Ned Gardner: Blaming the poor

A more self-congratulatory letter than the Sept. 6 “View from an immigrant” is difficult to imagine. Putting that aside, I would specifically challenge the writer’s following statement: “Jobs are sent out of the country for cheap labor in order to produce products to allow those living on minimum subsistence to purchase necessary items, giving rise to more welfare and joblessness.” This is offered by a tenured college physics professor in his mid-70s who will never know a future day of financial jeopardy.

Jobs are sent out of the country for cheap labor. The rest of the writer’s comment is blame-the-poor balderdash. He qualifies as a top candidate for the immigrant’s version of Clarence Thomas, who embraces a loathing for an economic class he has escaped – in his mind completely by the force of his superior personal merit. Ask someone in the Sociology Department about it – the syndrome has been well studied.

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Ned Gardner: Blaming the poor."