Letter to the editor: 2% rule and doing for ourselves

William Boetcker, German immigrant and Presbyterian minister, authored his 1916 list of “10 Cannots,” the last of which was: “You cannot help men permanently, by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.”

We should all be following the “Carrera 2% Rule.” Two percent of the people actually are in serious need of help, through no fault of their own. The remaining 98% should be doing for themselves, not taking from government. Likewise, 2% of engineers are incompetent (I know — unheard of — go figure) and should not be practicing; 2% of schoolteachers, doctors, trash collectors, hairdressers, real estate agents — should not be performing duties for which they trained. After I formulated this rule some years ago, I realized it applies to lawyers and politicians (is there any difference?) as well. Except the 2% applies to the competent and honest ones.

And if you find out who are the competent ones, please let me know.

When Trump is reelected, I believe that he should pack the Supreme Court — go for 13 members. Obviously, Democrats will support this, since they’ve been pushing for the same thing recently.

Don Carrera

Penn Township, Westmoreland County