In response to a letter in the July 11 edition of The Madera Tribune (“Let’s be the cure for stupid”):
We have been trying for 60 years! We started with the “Great Society,” 1965 LBJ.
They started programs for housing, education, poverty and more.
Programs require funding, management and employees. Buildings, vehicles, salaries, benefits and telephones. That’s where I come in.
I was the guy on my knees stapling wire around the baseboards when HUD, EOC and other programs came in. For eight years, I did the phones at Fresno County Hospital/Fresno General/ Valley Medical Center.
Planning, welfare, methadone program — I was there when they invented mental health! Talk about the “fly on the wall.” That was me.
These programs started with minimal staff, and shazzam, turned into mega productions. They were taking out patient rooms to make offices! I could hear those employees. They were about as sharp as yesterdays mash potatoes.
How many programs do we have now? Not just hand out stuff. So called “hand up” stuff. School districts. Programs forever!
For most, success does not pay. Failure does. Programs, unemployment, disability, childcare, SNAP, welfare, housing. Guaranteed income. Unearned income tax credits (what is that?) Medical.
OK, so… just where do we start fixing stupid? And if we can’t — then what?
Then, we have to ask: Are they stupid? Or are we?
— Bill Hoffrage,
Madera