I would like to respond to a letter written by Robert Johnston and Richard Williams for the January 26 Collegian. Their letter claimed to present a more "realistic" view of America's social ills, but it actually reflects naivete of the most blatant and dangerous kind.

For example, their letter paraphrased Charles Darwin by stating that only the fittest of the species survive. While this is true, they neglect any mention of how a species is made strong.

Abraham Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs, states that an individual's primary needs are physiological, that is, food and clothing. If children are not being properly fed, the chances for their advancement in society are practically nonexistent.

This is the reasoning for programs such as Aid for Families with Dependent Children (welfare) and the school lunch program. Both of these programs were prime targets for the Reagan Administration's budgetary ax.

Second on the hierarchy is the need for shelter. The simultaneous increase in homelessness, especially among children, and decrease in spending on public housing indicates the degree to which this need has been ignored during the past eight years.

Next on the pyramid is the need for belonging. The increase in civil rights violations under Reagan as well as the former Administration's complete lack of concern over this development points to the fact that the section of the nation's poor which belong to racial minorities still feel as if they do not belong in white-dominated American society and cannot hope to succeed within it.

Only after these basic needs are met can children begin to search for self-esteem and self-actualization. Yet, in the social environment which exists in many inner-city ghettoes, self-esteem can only be gained through leadership in street gangs, wealth gained through drug trade, or other subcultural activities.

Further, in those uncommon instances when achievement in school is possible, the quality of education in the drastically underfunded inner-city schools is often very poor. Thus, the authors' assumptions that illiteracy and dropouts are results of purely voluntary decisions are clearly wrong.

I get the impression that Mr. Johnston and Mr. Williams would rather see these "lazy and inept" members of society "fall by the wayside" than extend a helping hand from our nation's enormous wealth. That strategy may have worked for men like Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot who tried to "purify" their societies in other ways, but I like to think that we in the United States are slightly more humane.

Hopefully, America under President Bush will be kinder and gentler to the less affluent of our society. Remember, gentlemen, a chain, or society; is only as strong as its weakest link!