Nicholas Eberstadt’s Feb. 10 Tuesday Opinion essay, “How the New Misery befell America,” was distressing for several reasons, including the news about the astonishing number of men of prime working age who are not only unemployed but also not seeking work. Many men are not in a good place, but it is hard to miss a connection between not even trying to find a job and facing difficulties related to the resultant lack of income.
What was unfair, however, was Eberstadt’s statement that “our country’s children, and Americans as yet unborn, are being obligated tomorrow to pay for ‘mandatory’ consumption by senior citizens today.” I worked well past the minimum age to receive Social Security benefits, paying into the system while doing so. I contributed to it for more than six decades.
Social Security will have to be adjusted at some point to take into account the falling birthrate. And the income cap should be significantly raised or, better, eliminated, so people with higher incomes are paying the same percentage as those in lower brackets.
Many economic issues must be resolved. Blaming seniors is neither accurate nor helpful.
Marianne S. Rankin, University Park
The national debt is a taxation without representation upon our future children. Put another way: It’s child abuse.
Donald A. Newell Jr., Monticello, Minnesota
The greater part of valor
In his Feb. 6 op-ed, “The choice that will define the president’s place in history,” Marc A. Thiessen wrote that the best way for President Donald Trump to deal with Iran is “to take out its leadership.” Thiessen elaborated with stunning clarity, urging the United States to initiate a war against a sovereign nation, with the goal of “deposing the Iranian regime by force.” Thiessen’s stated reasons are these: Iran shoots peaceful protesters in the streets, Iran is quite vulnerable right now, Trump will gain control of Iran in the aftermath, Trump should avoid treating Iran like Barack Obama treated Syria, and Trump will be hailed as a great president for assassinating Iran’s leaders. Quite a list.
Thiessen framed undertaking an unprovoked war as an act of “presidential courage.” How is attacking a weakened foe courageous? What would really be courageous is for Trump to develop a plan, in cooperation with other world leaders, to integrate Iran fully into the community of nations without a war.
Thiessen obviously believes that initiating a war is an unalienable right for a powerful nation like the U.S. Someone should remind him that numerous leaders around the globe have received unkind reviews from historians and ordinary folks alike for initiating military action. Remember Japan’s invasion of China, Argentina’s invasion of the Falklands, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and Russia’s invasion of Georgia and Ukraine? Those attacks, and many others, did not lead to the initiators being cheered as great and respected leaders.
Robert Tiller, Silver Spring
Has The Post’s Editorial Board become the drum major of the American Empire? Are we supposed to celebrate interventions to replace leaders we dislike and govern foreign lands through proconsuls like Rome did?
See the Feb. 7 editorial “Cuba has no leverage.” Few countries have leverage against the United States’ economic or military muscle. Attempting to rule the world promises self-ruination by provoking blowback and giving birth to enemies in every corner of the globe. Just ask Napoleon.
Bruce Fein, Washington
The writer was associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan.
A personal stamp
The Feb. 9 Style article “‘It’s sweet, it’s straightforward’ — and it’s final” gave true meaning to “old-school.” It makes sense that Don Glickman, the man who instructed his daughter to mail more than 100 postcards upon his death, was a design professor. He went out in style and used the classic simplicity of a postcard. As the article reported, “In clean, Helvetica type, [the postcard] read: ‘If you’re reading this I’m dead, and I really liked you.’ Next to the message was a selfie of Don Glickman wearing a serious expression, a hoodie and yellow aviator sunglasses. There’s a hand-sketched portrait of him in the corner.”
I consider many of the emails I send to 400 of my closest friends (a rotating group, to be sure) virtual postcards. A one-sentence pronouncement touches people. When I’m able, I print color cards, which I mail in envelopes, or photos, which I send as postcards. Snail mail from people you know is a thing of the past, so there’s an element of surprise. The professor’s students were thrilled, as were the millions of viewers when his mailing went viral. It all began with a simple postcard and profound words that are now immortal.
Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton, New York
New life for a grand old flag
The Feb. 12 online article “Pride flag flies again at Stonewall Inn, challenging federal ban” reported that New York City leaders “rehung the Pride flag in front of the Stonewall National Monument,” in a “rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to take down the symbol of the gay rights movement from federal property. … By quickly rehoisting it, New York leaders appeared eager to intensify tensions with the White House.”
There is a workaround to ensure the Pride flag can continue to fly at Stonewall, regardless of how legal challenges from the Trump administration play out.
As noted in the Feb. 11 news article “White House removes Pride flag from monument to gay rights movement,” an order from the Interior Department states that only the U.S. flag or those depicting official government logos may be flown on Park Service property. Last year, Utah banned Pride flags as well as other non-approved or non-governmental flags on government properties. But hours before the ban took effect, the Salt Lake City Council voted to adopt three new official city flags, with one featuring the rainbow colors of the Pride flag and the city’s trademark sego lily. The council’s vote sidestepped the ban, and this modified Pride flag continues to fly.
New York should do the same.
Jack Chorley, Salt Lake City
Following the Feb. 1 letters package “Flirting is trickier than ever. Here’s how to approach it.,” Post Opinions wants to know: How soon do you bring up politics when getting to know someone? Is a first date too soon? Share your response, and it might be published as a letter to the editor. wapo.st/discuss_politics
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