A WESTERN MONOPOLY ON TRUTH?

Karl Schoenberger reviewed “The Enigma of Japanese Power” (Book Review, April 16), which ostensibly proves the superiority of “Western intellectual tradition with its monopoly on universal “truths.” According to the author, what apparently is crippling Japan is a lack of these Western values and transcendental truths that we possess.

To prove his point the author states: “Industrial cartels are sanctioned by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission . . . despite a postwar anti-monopoly law. The distribution and supply system is locked up by disciplined loyalty to the large conglomerates. The stock market is rigged by the big four securities firms. . . . Graft is institutionalized in politics . . . .”

Anyone who reads the daily newspaper would easily recognize the state of our Union in that description. Lest we get too smug about our moral superiority, remember the Crusades, the Inquisition, Auschwitz and Hiroshima.

TANJA WINTER

LA JOLLA