Liberty and prosperity

Press, 11 September 1989, Page 20

Liberty and prosperity

Sir, —Broadly speaking the “Economist” article (August 21) maintains that "liberty and prosperity thrive as the age of certainty dies,” and die wherever “certainty” thrives. “To feel you are absolutely right about anything is a dangerous business, for yourself and for others,” as Hitlerism, Stalinism, Brezhnevism, etc., demonstrate. “Hitlerism and Stalinism make previous centuries seem kindly by comparison,” but “the triumph of the twentieth century is that it has purged itself of (ideological) certainty.” Incredibly, John D. Canham (August 31) states: “The heading of this correspondence seems singularly inappropriate to describe ‘the triumph of the twentieth century,’ if that triumph is viewed in terms of uncertainty in moral standards and the domination of millions of people by atheistic State dictatorships.” The heading is appropriate to the “Economist” text, but “singularly inappropriate” to Mr Canham’s straw-man version of it, which invites a different answer to his question : "Do we really want morally uncertain leadership?” — Yours, etc., DAVID SHANKS. August 31, 1989.