Oct. 3, 2026 7 AM PT <\/p>\n
To the editor: Kudos to columnist Steve Lopez for concisely framing the big changes that have disabled much of California (\u201cThe California I grew up in was full of ambition and possibility. Is the dream still alive?,\u201d<\/a> Sept. 30). The state was a mecca for creativity and excellence due to those who came before us insisting that a good and inexpensive education would pay for itself by providing a talented local workforce.<\/p>\n Affordability for housing and other life necessities were added benefits provided by education.<\/p>\n There were other important programs that faded away over all of these years. Public service! I\u2019m a bit older than Lopez and I completed high school before joining the armed services. In those days, prior to Vietnam, many of us joined one of the military branches to avoid possibly interrupting our college education due to the draft. Joining the service taught us lifelong lessons like how to get along with those who are different from us, a devotion to the principles of working for the common good and the realization that a great country is composed of great communities of people working together.<\/p>\n Several of President Kennedy\u2019s programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA, and later the Jobs Corps, made us consider giving to others unselfishly. The American dream was not what our country could do for us. It was what we could do for our country.<\/p>\n I\u2019m an optimist. I think future leadership will provide inspiration to our better selves. The path we are on is unsustainable.<\/p>\n Arthur Kraus, Venice<\/p>\n ..<\/p>\n To the editor: Lopez asks if \u201cthe dream [is] still alive\u201d and compares the cost of living from his childhood to today. He asks what has gone wrong \u2014 why can\u2019t a working-class person afford to buy a house, e.g.?<\/p>\n To borrow a phrase: It\u2019s the wages, stupid.<\/p>\n