Letters

Visions 21: Our Work, Our World

"A society that is shaped by digitized, overstimulated twentysomethings with 'virtual' ethics? I have seen the future and it is ugly." RICHARD MALLERY Los Angeles

Tom Peters' forecast of an online, Web-based, white-collar workplace [VISIONS 21, May 22] was very chilling indeed. His feverish embrace of extreme individuality, free-market pursuit and constant self-improvement completely drowns out any inclination for people to think about others who are less fortunate. There is no real community, no downtime, no nurturing of the soul in Peters' business model--just workers hunched over a monitor, constantly "improving" themselves for the next level of business. Will embracing technology automatically make you a queen bee--or will you still be a drone? WILLIAM T. LAYHER Somerville, Mass.

In your description of jobs that will disappear in this century, you listed stenographers (including court reporters and lots of secretaries). Whoa! Court reporters won't be replaced anytime soon, any more than fathers and mothers will be. There are too many vocal variables in courtrooms, depositions and live TV programming, not to mention foreign accents and the fast talkers of America. Until a machine can be trained to capture anyone all the time under a multitude of conditions, court reporters and stenographers will be needed. CARL SAUCEDA, PRESIDENT National Court Reporters Association Hayward, Calif.

The absence of lawyers and politicians from your list of jobs that will cease to exist was truly disheartening. TOM SAFFEN Pittsford, N.Y.

Who is going to build the techno-toys and gadgets that will revolutionize our work and private lives? People laboring in sweatshops, I assume. And will the conditions of the white-collar sweatshops be as deplorable as their present-day counterparts? Yikes! CHRIS CASTLE Powell, Ohio

The loss of job satisfaction and the degradation of successful corporate cultures are a high price to pay to eliminate perceived inefficiencies from our places of work. Clearly, many jobs have been streamlined through technology. People, however, will always be the key to innovation and effective decision making. Sound judgment and experience are necessary for success. Neither can be gained through technology alone. CHRISTIAN DELOY Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I found Peters' references to "icon Woman," his new role model for professional women, offensive: "She is turned on by her work!" She is "deeply committed to her self-designed, do-it-from-anywhere-with-anybody 'career' path." As long as attitudes like these are perpetuated by highly paid futurists and prominent newsmagazines, the workplace will remain a ghetto for women. JEAN COSTELLO West Boylston, Mass.

Peters' "Icon Woman" may work at home on a fiendishly difficult problem. But in just a few years, she will face some even more fiendish difficulties called interruptions--beginning with the never-ending cry of "Mommmmmy!" PATRICIA MATHEWS Albuquerque, N.M.

According to your interesting (yet strangely scary) articles, our children will learn at home through virtual schooling. We will work at home, shop from there and no doubt download the latest movies off the Net and watch them at home. You've unwittingly predicted the force that will ultimately destroy this new high-tech society: cabin fever! ANDREA SKORENKI Calgary, Alta.

I want to respond to the article "Will Service Still Stink?" I have worked in the consumer-service industry for years, and I don't discount the notion that service can be poor. Yet there are times when consumers are too demanding; they all think they deserve top priority. Customers need to realize that for every nasty service worker there are four nasty customers. Think of it as karma: What you do will come back to you. KRISTIN WOOLEY New York City

Changing Bankruptcy Laws

Your article on the bankruptcy reform bill, "Soaked by Congress" [BIG MONEY & POLITICS, May 15], contained several misrepresentations. The truth is, this bill does not hurt the poor. Under the safe-harbor provision in the House bill, which Time failed to mention, a person making less than the national median income would be exempt from the bill's means test. (For 1999 the national median income for a family of four was $56,000.) Medical bills will not be used to keep a family from filing bankruptcy, no matter what. The bill helps women and children by closing a loophole used by deadbeat dads and making child support a first priority, ahead of attorney's fees. Also, the bill has new, strong antifraud provisions to prevent fraudulent claims of homestead exemptions. This reform bill will never hold anyone back from filing bankruptcy. GEORGE GEKAS, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 17th District, Pennsylvania BILL MCCOLLUM, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 8th District, Florida Washington

Your article on how lawmakers are "reforming" bankruptcy did an outstanding job of drawing attention to one of the most underreported stories of the past few years. The consumer-credit industry has poured millions into a lobbying campaign to overhaul the bankruptcy code. In return for these millions, Congress is poised to reward the consumer-credit industry. The current bankruptcy bill would erect many new hurdles, and many financially desperate Americans would find it impractical to gain effective bankruptcy relief. ROBERT M. LAWLESS Associate Professor of Law University of Missouri Columbia

As a member of the National Bankruptcy Review Commission created by Congress in 1994 to consider amendments to the 1978 bankruptcy code, I beg to differ with your article concerning the pending bankruptcy-reform bills. Congress responded to the fact that current bankruptcy law enables anyone, regardless of need, to walk away from debt. Annual bankruptcy filings doubled during the 1990s despite unprecedented job growth and prosperity. The theory espoused in your article, that all bankruptcies are the result of ill health, accident and divorce, cannot explain these increases in filings. Filing bankruptcy has become a widely publicized, socially acceptable financial-planning tool. Congress's goal in reforming bankruptcy is to discourage abuse while leaving bankruptcy relief available for needy, honest debtors. All Americans, and particularly poorer people, will benefit from a more honest bankruptcy system, because their need for credit will decline. JUDGE EDITH H. JONES U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit Houston

Not Proud of the Love Bug

In the article "School for Hackers" [TECHNOLOGY, May 22], you referred to Manila's AMA Computer College as "a pioneer in Philippine computer education." That's not even close to the truth. Also, the AMA student alleged to be the mastermind behind the Love Bug computer virus is not a talented hacker and certainly not world class. The code could have been written by any computer- and Internet-savvy 14-year-old. Emphatically, we in the Philippines are not proud of what this hacker has done. MARICRIS GO Quezon City, the Philippines

A computer hacker who can cause millions in damages may seem glamorously intelligent, but he is, in fact, a dangerous terrorist. And in the same way that terrorists enjoy, if not thrive on, media attention, so do hackers. Putting the spotlight on the Love Bug hacker may have allowed him to achieve yet another of his sick objectives. No wonder he loves us! ZINA SHAHILI VALAYDON Rose Hill, Mauritius

While it is true that "small cells of hackers [in the developing world]...pose an unprecedented threat to the computer systems of the industrialized world," bringing down the developed world is not the raison d'etre of hackers (and computer schools and users) in less-developed countries, except for a small minority. Please do not reinforce, however indirectly, a phobia about the Third World. KATRINA O. MOLINA Kobe, Japan

Fair and Unfair Trade

There has been a lot of controversy over the U.S. granting permanent trade rights to China [WORLD, May 22]. The Western media often describe China as evil. It seems that all anyone cares about is human rights in China. The situation here is much better than it was before. Now people can select their job and place to live. They do not have to settle on working for the government.

People have more money and more freedom to decide what to do with their lives. Yes, there are still problems, but the progress China has achieved should not be overlooked. Without money, freedom means nothing. We Chinese can and will become more free through our hard work. CHARBIN LEE Shanghai

Those who support the U.S. having permanent normal trade relations with China are delusional, shortsighted and naive. The agreement may cut Chinese tariffs and serve to open up new markets for American manufacturers and service providers, but inward-looking China will not turn on a dime to meet U.S. criteria for human rights. China will promise the moon but deliver only manufactured products and immigrants to its trading partners. In the short term, North American jobs will be lost when U.S. manufacturers move plants to China, where labor is cheap. The U.S. trade deficit with China will escalate to frightening proportions, and the Chinese will continue to live under the same political oppression for years to come. GRAHAM L. SMITH Knowlton, Que.

An Oasis of Humor?

Re Jack E. White's commentary on radio host Don Imus and his obnoxious remarks [DIVIDING LINE, May 22]: Those of us who listen to (or watch) Imus' show have come to know that anyone is a likely candidate for his wrath. Color, creed, ethnic background, occupation, political clout or financial position save no one from his outbursts. The truth is, Don is a man who has a heart of gold--but the gold is protected by large sticks of dynamite, set to go off at any moment regardless of who is disturbing them. What we are losing in this country is the ability to laugh at ourselves. JONATHAN WESLEY North Port, Fla.

Not only has Imus won the valued Marconi award for excellence in radio, but he was named by TIME as one of the 25 most influential Americans of 1997. I am not offended by the I-Man; he is what he is, and there is no sugarcoating him. His show is most entertaining and informative. What Imus does is nothing new. White should check his calendar; he seems to be living in the past century. RICHARD UNGER Sarasota, Fla.