To the editor:

The Enlightenment began with such great promise. The use of reason to cope with our problems, to overcome tyrannical rule, to use technology to make difficult tasks easier — it all seemed so right. But the economic system that arose during the 17th and 18th centuries had no ethical basis save accumulation. The resulting democratized struggle for wealth and power has unfolded in a world where rape, pillage and plunder still rule the day. Ask the Iraqis.

The unifying, by the power-hungry — led by Karl Rove — of oil and defense industry interests with radical Christian right-wingers was a stroke of diabolical genius that makes “The Simpsons” character Sideshow Bob look like a Boy Scout. But diabolical genius isn’t something a nation, particularly one that has traditionally claimed the moral high ground, should adopt as its standard operating procedure. But we have. And it’s way past time to wake up and realize we’ve been had by the power-hungry war profiteers and looters of the public treasury.

And the media has played a central role in all this. The dumbing down of America has reached new “heights” with the info-mili-tainment that passes for “news” in recent years. Americans have trusted exactly the wrong people. The corporate media, of which “news” is a small part, has a vested interest in keeping you ignorant. Reason depends on good information — something we haven’t had in a long time. The debacle in Vietnam woke us up, but those who profit from war have put us back to sleep again. The price will be high.

Doug Harvey,

Lawrence