Effect of the ‘60s on the Have-Nots

Magnet’s article says that poor people’s acceptance of the ‘60s countercultural rejection of “traditional bourgeois culture” lies behind the current inability of poor people to work.

A more direct explanation for America’s current high number of non-working poor lies in the fact that competition from abroad and the flight of capital and productive facilities to oversee low-wage/low-regulated environments have decreased the investment of surplus wealth in our communities. Additionally, the propertied elites and the professionals have not shown much willingness to use their imagination and leadership abilities to plan for the future--which is a global-market future--in such a way as to include in this future the well-being of all of our own people.

RICK PENNER

Los Angeles