To the editor: Kudos to columnist Steve Lopez for concisely framing the massive modifications which have disabled a lot of California (“The California I grew up in was full of ambition and possibility. Is the dream still alive?,” Sept. 30). The state was a mecca for creativity and excellence resulting from those that got here earlier than us insisting {that a} good and cheap schooling would pay for itself by offering a proficient native workforce.
Affordability for housing and different life requirements have been added advantages supplied by schooling.
There have been different essential packages that pale away over all of those years. Public service! I’m a bit older than Lopez and I accomplished highschool earlier than becoming a member of the armed companies. In these days, previous to Vietnam, many people joined one of many army branches to keep away from probably interrupting our faculty schooling because of the draft. Becoming a member of the service taught us lifelong classes like find out how to get together with those that are completely different from us, a devotion to the ideas of working for the widespread good and the conclusion that a terrific nation consists of nice communities of individuals working collectively.
A number of of President Kennedy’s packages such because the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA, and later the Jobs Corps, made us contemplate giving to others unselfishly. The American dream was not what our nation might do for us. It was what we might do for our nation.
I’m an optimist. I believe future management will present inspiration to our higher selves. The trail we’re on is unsustainable.
Arthur Kraus, Venice
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To the editor: Lopez asks if “the dream [is] nonetheless alive” and compares the price of dwelling from his childhood to at present. He asks what has gone flawed — why can’t a working-class particular person afford to purchase a home, e.g.?
To borrow a phrase: It’s the wages, silly.
In keeping with some economists, minimal wage must be round $25 per hour at present if pay had grown correctly from 1968 ranges. The place would that cash come from, you ask? The wages of company CEOs.
The Economic Policy Institute factors out this truth: “From 1978-2025, prime CEO compensation shot up 1,316%, in contrast with a 28% improve in a typical employee’s compensation.”
It’s time to rebalance our economic system. C-suite executives ought to earn much less and employees must be paid extra.
Nancy Steele, Altadena
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To the editor: Nice column on Friday written by among the finest. He and others are spot-on; with the shortage of investments and housing, plus over-permitting necessities, we’re killing this nice state.
Michael L. Newton, Los Angeles
