A Middle-Class Family’s Financial Struggle
Re “An Average Family Teeters on Brink of Financial Cliff,” March 24: I was appalled, not only at the sacrifices they did make (letting their life insurance--the safety net for their children--lapse) but at the sacrifices they did not make (why can’t Jim Etter part with at least one of his valuable vintage cars so that his worried wife does not have to toss and turn at night?).
And what sorts of expenses would require taking on a second mortgage (more than doubling their monthly payments) and carrying credit card debt of $12,000? If this profile was intended to be representative of the middle class, the United States is in worse shape than I ever imagined.
KERRY ODELL
Upland
* As the wife of a man who’s been laid off more times than I can count, I feel I can write from practical experience about the Etters’ situation.
I think Jim Etter is foolish yearning for a ‘50s-style world which never really existed. In the ‘50s black people couldn’t vote, McCarthyism flourished and we were in real danger of being blown off the face of the Earth. Railing against the ‘90s global economy is as useless and ultimately as laughable as the weavers who smashed power looms early in the Industrial Revolution. Making yourself a victim doesn’t help.
Like Mrs. Etter, I have stayed home with my kids. But right now finances are the pits, so I’m going back to work and my husband will be helping more with homework and housework. You could say my family and I are on the brink of a financial cliff, also, but we will never call ourselves victims and we have hope for our future.
JANE M. JORDAN
Agoura
* It was a relief to read about an average family and their day-to-day struggle with money. In a society where the middle class is diminishing, I think we will find that the number of families like the Etters will only increase.
I saw many similarities to my own family. I, too, was one of three children. For most of my childhood, my father worked while my mother stayed home to raise us, and many a day I donned an outfit purchased at a local thrift shop. Even though we did not have extravagant Christmas presents, and the only time we ever went out to dinner was once a week at McDonald’s, I can honestly say that I had a very happy childhood. My parents loved us very much and taught us to love and respect ourselves.
The Etter children may not have new designer clothes or a lot of expensive toys, but they are lucky to be part of a family filled with so much love. My brother is now working his way up in the ranks of the Navy, my sister is studying to get her master’s degree in psychology, and I, with the help of financial aid, am a junior at Loyola Marymount University. I am sure that the Etter children will grow up to be happy, secure adults, and they will know there is much more to life than material things and also that money cannot buy happiness.
SUSAN GOLDNER
Los Angeles
