Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

The arresting image with “Budget Ax Falls, and Schools and Streetlights Go Dark”
(front page, Aug. 7), showing a woman and a streetlight she fought for,
speaks to the question of what our nation will become in the face of
virulent antigovernment, anti-tax mind-sets, and a growing
us-versus-them outlook that effectively gives up on the promise of
America.

The slow-motion unraveling of America’s infrastructure that we have been
witnessing thus far this century reflects a willingness of individuals
to abandon a sense of obligation to the greater community that is our
nation.

Without a commitment to share our burdens and work together as Americans—to invest in and grow our great nation—we are at risk of losing
those precious qualities that have set us apart from the many countries
in the world where class and privilege thrive amid a sea of squalor and
deprivation.

Peter Troop
San Jose, Calif., Aug. 8, 2010

Note from KBJ: There's a difference between "antigovernment" (anarchism) and "limited government" (libertarianism). This is a good example of the straw-person fallacy: impute a view to your opponent that the opponent does not hold; demolish the view; conclude that the opponent has been refuted.