Sears Wasn’t Hurt; Boycott Is Needed

The $8 million Sears is being forced to pay amounts to nothing more than a small fine levied against a large corporation that out and out stole from people in a very systematic, calculated manner, “Sears to Repair Image With $46 Million in Coupons” (Sept. 3).

It hardly constitutes a drop in their profit bucket and proves that you can do business any way you think you can get away with it as long as you pay the fine--if and when you get caught.

If any small-business operator had done the same thing, he would have been put out of business, fined heavily and sent to jail. Period.

The only recourse we have as citizens is to boycott businesses that violate the obviously unwritten laws of ethics.

When we stop giving these people our hard-earned money, they will cease to exist. But it is up to us. No one is looking out for us anymore.

We have to take the responsibility. We have to withhold support from those who would not only steal from us but actually do us harm for money. And that, quite simply, is just the way it is.

JON CAVANAUGH

Pasadena