A CULTURE OF MEANNESS HINDERS OUR SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS

A common theme emerged from three articles in the April 9 Perspective
section. The editorial on boot camps (State-sanctioned abuse),
Cynthia Tucker's discussion of immigration policies (Immigration
problems benefit too many people), and Robyn Blumner's revelation of
the lies surrounding the detention of Guantanamo inmates (Lies lurk
behind U.S. terror policy) highlight how meanness is prized by an
electorate convinced that punishment is the best way to prevent crime
and social unrest.

As the articles demonstrate very eloquently, the need to appear and
act mean hinders the search for sensible solutions to the serious
problems of our society by our elected officials. How many more
youngsters need to be harmed by authorities before more money is
devoted to education and to prevention of family violence? How many
billions of dollars will be wasted on impossible border enforcement
and in vain prosecution of hardworking immigrants, before we realize
that our economy would collapse without their labor? How many lives
will be lost or scarred by a war that keeps draining our economy
before we look for a political solution to the world's diversity? And
how much money will be wasted trying to satisfy the public thirst for
lynching through capital punishment before realizing that life
without parole is a more economical and prudent way to manage
dangerous criminals?

This call to meanness has inspired a culture holding that human
decency is a form of weakness, that intellectual confrontation of
different viewpoints is a waste of time, that compassion is a
political gimmick, and that brute force is the only source of effective power.

Never has human life been more disposable than it has been under the
watch of an administration that has claimed its respect for human
life in rejecting abortion and stem cell research! In Christian
terms, this disconnect between the proclamation of one's beliefs and
the reality of one's actions is considered the least forgivable of
all sins. It is called scandal!

Lodovico Balducci

Tampa