To the Editor:
Society’s unprecedented behavioral health crisis flourishes because:
• Subjective preferences and ceaseless affirmation have supplanted objective truth and critical thinking. Extolling “compassionate tolerance” led to an enthusiastic pullback of behavioral guardrails.
• Fearing criminality attendant to the illicit drug scourge, aggressive addicts, illegal immigration, and demanding law enforcement and punishment — all rational instincts — are now derided as “capitalizing on fear.” How dare I say that? Citizens who refuse to countenance crime and pull back the veil are waved off as nervous, on-the-verge kooks by those promoting a war on cops.
• Tetchy elected officials pooh-pooh inexpedient realities and, with a straight face, blame objects for the predilections of thugs. For example, what’s a “violent gun”?
To achieve remedy:
Discernment and truth must superintend public policy. No more dancing around. Behavior deemed unacceptable not too long ago is now ubiquitous. Chuck the playbook training people to feel OK about destructive conduct and bad about setting objective standards and acknowledging meritorious achievement into the dumpster.
Paul Keller
Inmate, Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Aberdeen; Formerly of Snohomish County
