Readers write

We can see the results of going soft on crime in California and other places where lawlessness is allowed to go unchecked. People blazingly walk into stores and exit with armfuls of stolen goods. Prosecutors fail to prosecute.

This causes a breakdown in society, the neighborhood and the social contract we have with each other. The only proven deterrent is arrest, prosecution and incarceration of these individuals.

The fabric of society cannot function if crime is allowed to go unpunished.

Our social contract requires each of us to be good, responsible citizens. Pardoning crime and ignoring the problem will destroy our society.

MICHAEL MITCHELL, MARIETTA

Nation faces issues more serious than inflation

Throughout history, the economy ebbs and flows. That’s what it does. It will correct itself. But, for some reason, Americans put their finances and the economy over other serious issues far more damaging.

These issues have long-term consequences and become more and more irreversible the longer they persist -- like climate control, healthcare costs, wealth gap disparities, infrastructure costs, educational limitations and the degradation of our democracy.

Once these issues get to the no-turning-back stage, the cost of goods won’t matter. We’ll have far more serious things to worry about that are life-altering, limiting and ending. When that happens, be sure to thank our former administration for its failure to recognize and stem the COVID epidemic, which resulted in the supply chain collapse that caused much of today’s current financial woes.

And for some reason, people forget that the former administration flushed Americans and businesses with cash via its PPP program and checks to Americans.

BOB DICKINSON, ALPHARETTA