Hooray for Elon Musk for buying Twitter and attempting to bring back our Freedom of Speech, which is what this country was founded on.
And I applaud the Triplicate for printing columns and letters that differ, but are important to the national conversation.
Also, Pope Frances said, “Peace is everyone’s responsibility. It’s impossible for peace to exist without dialogue.”
Apparently, Amanda Dockter, disagrees. In her letter in the last Triplicate, she stated, “It was a poor choice for the Triplicate to provide a platform to amplify the ramblings of Roger Gitlin.” On the other hand, I agree with Roger’s analogy of the “gravy train of free stuff,” which he says does not cure homelessness.
I think the analogy of a train is a good one. because as a country we are obviously experiencing a train wreck. Dockter says, “Poverty, addiction, and mental illness all serve as barriers to maintaining employment.” But I often hear that local employers can’t find anyone who WANTS TO WORK. So that’s where the “gravy train of free stuff” is failing us.
Mental illness does seem to be a problem we all recognize. I spoke with Wes Nunn, who helps run the portable shower, and he said they are just trying to help folks clean up so they won’t be hassled on the street. He said they aren’t mentally fit for employment. Likewise, when I spoke to Roger Gitlin at the burial services for the late VFW Commander Jerry Johnson, on April 19, Roger said that ultimately we must return to mental treatment and mental hospitals.
Joan Miles