Street Vendors

Re “Vendors Bring New Way of Life to Los Angeles Streets,” Dec. 25:

I find it curious that the same people who spend thousands of dollars to travel and enjoy street markets in Thailand, Hong Kong, London and Morocco feel that street vending in Los Angeles causes us to be a “Third World” country. I guess they think it makes us look like a country where a huge number of people are struggling to survive without adequate shelter, nutrition, medical care or basic education.

The fact is that a significant number of Americans live under Third World conditions and vending is not the cause, it is a symptom. It is a healthy grass-roots response to the major economic changes our country has experienced over the last 20 years. That the ostriches in Washington seem unwilling or incapable of recognizing the revolutionary scope of these changes is one of the most depressing things about this depression.

It takes a lot of guts and initiative to try to support your family from a corner stand. Maybe those of us with indoor jobs shouldn’t be so quick to put it down.

JOAN CORY, Venice