Madam, – By and large I subscribe to the vision of society as espoused by Fintan O’Toole in recent years, ie the least of our citizens is deserving of equality, liberty and fraternity and that by denying this we damage ourselves as a society/community.
I was shocked by the manner in which your correspondent (August 4th) attacked Fintan’s article (Opinion, August 3rd) by first quoting the motto of the French revolution– Liberté,égalité, fraternité – and then proceeded in the remainder of his letter to omit any reference to “fraternité”, the cement which holds the other two together and allows society to function as a loving community.
I empathise with the perception of society which Fintan has been addressing in his columns. A completely undeveloped person will find happiness in a selfish way – he must obtain, he must gain, he must get and consume before he can be happy. For such a person, giving to others is seen as a loss, not a cause of happiness. Fintan is aware of this and is aware that it is this dysfunction which has brought us as a society to this pass. Whether you call it a republic or any other name is immaterial. – Yours, etc,