Your View — Bottom line should be value of the individual

Steven D. Mercurio, Mankato

June 21, 2009 12:47 am

— The recent lead story cynically titled “Housing the homeless doesn't save state money” reminds me of Jonathan Swift's “A Modest Proposal.”
Swift indicated that homeless children would make a nice meal for the wealthy, saving them the cost of a meal and the guilt of not supporting children forced to beg out of poverty.
We cannot serve both money and our values as our governor reminds us. Money and balancing budgets with cuts appear to be more important than human dignity, a well-lived life, contributing to society, and helping the most vulnerable in our community. Shifts of costs from “bad” jails to “better” services is a value judgment that negates the value of law enforcement and suggests that health care cost increases may be a concern even if the people are suffering less.
I work in higher education and am a person of faith. I have a higher calling than serving mammon.
I hope The Free Press feels that serving the community with compassionate reporting as a First Amendment right and responsibility makes them understand the “bottom line” should be the value of the individual rather than the value of the dollar.
A more responsible headline would indicate “State study shows human dignity improved at no additional cost.”