Steve Jobs example of developing minds
Regarding “Steve Jobs ‘changed the world’ ” (Business, Oct. 9), Jobs is the ultimate proof of the value of public education. So far, no one has been able to look into the eyes of a newborn baby and say, “This one is going to be a genius!”
The only way we can all benefit from the intellectual gifts of other people is to make certain every child has educational opportunities. It is said that Jobs changed the world, and it is for sure that his genius made innumerable jobs available for others. Although his adoptive parents gave him that surname, his success gave it real meaning.
Margaret Curtis, Atlanta
Statistics on inmates might bear closer look
The AJC’s editorial on the problems and effects of the criminal justice system on the mentally ill was fascinating reading, until it quoted estimates of 16 [percent] to 25 percent of inmates in county jails being afflicted (“Mental illness not a crime,” Opinion, Oct. 9). Treating the mentally ill in prisons with more compassion is needed. However, when one sees such high percentages, one can’t help but suspect all kinds of problems not typically considered specific to the mentally ill are being thrown in to either inflate the numbers — or excuse bad behavior. If, for example, offenders of limited intelligence, persistent drug users or people too lazy to live in today’s society are deemed mentally ill, most people would begin to suspect someone is “crying wolf” to make a point.
People who can help themselves (but don’t) should be treated and categorized differently than those who truly can’t help themselves.
Eric Sandberg, Atlanta
Qualifications all that matters to employers
With no other facts available, Selena Forte’s claim of job discrimination due to being unemployed is facetious (“Unemployed seek protection against job bias,” Associated Press story on ajc.com, Oct. 9).
If I’m hiring temps, their claim of being qualified is for me to decide — not the applicant. If the applicant meets my qualifications, it matters not how long they’ve been unemployed. Neither President Obama nor workers’ rights organizations are qualified to tell me who to hire. Obama’s jobs bill is just another of his attempts to get re-elected that rank right up there with his promises to spread the wealth. There’s a job waiting on Forte out there somewhere. It may not be to her liking or what she considers her due, but there’s a job for her.
Jack Franklin, Conyers
Who really benefits from inmate firefighter plan?
The world is truly turned upside down when firefighters become prison guards and prisoners become firefighters (“Inmates could staff fire stations,” Metro, Oct. 11).
Although authorities say that this plan could save an estimated $500,000 a year, no one says anything about the future of these inmates. Obviously, they won’t be hired. Maybe they will just be re-arrested, charged with loitering and put back on their firefighter posts.
It’s happened before. Blacks in the South were once arrested for trivial violations, sentenced to long terms and farmed out to corporations. This isn’t about rehabilitation of the prisoner; this is about taking jobs away from others to save a county money. Out of curiosity, once the inmates are trained, do they need the trainer any more?
Steve Wilkerson, Lilburn
Access to insurance something we all need
Why do people vote against their best interests? I see people every day who have no health insurance because they have lost their job or they cannot afford to purchase insurance. They are either living on the edge with no preventive medicine, or have had to have medical care and owe the hospital more than they can ever pay. I cannot be the only person who has relatives and friends who fit in these categories.
When I read recently that Rep. Tom Price is demanding a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, I wondered: What does he tell these people without insurance? What does he say that they should do? Even the lawmakers who voted for the bill will not stand up for it. What is wrong with us when we cannot take a stand that universal health care is the right thing to do for citizens of this country?
Dianne Farrior, Marietta
Banks’ poor practices deserve to be challenged
I sympathize with those activists who are protesting against Wall Street (and the banks).
In 2009, I went into my bank (that I had been doing business with since 1947), and asked for a loan of $2,000 to purchase a car on which I was paying off the balance in cash. Even though I had done business with this bank for over 50 years, and had many loans (including a homeowners loan) that were paid off, I was turned down.
I went home, called a credit union, gave them my Social Security number, and in less than five minutes was approved for the loan. My tax money was a portion of the bailout that had once been used to save my bank. Where was my bank when I needed help?
March on, protesters!
Bill Haughton, Roswell
Employment Response to “Shortage of workers, solutions.” Opinion, Oct. 9
It seems very ironic that Jay Bookman reports a shortage of workers when Georgia suffers with double-digit unemployment. Picking produce is hard work, but it requires more of an able body than a lot of training, so surely the often-written-about and worried-about mass of untrained and unskilled workers could be encouraged to become the new temporary worker for Georgia’s farmers. More irony is found in the fact that President Obama is desperate to spend federal money to create programs offering jobs, when Georgia and other states have agricultural jobs going unfilled. This is insane. Georgia’s farmers don’t need to import foreign guest workers. There are workers here who can do the work. Before we spend any more money creating job training programs, let’s fill the jobs that are here first.
Louise Geddes, Atlanta
