Dear Republic:

Not long ago, as I recall, your masthead had a motto, something to the effect of  "To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

I thought at the time that this was a highly commendable goal for a newspaper because in these times (no less so than in other times) the comfortable are such often because they are adept at afflicting those less fortunate. 

Since they profit from their actions but would rather not be reminded of the results, they live in gated communities, pass legislation which harasses those who have the gall to beg for a living in public, publish newspapers which tend to blame the poor for their own "lifestyle," and because they see the poor to be morally decrepit parasites on society and remove as many support services necessary to their survival as possible.

Someone needs to remind society that "the law in its majestic equality forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread". (Anatole France)

A newspaper that intentionally stands with those who are marginalized is a rare thing to find in our society. I hope your paper holds true to its original goal and I would be pleased to find "To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" once again on your masthead.

- Andrew Phillips, Sapperton BC

Dear Republic:

To independent city council candidate Kevin Potvin:

Political parties are creatures of the electoral system.

That's the point you don't see. Parties would not have all the faults you describe if we had proportional representation, fair spending limits, full voter turn-out, mandatory candidate debates, more elected boards, civic initiative petitions, female quota for officials, separately elected cabinets, constitutional conventions, etc.

See korky.ca, part 4.

- Korky Day, former chair of the Vancouver Greens

Dear Republic:

I have two points to make, one critical and one positive.

The critical one concerns the ridiculous little paragraphs on the right hand side of pages 1 and 3, that go under the heading "Listen to this dear.” A few issues ago these columns were devoted to obvious spoofs of the local throwaway rags such as The Dose. As such they were good for a laugh, temporarily, just like the quotations on the left-hand columns. But what is the purpose of the current right-hand column "bytes?" They do not come with a source or validation of any kind, they are frivolous, and as such represent the worst kind of journalism (well, almost!). Are they supposed to be spoofs, or just pointless fill-ins? I can no longer tell. Maybe Chris Lavigne, benefiting from his journalism classes, can tell me how they fit in with the objectives of a radical newspaper.

On the positive side, I am pleased to read that Kevin Potvin intends to run for city council as an independent. In spite of my skeptical attitude towards all wannabe politicos, I do believe that Kevin would make a significant difference. He might not be able to bring about changes, but he could certainly raise important issues and stir things up. So go for it Kevin!

- Jim Hudson, Tsawwassen BC

****