On ‘Happiness: Enough Already’: “There is no greater torment than trying to maintain happiness as a steady state. Happiness is a vapor: it comes and goes. Better to dedicate ourselves to meaningful pursuits and let feelings of happiness be incidental.” Margaret McGirr, Greenwich, Conn.
On ‘Diversity Training’: “Has no one read Barack Obama’s book or checked his background? His mother was white, and she and her parents (both white) raised him. He did not know his African father well. I choose to view Obama by both halves. If he is elected president, he would be the first biracial president, not the first black/African-American president.” Thomas Kolaz, Tucson, Ariz.
The Real John McCain Sen. John McCain and I disagree on Iraq, health care and other issues (“What These Eyes Have Seen,” Feb. 11). If McCain becomes president, I’ll still disagree with him, but I’ll never question his dedication, his motivations or his patriotism. Despite seven years of incompetence and hubris with the current administration, our nation is a lot like John McCain. It’s endured the unendurable, and will survive. Edward B. Ryder IV Greenlawn, N.Y.
John McCain is to be honored for his ordeal as a POW and respected for his Senate service. As convincingly portrayed by Evan Thomas, however, he is a quick-to-detonate hothead and a mean-spirited bully—qualities that, should he become president, would be as likely to compound as to cure the catastrophic mistakes of the man he aspires to succeed. Richard Boyce San Francisco, Calif.
The opening line of your cover story, mentioning the “Republican smear artists” who tried to stop McCain’s 2000 campaign by spreading rumors that he was “nuts” from being locked up too long as a POW in Hanoi, made me absolutely livid. I am sure these critics never served in the military, nor ever put themselves in harm’s way. It’s time to stop denigrating those who serve their country with honor and dignity, as John McCain did—otherwise this country has truly lost its moral compass. John Baker Hewitt, Texas
You speak of John McCain’s experience at Episcopal High School. My most vivid memory of him at EHS (aside from our many bouts contesting at the same weight class on the wrestling team) was watching him in compulsory study hall clench and unclench his jaw muscles, again and again. That’s when his now prominent jowls first began to grow. He also bore a moniker in high school not mentioned in your cover story—“The Gray Fox”—for at 16 McCain’s hair was already flecked with gray, long before his ordeal at the Hanoi Hilton. James G. Simmonds Charlottesville, Va.
John McCain is just the sort of man we want in the Senate—someone who can forge bipartisan coalitions on different issues, who is usually early and right on an issue; someone who gets angry at pork-barrel spending by appropriators who stuff it into bills surreptitiously, knowing the bills would never pass if the Senate knew about it. I admire a senator who does not suffer fools lightly and gets justifiably angry at corrupt behavior or absurd spending. If only the Senate and the House were filled with such individuals. But do I want someone who has " ‘quirky judgment’ and [an] unwillingness to change his mind once it’s made up" to be president? We’ve had that for seven years. Gerry Neiderhiser Marion, Ind.
Rethinking the Environment As an environmentalist, I never thought I’d agree with George Will (“The Biofuel Follies,” Feb. 11). But here I am lauding him for calling attention to the next environmental catastrophe in the making: biofuels. Will is absolutely correct in pointing out that the destruction of forests in favor of palm-oil plantations releases vast amounts of carbon stored in the vegetation and soil. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, between 25 and 30 percent of human-caused carbon emissions comes from logging the world’s forests. Contrary to Will’s opinion, drilling for oil in the last undeveloped 5 percent of Alaska’s North Slope isn’t the solution to the energy crisis either. Renewables such as solar and wind could take us a lot further toward satisfying our energy demands. However, more important than developing new energy sources would be to improve the efficiency of existing technologies. But ultimately, with 6.6 billion people and counting, the only realistic solution for the future is to adapt the human way of life to what the planet can sustain, by localizing our economies and simplifying our lifestyles. Anything else is just a pipe dream—and a dangerous distraction. Josh Schlossberg Communications Coordinator Native Forest Council Eugene, Ore.
In “The Biofuel Follies,” George Will calls for “energetic rethinking” of our nation’s energy policy. He lambastes the “planet savers” for promoting production of ethanol from corn, but the rush to corn ethanol comes from the agricultural industry and its influence in Washington, not from environmentalists, who are well aware of the folly. Other biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol produced from cellulose may be part of the solution to the nation’s energy problems. What is Will’s solution? Drill in Alaska for more oil and dig in Utah for more coal. Energetic rethinking, indeed. Gary Lovett Clinton Corners, N.Y.
Both George Will and FedEx founder Frederick Smith (“A Marine’s New Mission,” Feb. 11) speak to energy needs, yet neither mentions the great promise of industrial hemp. Hemp was banned by Congress in the late 1930s because of corporate timber and chemical interests. Growing hemp enriches the soil, consumes CO2 and burns so cleanly it doesn’t add to emissions. Converted to biofuel, it can move cars and generate electricity with minimal pollution. It was grown during WWII without adverse effects. Lewis B. Smith Boise, Idaho
Be Happy, Don ’ t Worry? “Happiness: Enough Already” (Feb. 11) truly expressed much of what I believe and have felt. Within two weeks of the death of my husband, my well-meaning doctor offered me antidepressants. No, thank you. I was grieving, righteously so, for my beloved mate. Within six months my son was labeled a discipline problem and the school psychologist asked me if I had considered medicating my 6-year-old child. He was displaying textbook grieving behaviors for a child his age who had experienced the loss of a parent. No, again, to medicating away normal feelings. Five years later, though we miss Jerry, we are doing fine, having felt our pain and all its power. Life has both sorrow and happiness, just as there is no light without darkness. I’ll take it all. Ruth Petersen Shorer Berkeley, Calif.
Thank you for the article “Happiness: Enough Already” by Sharon Begley. I have had friends suggest that I should be taking medications for depression during periods when I was apparently not meeting society’s “standards” for happiness. These were legitimately difficult times when I was struggling through the awkwardness of adolescence, suffering from an abusive relationship or dealing with the frustrating realities of lengthy unemployment. Experiencing negative emotions from time to time is part of joie de vivre. They motivate us to make changes and help us fully appreciate true happiness. The American medical system needs to start diagnosing more carefully and stop overmedicating the population. Too often it treats the symptoms and not the problem. Lindsey Gerkens Zionsville, Pa.
Happiness and sadness do not exist in a vacuum. It is amazing and unfortunate that we’ve begun to believe that they do, and worse that a generation is coming of age that has never known anything else. While I’m glad the doctors and scholars featured in Sharon Begley’s piece are speaking out against this trend, I suspect that Americans’ conception of happiness as an inalienable right and sadness as a disease will only be reinforced in the years to come. The self-esteem movement teaches it in schools; pharmaceutical companies sell it directly to consumers on TV. And ironically, the more intent we become as a society on attaining constant happiness, the less we teach our children about how happiness actually works. Happiness comes only from knowing others, from achieving goals, from doing things. Cassandra Nelson Brookline, Mass.
This noteworthy article illustrates a downside to our culture’s emphasis on enduring happiness. However, it also misleads the public by characterizing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnosis of a major depressive episode as “remarkably broad” and failing “to take into account the context or trigger for sadness.” In fact, the DSM requires that a psychiatric diagnosis take into account five unique factors. The first is clinical symptoms, such as those of major depressive episodes. The other four are personality conditions; medical conditions and physical illness; social and environmental factors contributing to the disorder (e.g., recent breakups), and overall level of functioning. An appropriate diagnosis includes all five factors and places depressive symptoms in their proper context, thereby avoiding the tendency to classify ordinary sadness as illness. Michele Cascardi, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist Glen Ridge, N.J.
A Child ’ s Questions About God I appreciate Kathleen Deveny’s practice of Roman Catholicism and the desire to pass the faith on to her daughter (“Talking to Kids About God,” Tip Sheet, Feb. 11). In case a child asks about topics in the article such as evolution: The church’s teaching is not opposed to evolution and actively supports scientific investigation. When it comes to human evolution, the church would have no problem with science’s conclusion that the human body evolved, for example, from a monkey. However, the church does teach that the soul is created immediately by God. Souls don’t fit into test tubes or under microscopes. And if one talks critically about birth control and abortion, one can easily come to the same conclusion as church teaching: that marriage and the dignity of the human person are so profound that birth control and abortion are always offensive to each. Regarding stem-cell research, the church enthusiastically supports it. What it does oppose is human embryonic stem-cell research, because such research is the destruction of a human life. Rev. J. Brian Bransfield United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Washington, D.C.
Worship vs. Veneration As a Roman Catholic, I must differ with Lisa Miller’s statement that “relics this precious are not intended to be owned by individuals but worshiped by the whole Christian community” (“4 Sale: Bones of the Saints,” PERISCOPE, Feb. 11). Christians venerate or honor the relics of saints, but never worship them. Worship and adoration are reserved solely for God himself. Kristy Kutch Michigan City, Ind.
Corrections In “The Wrong Experience” (Feb. 11), Fareed Zakaria wrote that Hillary Clinton “won’t say” whether she supports an initiative, proposed by Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, William Perry and Sam Nunn, to reduce America’s nuclear arsenal. In fact, Senator Clinton has supported the initiative.
The Feb. 11 graphic “Lessons From the Front Line” incorrectly identified the military rank of two presidents. George Washington was a general of the Armies and Dwight D. Eisenhower, general of the Army.
Periscope’s Feb. 11 election quiz, “Which of Us Just Ran for President?” incorrectly referred to former U.S. senator Mike Gravel’s presidential candidacy in the past tense. In fact, Gravel is still actively pursuing the Democratic nomination. NEWSWEEK regrets the errors.
