To the Editor:
As a 22-year-old recent college graduate, I found that Thomas L. Friedman’s July 17 column, “The Clash of Generations,” struck all too close to home.
There is a growing sense among the young that our future is being mortgaged to support the past. We have been taught that America is the greatest country in the world—a place where anything is possible with enough hard work and desire.
We grew up during a time of profligate excess and are coming of age just as the bill—one we neither contributed to nor deserve—is coming due. In all likelihood, we will not be better off than our parents, as we pay for the entitlements their parents created.
This is not a case of greed or malice, but of irresponsibility. Both sides of the political spectrum are equally to blame as they squabble over issues of little import to us.
So often we hear that actions are being undertaken on behalf of “our children.” If only the children could believe it.
LOUIS HELLMAN
Madison, Wis., July 17, 2011
Note from KBJ: How much do you want to bet that the letter writer voted for Barack Obama?
