heaven overnight as the people had hoped. In fact the first super power had spent trillions of dollars and millions of men around the globe in defeating "the rival" not for realizing the hopes of people but to achieve what the world is witnessing, in your words, ".... [putting] the interests of corporations and capital ahead of those of people." To realize their hopes and make the so-called long held dreams of humanity come true, these millions -- rather billions -- of people will have to rely on their own and wage their struggle afresh with new strategies.

Abdul khalique Junejo
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Reply: Dear Mr. Junejo: I agree with you that the hopes were misplaced because they did not take into account the nature of global capitalism and the role of nuclear weapons in it. But millions did have those hopes. It is difficult to see the nature of the global apartheid beast from within its gut. Events of recent years are bringing them into clearer view. --Arjun Makhijani

I just read for the second time your superb "special issue." I read a lot of newspapers and magazines of international and national circulation and repute and this is by far the most cogent, compelling analysis of the world political-economic scene I have read yet.

My dear friend,

...I hope I am not too late in letting you know what an important work it is and what a courageous act on your part -- sticking your neck [out] work, so to speak...

It is not a coincidence that your voice is becoming clearer and louder at this time in history. We need a voice so desperately.

You have focused on nuclear issues, but it has been obvious since meeting you that your intellect cuts across many lines. Perhaps not being submerged in USA political and pop culture as a child has helped you see through the confusion and obfuscation, to perceive and articulate what I see as a clear, new vision.

....Resistance to war, this time in Iraq, rising out of the US and enlarging over the entire planet, may have been the birth [of a world people's movement] . This was the first time in modern history that people have said, "We want peace." Before, they have been anti-war; this time, the first time, they were pro-peace. I am still blown away by the numbers.

Great new movements need a message and a messenger. And you are both. There are many ways of getting a message across. I want to encourage you to press on. The times call for a clear radical vision. There's an enormously large and hungry audience clamoring for it.

Dear Dr. Makhijani,

I recently read your article on "U.S. Monetary Imperialism and the War on Iraq" in the June 2003 issue of SDA. It gave me a better understanding of this war than anything I have read. At the end of the article you make a suggestion for establishing fair trade, i.e., setting exchange rates of currencies on the basis of their underlying value. Many difficult steps would need to be taken, perhaps starting with "a second Bretton Woods."

Inasmuch as monetary policy can be either a hindrance or a help to the goal of peace and justice, I am wondering how an interested citizen can support this idea. Are any legislators interested? Are any NGOs promoting a second Bretton Woods? How can I add my voice to making this a reality?

Reply: Dear Ms. Rodriguez: I've written an article on restructuring the global monetary system along lines that I believe would benefit working people everywhere. [See "Democratizing Money."] Perhaps you and others could advocate for it if you think it is along the right lines. Also, you are free to republish our material with due credit to the source. --Arjun Makhijani

Editor's note: We invited comment from Professor Milton Friedman on the article regarding his views on capitalism and freedom that was published in the June 2003 special issue of Science for Democratic Action. He refused comment, replying "...I am not interested in responding." Correspondence is posted here.