Opinion: In today’s pages: American Values and the Big Fix
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The editorial board considers ‘Domestic tranquility’ as part of its American Values series:
No less than James Madison, the Constitution’s principal author, saw the dangers inherent in a society that treasured equality but practiced inequity. Shay’s Rebellion in 1786-87 rattled Madison with its armed assault on the wealthy, and the man who helped create this nation’s legal architecture eloquently worried about those ‘who will labour under all the hardships of life, and secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings.’ Shay’s Rebellion has receded into the corners of the national memory; the Depression gave way to war and jobs; the Great Society came and went. But inequality continues to tug at the American conscience. In our land of opulence, poverty and decay upset our peace.
The board praises L.A. County’s start-small plan to house 50 of Skid Row’s most vulnerable residents.
On the Op-Ed page, local artists and experts answer the question, what would finally fix L.A.? Tell us your remedy here.
Readers react to a plan to ask police to disclose their financial records. Daly City’s Ralph Givens asks, ‘Why should honest cops mind if we check their financial records?’ But Chino Hills’ Steve Velasquez counters, ‘Once again, the rank and file have no rights. How come the American Civil Liberties Union is not screaming mad?’