Butter, Not Guns

I came away from a recent excellent presentation of “Stand Up Tragedy” at the Mark Taper saddened by the complexity of problems in the inner city. But when I read “Should Defense Firms Switch From Swords to Plowshares?” (Viewpoints, June 11), it gave me new hope.

The problems of the ghetto, as large as they are, will take every resource we can afford over the next decade or two. Since 1945, we have spent trillions on defense--enough money to rebuild every single city, road and railroad west of the Mississippi. We now need to redirect a portion of these resources and the tremendous brain power to more important issues.

What happens to my neighbors in our ghettos does affect me. With the cold war behind us, it’s time to put our tax dollars to use solving the survival issues of our society and our planet.

MARJORIE ERWAY

South Pasadena