To be consistent, MSO must look at other works

State of despair
Victoria. Education is written on license plates everywhere. What a tragedy that one in three students fails to meet the required standards in reading and math.
John Manfield, Blairgowrie

Not welcome here
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said that “Palestinians from Gaza should not be allowed to enter Australia”. We were once a compassionate country, welcoming Vietnamese boat people and thousands of Chinese after Tiananmen Square – apparently that is no longer the case in Dutton’s world.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

Wired for the Weird
The problem with portraying conservative political opponents as eccentrics with “weird” ideas is that the accusation cuts both ways (Analysis, 8/14).
Many progressive ideas can be ridiculed as pretty bizarre. Problem with juvenile delinquency? Let’s raise the age of criminal responsibility. Want fairness in sports? Let people declare their gender without taking rigorous tests. Want to improve educational standards? Spend lots of money on “remedial” classes, rather than addressing the real reasons why many students don’t learn to read or do math.
It is not difficult to present such ideas as not only strange, but illogical and making problems far more complex than they need to be.
Rod Wise, Surrey Hills

Bets are placed on the right choice
As major broadcasters warn of cutting their $1.6 billion annual spend on news, sport and local drama, they fail to point out that Australians lose about $25 billion a year to legal gambling, according to the federal government’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing. And that figure doesn’t take into account the social costs to the community: from financial and psychological costs to increased family violence and relationship breakdowns, not to mention lost workforce productivity and increased crime. It’s a cost that’s hard to measure in real terms, but the Institute says it costs Victoria about $7 billion a year.
And yet federal ministers appear to be backtracking on the late Peta Murphy’s proposal to abolish gambling advertising. Perhaps they will make the right decision. Alas, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Sally Davis, Malvern East

Social policies are the same
So the federal Labor government is trying to portray the coalition as backward on social policy. Yet it has abandoned plans to protect LGBTQI students and teachers, reneged on its promise to establish a Makaratta Commission to support treaty and truth, and scrapped the role of Assistant Minister for the Republic. How are they different on social policy? I didn’t expect a government elected on a promise to improve equality for all to be afraid of a conservative backlash to these policies from people who would never vote Labor.
Samantha Keir, East Brighton

Selective memory
George Brandis (Commentary, 11/8) shares a very selective memory of identity politics. When Brandis and I were growing up, conservative identity politics and political correctness dominated Australia. People identified and were judged by their religion, gender and race. Persecution of women, gays and lesbians, indigenous people, migrants and single parents was common and encouraged. Christian churches wielded considerable power. What bothers the Brandises of our world is that conservatives lost control of the dominant culture decades ago. As Brandis eloquently laments, they have never recovered.
Mark Freeman, Macleod

Necessity of the arts
Saria Ratnam (Comment, 12/8), in an article about the absurd cost – around $50,000 – of an arts degree, demonstrated many of the reasons why these degrees are so valuable, such as the ability to express complex, evidence-based arguments in lucid prose.
As she points out, the Jobs Ready Graduate program introduced by the Morrison government has so far failed in its aim of pushing humanities students into “national priority areas”, but its continuation by the Albanese government now faces a stark choice.
The recent review of the Australian Universities Agreement described the policy as “causing profound and lasting harm to Australian higher education”. Unfortunately, Education Minister Jason Clare has only committed to establishing an Australian Higher Education Commission to “review” the policy, which is set to remain in place until at least 2027.
Professor Peter McPhee,
Chairman of the Historical Council of Victoria

Dome to Failure
Is Donald Trump going to build an Iron Dome over America? I would like to hear his explanation for the failure of two promised public works projects that never came to fruition. And now he has a third? I am talking about “draining the swamp” and the “Mexican wall,” the latter of which was funded by Mexico.
After such ghosts from Trump’s imagination, what kind of person would seriously believe this latest fantasy?
Kim Blanc,
Mirboo North

The benefits of working closely together
During my professional life, I learned pretty much everything I knew from people who had many years of professional experience.
How will newcomers learn all the intricacies of customer relations if experienced people are working from home? It doesn’t seem fair to newcomers. You learn a lot by imitating the behavior of others and this can only be done by observing others.
Penny Hamilton, Shepparton

The United States reaps what it sows
Peter Hartcher (Commentary, 13/8) cites the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 to criticize Chinese support for President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. What Hartcher neglects to mention is that for two centuries, the United States has interfered in Latin America to prop up right-wing dictatorships and destroy elected left-wing governments like Allende’s in Chile. Furthermore, he fails to mention the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela that have driven Maduro into Xi Jinping’s arms, just as 20th-century sanctions drove Cuba toward Russia for economic support.
Ironically, the Monroe Doctrine was a 19th-century American version of Xi Jinping’s policy regarding the South China Sea and Taiwan: “This is our backyard, the rest of the world should stay out of it.” The Monroe Doctrine was as arrogant as the creation of Liberia to solve the problem of slavery in the United States.
The United States is reaping what it has sown and fertilized in Latin America for more than a century: dictatorships supported by military force and external interference.
Daniel Cole, California Gully

The Musician’s Empathy
I was surprised to hear that Jayson Gillham would not be performing at the MSO concert. The audience will be missing out on a talented and charismatic pianist. I was lucky enough to see him in concert in Geelong last Friday, and his technique and empathy for the pieces he played were remarkable. His statement that caused dismay was an explanation of the piece, written by Connor D’Netto and called Witness. According to the composer, it is written in tribute to the journalists in Gaza. An overreaction by the MSO?
Margaret Collings, Anglesea

Reduction to absurdity
The world has become absurd. Jayson Gillham’s remarks were not directed at the warring parties but at the journalists who tell us what is happening in the world and sometimes pay with their lives. Without journalists, we would not be reading this newspaper.
Maria Liew, Woodend

Good news on the decline
Finally, some good news. The birth rate is declining. Every human being contributes to carbon emissions, directly and through resource consumption. Do we really believe that the world population can continue to increase indefinitely without dire consequences?
Penny Garnett, Castlemaine

A sparkling farnarkling
I agree that Farnarkling should have been at the Los Angeles Olympics (Letters, 14/8) and that the legendary Dave Sorensen should have recovered from his injuries in time to lead Australia to glory. Malcolm Fraser, Oakleigh South

AND SOMETHING ELSE

Electric scooters
Lucy Dahan (Comment, 14/8) might consider buying an electric bike. They are much less likely to be abandoned on sidewalks or used irresponsibly.
Lesley Black, Frankston

To make our streets safer, don’t just go after small-wheeled rental electric scooters: all mega-utilities and SUVs need to go too.
Jenny Smithers, Ashburton

I welcome the decision to ban electric scooters in the CBD, but despair of allowing them to circulate there.
Ruth Davis, Carrum

The central business district is well served by the tram network, and people fit enough to ride a scooter should have no problem walking a bit between stops. There is no good reason to allow scooters on the transport network in the central business district.
Ralph Bohmer, St Kilda West

Furthermore
In Australia we don’t have ‘Lords’. Why then do we have a ‘Lord Mayor’ for Melbourne? ‘Mayor of Melbourne’ will do just fine, thank you.
John Laurie, Riddells Creek

At both federal and state levels, the Australian Labor Party unfortunately appears to be suffering from a deterioration in its structural structure.
Joan Segrave, Healesville

It seems Jacinta Allan was impressed by the Paris Olympics as she performed a high platform backflip with spike.
Alan Inchley, Frankston

Elon Musk claims that fossil fuel-loving Donald Trump represents the “destiny of civilization.” The question is, which planet is he thinking of?
Bernd Rieve, Brighton

We now know that part of the money spent on a Tesla will go to fund Donald Trump’s re-election. This is not a good investment.
Peter Hendrickson, East Melbourne

Finally
Three wins in a row is often referred to as “back to back”. Does anyone have any idea what that looks like physically?
Rob Willis, Eagle Point