Letters

Man of the Year

To the Editors: Deng Xiaoping as Man of the Year is your best choice ever [MAN OF THE YEAR, Jan. 6]. Deng is proving again, as the U.S. did many years ago, that the most powerful and beneficial force in the world is individual freedom and enterprise. James Sumner Sedona, Ariz.

Yours is the finest report on events in China since Marco Polo's. J`an Gadzo Chisholm, Minn.

TIME's choice is ludicrous. It would be much more appropriate to have on your cover the silhouette of a lone terrorist, symbolizing the murder and carnage that occurred in 1985. Dale K. Weighill Farmington, Mich.

Congratulations on your selection of Deng Xiaoping as Man of the Year. While the choice of Mikhail Gorbachev would have had obvious merit, your arguments for deciding to pick Deng were too persuasive to ignore. Timothy A. VanDerbosch Garrett, Ind.

You say that if "Deng's bold experiments" succeed, "Communists everywhere, notably in the Third World, would see an alternative to the failures of Soviet Marxism." Yet you say that "Deng's goal is to lift per capita income to $800 by the year 2000." This is less than 20% of per capita income in the U.S.S.R. today and less than 10% of that in some East European countries. Soviet-style Marxism is a failure only by Western standards. Compared with the mess that China is in after 35 years under Deng and his associates, the Soviet Union is Nirvana. Thomas A. Metzger Professor of Chinese History University of California, San Diego La Jolla, Calif.

As a Taiwanese, I am both shocked and disappointed at this year's selection for Man of the Year. Choosing Deng Xiaoping primarily because of his "sweeping economic reforms" focuses only on the brighter side of China. By honoring Deng, you praise a leader who has tried to isolate Taiwan, an emerging democracy; has sheltered Pol Pot, a genocidal maniac; has continued to deny basic human rights to Tibetans; and has denounced as selfish those who question China's wavering policy on democracy for Hong Kong. When admiring the sleek, beautiful head of the mighty Chinese dragon emerging from the depths of the Pacific, keep a sharp eye for the shadowy tail that is sure to follow. Dave Lin Marlboro, N.J.

Your choice of Deng Xiaoping is a just one. Deng has transformed China from a restless Communist giant to a peaceful nation committed to stability and cooperation. Mao's two upheavals, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, caused millions of Chinese misery and death; Deng's changes have brought joy and happiness. Now China, the erstwhile protagonist of socialist revolution, and the U.S., the greatest capitalist country, have become friends. For that, Deng deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Mahmood Elahi Washington

Last September the Chinese government celebrated the 20th anniversary of the carving up of Tibet. To observe the occasion, a delegation of Chinese officials flew from Peking to Lhasa armed with gifts of silk, desk clocks and tea. Tibetans do not need desk clocks or tea. They would appreciate having returned to them their rights, their cultural identity and their national leaders. As the eldest brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I can tell you that Tibetans are waiting for these reforms before they will nominate Deng Xiaoping Man of the Year. Thubten Jigme Norbu Bloomington, Ind.

Your analysis of the economic reform being introduced in China under Deng Xiaoping was excellent. It would have been even more interesting had you mentioned that the concept of making all land common property and paying rent to the state for its use under a "contract system," with surplus production going to the free market, is a direct application of the theory published by the American writer Henry George in Progress and Poverty, in 1879. The parallel is so close I wonder whether Deng has the book in his library. Douglas Denby, President John Cabot International College Rome

You seem to think that allowing peasants to "grow what they wish" and "start private businesses" is a step toward the restoration of capitalism and perhaps even democracy in China. This has merely changed the status of the peasant from that of a serf to that of a sharecropper. The peasants cannot buy the land they farm, and this is what matters. The essence of capitalism is not making a profit. This can be done under the barter system. The basic element is the right of the citizen to own private property. In China, all the land is owned by the Central Committee, and it is not for sale. Wallace Dace Manhattan, Kans.

Your Man of the Year articles on China and Deng Xiaoping made me realize that if Deng's system succeeds, then China could pose an even greater economic challenge to the U.S. than Japan. It may be a bumpy ride in the world economy of the 21st century. Frank Meier Boca Raton, Fla. Censuring Censors

Cheers for your report on the ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against the compulsory licensing of journalists [PRESS, Dec. 16]. However, Stephen Schmidt, the American reporter found guilty of practicing journalism without a license in Costa Rica, worked for La Nacion, not La Prensa Libre. Eduardo Ulibarri, Editor in Chief La Nacion San Jose, Costa Rica

TIME regrets the error. Airport Attack

By singling out innocent victims at the Rome and Vienna airports [WORLD, Dec. 30], terrorists have once again shown themselves to be lacking decent values and conscience. There is no rationale or political ideology, including reprisals for past wrongs, that can justify such an atrocity. This latest act should brand these terrorists and their cause, as well as those who support them, with shame, dishonor and world condemnation. Bart Gethmann Wheaton, Ill.

The proposal to bomb Libya is idiotic. Our use of terrorism to fight terrorism will only spread the violence and give justification for escalating acts of cruelty against U.S. citizens. Murat Zagoloff Spring Valley, N. Y. Honoring Maimonides

If Maimonides had been alive for his 850th birthday celebration in Paris last December [RELIGION, Dec.23], he would have been startled by the participants, by TIME's comments and by the party itself. After all, what role do Reform and Conservative rabbis play at a Maimonides memorial? They have jettisoned most if not all of his 13 Articles of Faith. Deny even one, says Maimonides, and you deny Judaism. Are they the ones to wish him a happy birthday? Then there is Kuwaiti Professor Abderrahmane Badawi, who embraces Maimonides as an Arab philosopher. But Maimonides, while not branding Islam as idolatry, was clear in rejecting classical Arab fatalism in favor of Judaism's doctrine of free choice. It was also nice of the U.S.S.R. to send Scholar Vitali Naumkin to Paris, while Soviet Jews who study Maimonides are sent to Siberia.

TIME's comment that Maimonides was a "philosopher who symbolizes a confluence of four cultures: Greco-Roman, Arab, Jewish and Western" ignores Maimonides' own description of himself. In a letter to Rabbi Jonathan HaKohein of Luniel (Provence), Maimonides says, "Torah consecrated me to her before my birth . . . She is my true love, the wife of my youth. The other cultures are but women to serve me and cast grace on my wife . . . Regrettably, they distract me from my only life-mate, the Torah." By his own declaration, Maimonides was purely Jewish.

As for the party, Maimonides counsels, "Strive for moderation in all character traits . . . except for seeking honor, where the pious choose complete abstinence." The guest of honor would surely have stayed home. Rabbi Nisson Wolpin, Editor Jewish Observer New York City

While Maimonides is revered by many cultures, he cannot be usurped by Muslim scholars as "first and foremost" one of their own. Maimonides embodied the Jews' mission to be "a light unto the nations." His multicultural genius enabled him to show the intellectual world the supremacy of the word of God over the philosophy of man. Rabbi Gershon Schusterman, Director The Hebrew Academy Lubavitch Westminster, Calif. Barely Mentioned

Since your magazine is such an excellent one, I think the publisher should be aware of any small imperfection that may appear in it. I therefore take the occasion, in writing to you out of Africa, to say that your review of the new film Out of Africa [CINEMA, Dec. 16] is wrong in saying that Karen Blixen never mentions her husband in her book. She does, twice. Peter S. Bridges U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Mogadishu

TIME regrets the error.