Golden Age, Gone?

Francis Fukuyama's article is right on, but it fails to give sufficient emphasis to the offshoring of American jobs that is one of the more insidious consequences of the Bush administration's budget deficits. Because those deficits exceed America's domestic debt capacity, we must borrow the balance from abroad. And we must send the foreign lenders the dollars we borrow from them. And the only way we can do that is to buy more from them than we sell to them. And the things we buy from abroad are made abroad with foreign labor. So if we want to reduce the offshoring of jobs, we must first reduce our budget deficit to the point that we can finance it ourselves without relying on foreigners.
Cecil Quillen
Richmond, Virginia

Francis Fukuyama's article was a harsh reminder that capitalism is a double-edged sword. Despite what free-market capitalists assert, the current economic debacle demonstrates that capitalism does not work for the common good unless it is regulated. Regulation levels the playing field between the relentless pursuit of profit and the need to temper it with some humanity to provide vital services to all citizens. America's economic system is not based solely on capitalism; it is a blend of capitalism and socialism. Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and public education are examples of government-run social programs. Americans need to restore the balance between unregulated capitalism and regulation that keeps business from its excesses if we are to have a just society that works for all.
Robert J. Prahl
Brunswick, Maine

Francis Fukuyama sees the end of the Reagan revolution as due to the now obvious financial consequences of reduced government regulation and the failures of the aggressive promotion of democracy overseas. While he briefly mentions others, such as increased income inequality and the descent of millions into poverty, he apparently doesn't see or regret the concentration of power in fewer corporations, the squeeze on the middle class or the results of deregulation in sectors other than financial, such as decreased food safety and the degradation of the environment.
Merlin Dorfman
San Jose, California

Your article places blame for the current economic crisis by saying that "under the mantra of less government, Washington failed to adequately regulate the financial sector and allowed it to do tremendous harm to the rest of society." I think the problem was actually overinvolvement of government, with Congress meddling in the affairs of Wall Street and opening the door to subprime lending via the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. When you account for additional Clinton administration regulations and the subsequent proliferation of subprime mortgage purchasing through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the Bush years, it's clear that this is a bipartisan problem of overregulation and excessive desire to have the government do everything for everyone.
Patty Cooper
Columbus, Ohio

Laptop Lament
A couple of weeks ago I purchased a new laptop ("A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft," Oct. 13). Even though it came with Vista preinstalled, I paid extra to go back to Windows XP. My objective was to be able to run Ubuntu, the version of Linux that provides the capability to have both Windows and Linux on the same PC. I have become increasingly disenchanted with Windows, which I regard as layer upon layer of inefficient coding. The computer industry provides more powerful hardware every year, and when I buy a new PC I expect it to be considerably faster than the old one. But Windows seems to eat up all additional PC power. Sometimes more than 50 percent of capacity may be consumed by automatic processes over which I have little or no control. My simplest command has to wait while Windows works on something it considers more important. On top of that, Windows often tries to guess what I want to do, making suggestions that are usually wrong. Another reason to get away from Windows is its exposure to malware. Linux and Mac users can enjoy working in a relatively virus-free environment, and most experts consider that the fundamental designs of these operating systems make them less prone to malware attacks. When my wife's Windows PC recently became infected in a way that could not be cleaned by antivirus software, the decision to convert to Linux was easy and painless. Personally, I am still tied to Windows for compatibility requirements in my business, but Linux and OpenOffice provide a viable migration path. I have taken the first steps in that direction, and I look forward to being able to say bye-bye to Windows within a few years.
Jan H. Guettler
Oslo, Norway

Austria ' s Far-Right Surge
In "Charging to the Right" (Oct. 13), Rod Nordland appears unaware of what "the far-right's strong showing" in Austria really indicates, apart from a disgust with the bickering inactivity of the two coalition partners: the socialists and the conservatives. A main issue of concern for Austrians is the increased lack of security. Since the European Union's Schengen Agreement abolished internal border control, an alarming influx of criminal individuals have posed as tourists and more frequently as asylum seekers—and not only individuals but highly organized and technically sophisticated criminal gangs. Austrian immigration laws are inept, and the social benefits are considerable. The government is so afraid of being considered racially motivated that it bends over backward to accommodate newcomers, who are often granted accommodation and other grants above those available to low-income locals.
Marlene Binggeli
Perchtoldsdorf, Austria

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