http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/opinion/l24brooks.html
To the Editor:
Op-Ed Columnist: The Culture of Debt (July 22, 2008)
Re âThe Culture of Debt,â by David Brooks (column, July 22):
Mr. Brooks does not mention one important reason societies develop good habits or bad ones: Our leaders can have transformative impact.
Franklin D. Roosevelt calmed us down. John F. Kennedy got us to volunteer. Ronald Reagan made us less dependent on government. George W. Bush could have asked us to sacrifice. He didnât. His post-9/11 advice was to go shopping. Obviously, too many of us did just that.
Mel Sokotch
New York, July 22, 2008
To the Editor:
Op-Ed Columnist: The Culture of Debt (July 22, 2008)
Re âThe Culture of Debt,â by David Brooks (column, July 22):
Mr. Brooks does not mention one important reason societies develop good habits or bad ones: Our leaders can have transformative impact.
Franklin D. Roosevelt calmed us down. John F. Kennedy got us to volunteer. Ronald Reagan made us less dependent on government. George W. Bush could have asked us to sacrifice. He didnât. His post-9/11 advice was to go shopping. Obviously, too many of us did just that.
Mel Sokotch
New York, July 22, 2008