Fighting for Freedom to Drive Cheaply?

I cannot help but be insulted by the letter from Irving E. Friedman of Laguna Niguel (Dec. 2) in which he scolds high school students for protesting war in the Middle East.

He claims that the present generation of high school students do not see “quality, pride, reputation, justice and meaningful existence as important,” and he suggests that the students do not stand for “justice and democracy.”

What transcendent worth Mr. Friedman finds in the vain values of pride and reputation, I leave for him to cherish. But as for quality of life and meaningful existence, I do not think we take them for granted nearly as much as our predecessors, who apparently assess the value of our young lives roughly equal to their freedom to cheaply drive automobiles.

We are also not so naive as to believe that U.S. foreign policy is formed in the interest of justice. If Kuwait was a poor, “non-valuable” nation such as, say, Bangladesh, the conflict would have barely made the papers. Saddam Hussein is not a threat to the United States, only to its oil interests.

Finally, this situation has nothing to do with democracy. There isn’t a true democracy in the region. And consider this: The students protest government policy; Mr. Friedman ridicules their protest. I ask, who has the better understanding of democracy?

JOHN C. WRIGHT, Santa Ana