Letters to the editor
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The nanny state is the cause of U.K. rioting
The Post-Gazette editorial "Britain's Unrest" (Aug. 10) was remarkable for what it ignored. The editorial blamed the riots on Prime Minister David Cameron's austerity measures affecting the United Kingdom's disadvantaged classes and the gap between the rich and the poor.
The writer further attempts to blame rioting on disrespect for the police because of bribes from Rupert Murdoch's defunct News of the World. I doubt if the rioters even followed the Murdoch saga.
You've ignored the fact that the United Kingdom was an unapologetic nanny state, giving people other people's money as a right. Britain and the other socialist countries of Europe have failed not because their hearts are bad. They failed because they didn't understand human nature. Making people dependents of the state destroys their character. When the state has to cut back because of lack of money, the nanny state's dependents behave as expected: They riot and destroy things and property.
What's the mystery?
PAUL E. FRANCIS
McCandless
Help our kids thrive
In response to "Back-to-School Costs to Climb, Survey Finds" (Aug. 1), I want to describe a few consequences of defunding our public schools and consequently our school sports programs.
As discussed in a 2003 PG story, "Town Battered by Steel Industry's Decline Finds Joy in High School Football," I had a rough childhood. But things started to turn around for me when I reached junior high and began playing for the school football team. Because funding was available for schools and school sports, we had sports teams available at the junior high and high school levels, and those teams gave me the opportunity to build confidence, perseverance, self-discipline and character.
School football not only kept me off the streets, it prepared me for manhood and a successful, meaningful life. In high school, I was named the 1984 Player of the Year by the Post-Gazette, and I acquired a football scholarship that enabled me to attend college. This success inspired the students who graduated after me, and the education I acquired enables me now to give back to Beaver County as a school aide and football coach.
First Published August 16, 2011 12:00 am
