Inequality and our unraveling

Re “Circus tent hides our major crisis,” column, Sept. 12

It seems that learning history leads merely to repeating it. Do societies crumble when the rights to enjoy life are shared by those who do their best to contribute? I think not.

President John F. Kennedy said it best when he suggested that we should ask what we can do for our country. In the intervening 60 years, we have turned inward and instead asked what we can do for ourselves.

It will take at least that long to repair the damage we have created. If we don’t start serious work on education, climate change, inequality and a host of other problems, we will continue to tilt at windmills, and our democracy will go the way of past civilizations.

Will our experiment in democracy work? Not if we lose confidence in one another. Let’s start repairing our society by respecting those who differ. It might give us hope. Arthur Kraus

Venice