THE PUBLIC MIND: READER ANGERED BY `NORMAL-LOOKING BIGOTS' IN TODAY'S SOCIETY

To whom it may concern or may NOT concern:

Let me tell you a thing or two. On national TV news the other day, I saw such a completely disgusting display of class hatred that I became enraged myself, and wished I had the wherewithal to go personally to BEAT some of the fine, upstanding citizens of this fair land on account of the opinions expressed!

This is not often a feeling I am troubled by, as I think people have a right to be different. But when people not only express in public, but actually get up a petition in an attempt to prevent a homeless shelterfrom being located in their neighborhood, I am driven to exasperation.

WHY do so many otherwise normal-looking bigots think that just because they are able to get a decent job and function in society, that everyone should, or that if they don't, then they don't want them around? I hear so many otherwise intelligent people complaining about all the people on welfare who "won't work."

Maybe they're jealous because they have to work so hard to make "a living." But I feel they need to be educated. Firmly.

I feel they are the kind of person who is not moved in the least by the sight of children starving to death in Africa. Not only are they going against one of the two most important rules in Christendom, but they are paving the way for the cutting of their own throats.

Do they actually think labor unions will save them when it comes time to put total automation into effect? Do they think the rich are going to provide them a make-work job?

Maybe they don't realize what can be done with computers. What WILL be done. Maybe they aren't aware of how the truly rich feel about the general populace. The automatic factories, the robots that repair things, and the "expert system" computers which will be doing all "white collar" work will be owned by those who own things. (Unless the thinking of the general populace changes.)

What the "common man" should be upset about is the fact that a country which is supposed to be "of the people, by the people, and FOR the people" is actually controlled by a class of owners. But they'd better change their minds about welfare and the care of the homeless, because it won't be long until they're out of work, too. You can't stop the advent of robots, because they're simply too advantageous to owners.

So we'd BETTER get an even better form of "welfare" in place NOW, and take the stigma off it while we're at it. We won't want to be thought of as people who are "to lazy" to work.

Gary Droit

Jackson