‘Good People See Their Dirty Work’

Thank you, Leonard Schneiderman, and The Times, for making possible the column “In Sacramento Yard, Good People Finally See Their Dirty Work” (Op-Ed Page, Nov. 25). Schneiderman speaks of peoples’ vested interest in not wanting to know about those who suffer from being chronically ill, dependent, abused, etc., in our society. As he suggests, people do not want to talk about it nor do they want the responsibility of paying for services that would help alleviate other peoples’ problems.

The following is a partial list of rationalizations that good people have given: They do not get involved with anything outside their own family; they do not take an interest in politics, and/or do not vote; they do not understand why everyone can’t pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, and let us not forget those good people who insist that there have always been the poor and the rich, and so will it always remain.

This process of rationalization that removes one from reality makes good people miss an important connection. Unless we establish services for those in need in our society, we will suffer the consequences of this neglect as individuals. The realization of this connection may suggest to some good people that their vested interests are misplaced.

DARBY MANGEN

West Covina