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Letters to the Editor: The rich are buying giant crystals. Why did we give these people a tax cut?

In a room filled with giant crystals, a woman stands with her cat behind a large bowl.
Lenise Sorén, owner of Sorenity Rocks in Malibu, sings as she creates a tone from a quartz crystal singing bowl on July 20.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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To the editor: In 2017, when then-President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress gave a tax cut largely to the rich that would cost the federal government almost $2 trillion over 10 years, I believed it would stimulate only narrow segments of the economy — luxury cars, yachts, high-end real estate and so forth. But rocks? (“A new thing rich people are into: absolutely enormous crystals,” letters, Aug. 1)

Then, when I read a letter in the same paper championing a “truth and reconciliation” approach to homelessness and inequality in L.A., I thought nice, but yeah right.

Still, I see a solution here. If every unhoused or low-income Angeleno could just sit in one of these magic crystal chairs even for a few minutes, all the negative energy holding them back would be banished and they too could become eligible for a tax cut.

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John Kluge, North Hollywood

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To the editor: I made a decision to take a break from reading divisive political news in favor of human interest pieces. So imagine my revulsion when I read about the ultra rich purchasing gargantuan healing crystals.

When I read that both of the people quoted in your article who spent thousands of dollars on these expensive rocks ran “nonprofits,” I nearly choked on my coffee. The response by one of these people to the question of how much he spent on the crystals, “I have no clue about that kind of stuff,” sent me over the edge.

This is not human interest; this is self-interest at it worst. My hope is that when these people read their quotes in the article, they are embarrassed.

Patricia Kattus, Encinitas

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To the editor: We read yet another disturbing and depressing story about a new trend among the super rich alongside an article with the print edition headline “In parts of Latin America, ‘to survive is a privilege.’

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Perhaps one of the most shameful and sad parts of the article is buried deep in the piece: Kristin Martin is described as the executive director of two nonprofit groups, and yet he’s moving into a home in Malibu and populating it with luxurious crystals.

Remind me not to contribute to charities that allow their directors to live like that. It all makes me want to crawl back into bed.

Randy Farhi, Los Angeles

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