Letter to the editor

I decided not to respond to Michael Philip Pina's earlier letter, because I envisioned he had retired after 20-30 years of hard work provided to him by the American dream. Apparently, he had amassed enough wealth to be able to move to his hoped for retirement location, and he probably has earned the right to criticize what he found there.

However, in his next letter on 6/30, Pina reveals himself to be little more than a bitter old man who is living in the past, and blaming every unhappiness in his life on someone else. I, on the other hand, am not retired on the coast, where the climate would be better for my health, because of my poor planning which provided me with a "meager" retirement, and which I will gladly compare with Pina's at any time.

I only allowed myself to be truly offended, however, when Pina played the Native American card. He accuses Europeans of mistreating "his people" while conveniently forgetting that long before that, the more pugnacious Indian tribes had been slaughtering and enslaving their more docile neighbors for centuries.

"My people" first came to America around 1900. None of them owned any slaves or disrespected any Native Americans. My family feels no guilt for the actions of those over whom we had no control. Conversely, Pina's "people" have established casinos and promoted gambling which panders to the weakness in human nature. Many of them wreak this retribution while sitting at home waiting for the checks they haven't earned to arrive and reward their tribalism.