Josephson on Ethics of Youth

In response “Young America Is Looking Out for No. 1,” by Michael Josephson (Commentary, Oct. 16):

I will concede that the ethics of my generation tend to be lax. Now, I’d like you to consider where we’ve been getting our ideas from.

When President Reagan gave tax breaks to the rich so the money would “trickle down” to the poor, who came first?

When members of Congress voted themselves a raise as the national debt climbed to its highest in our country’s history, who came first?

When President Bush asked the country to read his lips, was he telling a little white lie or just pretending he could do whatever he wanted? Now he’s trying to protect the rich from higher taxes. It seems we’ve heard this song before.

Who caused the Iran-Contra scandal, the HUD scandal, the savings and loan scandal, the billions in misappropriated defense funds? And who will be paying for all this well into the next century? It’s the working population ages 18-30.

We’ve gotten a pretty strong message from the men and women who have been setting examples for us. We’ve learned that when it comes to ethics, rich and poor are the only delineations made by the people who make the laws in this country.

Before we are told our ethics “will cause significant future harm,” examine the code of ethics handed down to us by the past two generations of leaders.

NOAH EDELSON

Studio City