Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here.

Here.

To the Editor:

The disconcerting rise in death rates among less educated middle-aged white Americans reflects their growing disenfranchisement in recent decades. The Democratic Party has become a haven for urban elites more comfortable in Whole Foods than Home Depot or Walmart. The economic concerns of working-class Americans are present in their rhetoric, but not their hearts or, in the end, their policies.

Republicans may appeal to this group on social issues, but their economic agenda blatantly serves business and donor interests, and they systematically undercut even the most modest efforts to lift the working class out of its economic trap.

I do not support Donald Trump and find it vile that he scapegoats the weak for economic dislocations caused by the powerful, but he may be the only voice on the spectrum that addresses the real interests of this beleaguered demographic.

MICHAEL FARZAN

Juno Beach, Fla.

Here.

Here.

What Ted said!

Feel the Steel (2009).

To the Editor:

Re “Paris Terrorist Attacks Kill Over 100; France Declares State of Emergency” (front page, Nov. 14):

“We’re safe. But is anyone safe in this crazy world?” That’s what two friends visiting Paris posted on their Facebook page.

As Paris reels from another barbaric atrocity, there are cheers within the ranks of ISIS as it continues to demonstrate a depravity of unfathomable proportion. These cowardly acts are not a sign of strength.

And in the Seventh Arrondissement sit my friends, wondering what has become of this world.

An American in Paris. How times have changed.

ROBERT S. NUSSBAUM

Fort Lee, N.J.

To the Editor:

It appears that the Paris attacks were undertaken by ISIS. Perhaps it makes sense for the West to join President Vladimir V. Putin to ally with Bashar al-Assad and focus on destroying ISIS—as we allied with the monster Stalin to destroy the greater monster Hitler.

Our Syria strategy seems aimless; perhaps it is time to focus on the greatest enemy.

KEN MILLER

New York

To the Editor:

Perhaps it is time for the world community to form something comparable to a NATO alliance for antiterrorist activities in the Middle East. Then member states should determine from their military officials what military force would be required to surround Raqqa, Syria, and totally eliminate the ISIS presence in that city. When that is completed, the new coalition should pursue a similar strategy with respect to Mosul in Iraq and other ISIS strongholds.

The combat troops and the military resources for that alliance should predominantly come from Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and so on. The United States and European countries should provide training, equipment, intelligence, transportation and perhaps a small contingent of special forces.

ERNIE LAZAR

Palm Springs, Calif.

To the Editor:

ISIS has neither an air force nor a navy. It cannot directly confront the military forces arrayed against it by the West in the aggregate. So it strikes back in the only way it can, with terrorist attacks on the civilian populations of the sponsoring nations, such as what happened in Paris on Friday night. These tactics are as predictable as they are horrific.

The choices available to the United States, and our European allies, in response to such actions are equally stark: either vastly engage our troops in the field to defeat ISIS (“boots on the ground”), or end our military involvement and rely on the countries in the region to resolve what is essentially an outbreak of an old religious civil war using 21st-century weapons and media.

JOHN E. STAFFORD

Rye, N.Y.

Loud ‘N’ Proud (1974). This song was written by Bob Dylan.

Maybe France (and Europe generally) will wise up as a result of today's terrorist attacks.

Addendum: This is disturbing. Does Barack Obama have a brain?