Direct your anger at causes of Fresno’s problems

In the May 28 letter “Fresno has turned totally ghetto,” the writer asserted that sign holders seeking donations for their loved one’s funeral expenses and the homeless with shopping carts full of recyclables were responsible for Fresno turning into a ghetto – all while imploring the police to intervene and treat these as criminal offenses.

While the knee-jerk reaction of most would be similar, the most shallow of examinations would reveal a much larger problem at hand: Why is it that there are an increasing number of families unable to afford to bury their relatives? Why, in 90 degree weather, is someone devoting hours to collecting a few dollars worth of plastics and cans?

There is a socioeconomic factor that the writer did not or will not acknowledge; I would ask that he and others who think the same to turn their anger toward the disease and not the symptom: low wages, poor access to affordable mental-health treatment, and politicians who couldn’t care less about either.

While it may be a more difficult task to enact political change, it is far better than hoping the police step in to keep society’s victims out of sight and out of mind.

This story was originally published June 8, 2017 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Direct your anger at causes of Fresno’s problems."