We are two New York City residents who recently visited Martha's Vineyard and read the article "Several Affordable Housing Initiatives on Track at Once" (July 20, 2000).  We know first hand what it is like to struggle to find decent housing that is affordable. While it is good that Vineyard representatives are taking steps toward establishing affordable housing on the island, it is a horrible fact that this problem exists at all.  We feel passionately that no one in America, including the people of Martha's Vineyard, should worry about having enough money to find a decent place to live. 

Eli Siegel, founder of the philosophy Aesthetic Realism, explained the cause of  economic injustice, including why people have to worry about affording a place to live.  In 1970, he showed that our economy has failed because it is based on contempt.  Mr. Siegel defined contempt as, "the addition to self through the lessening of something else."  Contempt is as ordinary as making fun of the way another person looks.  It is also contempt that has a landlord or property owner charge exorbitantly high prices to people who need a place to live so that they can make a profit. 

In the international journal The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known No. 1260, titled "Thought and Rent," Ellen Reiss, Class Chairman of Aesthetic Realism explained, "the fundamental question about housing ... is: should a person make a profit from the need of another person to have a home, shelter, place to live?  Should our ability to have a home depend on whether we can provide a profit for somebody? ... That is the underlying question.  It has to be answered honestly before there can be any authentic reasoning about housing, rents, and human lives in America." 

For our economy to be fair to every single person, it must be based on good will and ethics.  This means every person must honestly answer this question asked by Eli Siegel. "What does a person deserve by being alive?"  When this is done, the pain of our unjust economy will end and people will not have to agonize about whether they will have a place to sleep at night. 

For more information you can contact the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, a not-for-profit educational foundation, at 212-777-4490, 141 Greene Street, New York, NY 10012: http://www.AestheticRealism.org

Matthew D'Amico 
Wendy Gaynor 
New York, NY