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O’Neill is right to stress the intelligence of mankind. One of the results of this ingenuity is that we now have safe and effective contraception. Of course the first duty of charities working in this area must be to feed the hungry. But they should also provide family planning clinics. If they fail to halt the rapid population growth in Niger, their efforts will lead to even more hungry people in the next generation.
John Moor
Hants
Sir: The ancient world may offer support to the ‘Dire Spire’ theory discussed by Clarissa Tan (‘Faulty towers’, 1 September) in the shape of Trajan’s Column, erected to commemorate the Emperor Trajan’s wars against the Dacians in the early second century ad. Arguably, the subsequent occupation of the Danube Basin constituted a fatal over-extension of Roman military power, which led to the decline and fall. After Trajan, Rome was on the defensive.
Chris Harries
Bristol
Sir: Younger readers of the Spectator may find Peter Thiel’s vision of libertarian ‘seasteads’ worryingly familiar (‘The future made Thiel’, 1 September). In the popular computer game ‘Bioshock’, a billionaire founds an underwater city based on Randian principles. The city is called Rapture and has the slogan ‘No gods or kings, only man’. Needless to say, things do not go well.
Nicholas Berry
Cambridge
Sir: How odd! We too have just been on holiday in France (Status Anxiety, 1 September) for the first time in nine years and we too are very obviously English, but the waiters, hoteliers, shopkeepers, random natives and even fellow drivers whom we encountered were unfailingly considerate, friendly and helpful. A fierce-looking woman did bear down on us when we were picnicking in a field near Dijon — but all she wanted was to give us some plums she had just picked. Perhaps all the disagreeable French people had moved to Paris and Provence to persecute poor Toby Young and his family.
Patrick and Jo Pender-Cudlip
Somerset
Sir: Was the juxtaposition of Toby Young’s and Rory Sutherland’s articles (1 September) deliberate, or delightfully coincidental? No sooner had I finished reading Toby’s remarks about the smelly French, than I read Rory’s comment that Americans still believe all French people stink. With good reason, by the sound of it.
Jerry Emery
West Sussex
Sir: In her piece about the demise of our pubs (By the book, 1 September), Emily Rhodes does not mention why people are staying away from pubs. The reason is tax. According to figures from Camra (the Campaign for Real Ale) around a third of the cost of a pint of beer is tax. Add to that other costs imposed by the chancellor such as business rates, and it’s easy to see why people are more reluctant to spend time in the pub. It is a great shame since pubs provide cohesion to local communities.
Andrew Stibbard
Ramsbury
Sir: I support the views expressed by Melissa Kite in her article on school sports (‘War on games’, 25 August). The late Dr John Rae, the much-respected Head of Westminster School for several years, in his book Letters to Parents described how sports were introduced into schools, centuries ago, to ‘tame the student mob’, coming to take on ‘all the attributes of a religion’. The teaching profession regards success at sports as superior to success at academic subjects, not allowing one to translate into the other. Students in this country have gone a considerable distance down the international ‘league table’ for academic qualifications. This is a failure far more damaging to our prospects than any nonsense concerning gold medals, but seems to have attracted far less concern.
Peter Davey
Bournemouth
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