Proof in the Pottage?

Sir: Your cover article, "When the Young Teach and the Old Learn" [Aug. 17], presented several people who had "learned" from their rebellious children, including a Governor, a Congressman and a Cabinet member. The article succeeded only in proving one perceptive statement that was buried deep in the whole mess of pottage: "Parents who lose control of their children are usually confused about their own values and identities." When the leaders of the nation can't even lead their own children, heaven help us!

EVELIN SANDERS Idabel, Okla.

Sir: The time has come when Americans must become aware that the youth of this anxiety-ridden country has issues to discuss that are relevant to all those who are committed to peace, prosperity and the American way. Finally, the older generation is changing in terms of speaking out for what one truly believes in, as youth has been doing for several years.

I truly believe that those quoted in your article have discovered a little more of themselves through their new behavior. The wise man is not he who has recollections of the past, but he who has responsibilities to the future--and the future of this country is its youth.

Listen, America! Become, learn and open your minds!

MICHAEL G. SARDINSKY Slippery Rock, Pa.

Sir: I have worked with some pretty defiant kids over the past 20 years, but few as defiant as some of today's parents. Growing up in today's world is not the same as growing up in the world of 25 years ago. The difference will not be understood without listening, and listening does not mean surrendering authority.

As my grandfather used to say, it's tough to hear with your mouth open.

JOSEPH W. GAULD

Headmaster

Hyde School

Bath, Me.

Sir: While it is true that some parents have abdicated their role and are desperately attempting to hold on to their children through permissiveness, "being a pal," aping their dress and customs, etc.. the majority of us will continue to guide and educate our children, not the reverse.

The arrogance and conceit of some youths who, with their meager knowledge and limited experience, are convinced that their beliefs are the correct ones, that their wishes and desires are paramount, are indicative of the puerile mind. This immaturity is further exemplified by their tantrums when opposed. The shouted obscenities, breaking of windows and burning of buildings are the acts of spoiled, irresponsible juveniles who have contributed nothing to society. Most have been fed, clothed and denied practically nothing during this affluent period. Many have yet to escape from the womb of the university where they are often indoctrinated by a small group of frustrated teachers who could not compete outside their ivory towers, and so pass on their warped revolutionary ideas to these young people.

Without responsible guidance, it is small wonder that youths become confused, turn to drugs, communes and other forms of escape. They need not only our pity, but they desperately need our help.

JOHN D. MYER Columbus

Sir: Why is it that you only have praise for the, parents, who make hard decisions in favor of drugs and against the Viet Nam War? Since you are unrestrained in your admiration of "concerned" youth, let me hope to gain your attention by saying that I am deeply concerned. I am concerned because you do not mention the position of parents who must agonizingly risk the loss of a child's affection because they cannot in all conscience condone liberalized drug laws or immediate withdrawal from Viet Nam. You seem to assume that unless a person espouses the ideals of youth, he does not have an open mind. My praise is for the embattled elder whose life-tested convictions require him to oppose the views of his children. STEPHEN SCHOENBECK (age 23) APO San Francisco

Sir: I am not my child's buddy. I am his keeper.

(MRS.) AILEEN GOSE

Las Cruces, N. Mex.

Sir: I cannot think of a better reason to laugh than the thought of a U.S. Congressman assigning an aide (at taxpayers' expense?) to do research on the length of hair. Our compulsion to "listen" to others has turned into a farce, and our preoccupation with such trivialities is a symptom of a society that has lost its sense of perspective.

VARDA J. SOLOMON Great Neck, N.Y.

Sir: The tone of your article would indicate to me that parents who change their views and embrace those of their children somehow become superior and ennobled--particularly if those same children had been having difficulties with dope.

Now, certainly, the world is far from ideal, parents can be mistaken and children can be correct. But as long as history continues to teach us that we live in a real world, that innumerable Utopian schemes have failed, that maintenance of a balance of power is critical to improving the chances for peace, that wars have been a major part of our history since recorded times, and that possibly, just possibly, the human being is not as noble and as selfless as our hand-wringing liberals have apparently assumed, I will tend to place more faith in those who have managed to survive longer in this reality of ours, all other things being equal. ROBERT A. MARTIN Culver City, Calif.

Sir: All right TIME Reporter Henry Muller, age 23. We have come full circle now. The baby is writing a book on how to raise Dr. Spock! Isn't it about time we saw things in the proper perspective and started over again?

MRS. ROGER TAYLOR High Point, N.C.

With Fear and Frustration

Sir: I am enraged. This nation can put a man on the moon. Then why in hell can't we deactivate our nerve gas [Aug. 17]? If we haven't the brains, why can't we borrow some from the U.N. and put this problem where it belongs, since we no longer seem to be responsible for our actions.

The arrogance of this deed makes me shake with fear and frustration.

(MRS.) MINA MANNER Duxbury, Mass.

Leave My Heroes Be

Sir: How arrogant and downright vulgar can our Government and its agencies get? Snooping into the private life of great political figures like Dr. Martin Luther King [Aug. 17] is the limit. And as if this were not enough, J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI seems to have attempted blackmail. It is time, indeed, that someone seeks relief in court from Mr. Hoover's disdain for other people's privacy.

John Williamson's intimation that Dr. King was a political fool, and his hypothesis that J. Edgar Hoover's snoopers truncated Dr. King's political effectiveness, are sheer poppycock. Williamson should go back to writing fiction; or can he no longer distinguish fiction from nonfiction? I suspect he cannot, in which case I wish he would leave my heroes alone. Dr. King is a hero of mine.

MARTIN KILSON

Professor of Government

Harvard University

Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: I am sure most black people still believe in King's dream. Whether or not the charges are true, Dr. King will always be remembered as a human being who gave hope and leadership to a great many people who did not even have a dream for a better day in their lifetime. He was human, not a god.

WILLIAM GRAY Chicago

Just a Put-On

Sir: Perhaps Dr. Edgar Berman [Aug. 10] is just a put-on. After all, who with a grain of sense would use the Bay of Pigs incident as proof of the male's superior mental and emotional stability?

(MRS.) AUDRE HOWARD Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

Old in the Old World

Sir: Ruth Brine's article about "The Old in the Country of the Young" [Aug. 3] is very moving. It made me decide that I would rather grow old in my own undeveloped part of the world than in your highly civilized country. Granted, there is no Social Security or old-age pension here, but what I will get as an old woman is worth more than a hundred of your White House conferences on aging.

It's the love, care and appreciation from children and grandchildren that the old lack in America. Our old people feel needed because we insist on having our morning cup of coffee with them; our grandfathers enjoy telling the young about the way life used to be, and their listeners show enough care and interest to make the speaker feel proud of his age.

Provide love and understanding, and the word "ageism" will not creep into your dictionaries.

MAY UWAYDAH Beirut

A Better Idea

Sir: Ford has proved absolutely nothing by having a secretary perform adjustments described in its owner's manual for the Pinto [Aug. 17]. Women in general and secretaries in particular are excellent at following instructions. Ford seems to be saying that if a stupid female secretary can follow the manual, any moron can.

They should have pulled Joe Zilch from the payroll department and handed him the manual.

(MRS.) BETTY FLAVIN Coral Springs, Fla.

First Things First

Sir: The moon made of cheese [Aug. 17]? I'm amazed at these uninformed scientists! Have they not read Genesis, Chapter One? The moon appeared on the fourth day, and cows weren't created until the sixth day. Cheese, indeed!

FRANK A. LAWRENCE Orange, N.J.

Quailing Before the Onsloth

Sir: I musk ox TIME, "Vulture up to?" Ewe otter know better than to monkey around with Herb Caen's gnu "punny farm" game that way [Aug. 17]. Ocelot of us who think it swanderful. If you condor send to print this, that tsetse record straight.

MACK H. WEBB Nashville, Tenn.

Sir: I hate to do it. but you know you asked for it. Among my many pets I have a llama named Dolly, an eel named R. Ufer.

MICHAEL B. HOOVER Atlanta

Sir: After several sleepless nights (and the loss of several former good friends), I humbly present a koala named Coca, a tern named One-Good (his family includes identical twins named Left and Right), a panda named Monium--and a gnu named Watts.

MIKE LEIDERMAN Syracuse

Sir: My dog is Awnit. my pet otter is Hadn't. My timid cow is Ardly. As a restraining influence on my pet bear, I just call him For.

ALTA F. MARTIN Albuquerque. N. Mex.

Sir: Have you ever heard of a toucan named Live-as-cheaply-as-one? Or a hippo called Crit?

DAVID J. SCHNEIDER Baltimore

Sir: A bug named Hum?

MARTIN H. ARNOLD Aberdeen, Wash.

Sir: How about a viper named Winchell? JOHN G. HADDAD JR. St. Louis

Sir: And, of course, an ostrich named In-time-saves-nine.

JOHN C. DAVIS London

Sir: Making up names like Asia mynah, cuff lynx, and piranha old gray bonnet isn't aardvark.

ARTHUR L. ROTHSCHILD Buffalo

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