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AS the owner of a 4x4 car, I have followed the correspondence started by Mr Hobson with interest, up to reading the comments of B Howarth on May 8 edition.
These gentlemen both seem to forget one basic fact - we live in a free country where we all have choice in how we earn our living and how we spend our income.
Mr Howarth's statement that "the circumstances of those who cannot afford things are made poorer by those who can" requires some comment.
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In my view, we live in a land of equal opportunity where, with the obvious exception of those unable by disability or ill health to work, everybody who wishes has the right to apply themselves to making a success of their lives.
I cite the example in a recent edition of The Bolton News of the young man who started with nothing and now, after several years of hard work, has a very successful computer business.
He could have sat back and lived on state handouts - as many people appear to do these days.
In my case, I decided some 30 years ago that I was not going to be content with a humdrum life but had the drive to succeed.
Starting with nothing except ambition, I worked long hours, often seven days a week, to build a business.
When I struggled, I did not run to the Social Security for a handout, I just worked that bit harder and longer.
In building that business, I have employed many people, currently some 35, and have started many young people in their careers and given them the opportunity to succeed.
Mr Hobson, in his condemnation of 4x4 drivers, uses the words rich, arrogant and ignorant.
I do not class myself as any of those but, after a lifetime of hard work, I think I have the right to decide what vehicle I would like to own - not as a status symbol but simply because I like it and I have earned it.
We all know about inherited wealth, sometimes at levels which may seem obscene, and the wages that certain football players "earn".
However, the people who are being criticised here as being rich and arrogant are no doubt businessmen and tradesmen who have worked extremely hard, and taken many risks to fulfil their ambitions.
Without people who are prepared to get up and make the effort, there would be far less employment and this country would be in a very sorry state.
Mr Howarth may be content with his small, economical car - that is his choice - but I am not.
But Mr Russell, you have not earned the right to pollute more because you work harder. If anything you've earned the right to set a good example, and there are all kinds of ways of doing this without needing to proclaim your success in the world by being an intimidating, unnecessarily large and uneconomical presence on our congested roads.
But Mr Russell, you have not earned the right to pollute more because you work harder. If anything you've earned the right to set a good example, and there are all kinds of ways of doing this without needing to proclaim your success in the world by being an intimidating, unnecessarily large and uneconomical presence on our congested roads.
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The Bolton News welcomes your letters for publication in The Bolton News print and online editions. Contact us by email if you have a comment to make about any of our stories, or an opinion about anything you want to get off your chest to a wider audience.
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