Here is one:
Re “The Culture of Debt,” 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 didn’t. His post-9/11 advice was to go shopping. Obviously, too many of us did just that.
Mel Sokotch, New York
I must say that I’m inclined to agree with Mr. Sokotch. Despite making what I still believe were the right foreign policy decisions in 2001 AND 2003, President Bush could have called for a far greater degree of self sacrifice (at national and local levels) than he did. This doesn’t mean that many of his critics are not equally partisan in their criticisms, but I do come away with the feeling that an opportunity was squandered.