To the Editor:
Re “If We Had a Real Leader,” by David Brooks (column, May 29):
If we had a real leader, say, like those at the helm during our previous great crises — George Washington, at the nation’s inception; Abraham Lincoln, through the Civil War; Franklin D. Roosevelt, during the Great Depression and World War II — things would be different during this Covid-19 crisis. Each of these presidents was gifted from the start and more than willing to learn on the job.
Instead of a being led by a real leader, we are “led” during America’s worst health and economic crises — and a furor after the latest police killing of an unarmed black man — by America’s worst president, unwilling to try to get better. This horrid juxtaposition has unleashed upon America a perfect storm, “an absolute chaotic disaster,” as former President Barack Obama put it.
Whether we survive this tempest is an open question.
John E. Colbert
Arroyo Seco, N.M.
Alcohol in the Pandemic
To the Editor:
Re “Sobering Reality: Many Are Drinking to Excess” (news article, May 27):
The pandemic is changing how people drink. I hope that it also changes our understanding of why. Millions of people who want help are left out in the cold when we examine drinking only through the lens of addiction.
Many of the women I work with experience few, if any, health issues as a result of their drinking; nor does it get in the way of responsibilities at work or home. Still, they don’t like their relationship with alcohol, but feel deprived when they try to cut back or stop.
For them, pouring a glass of wine is a signal that Mom is off the clock, permission to stop checking work email, or a way to cope with stress and anxiety that is normalized and glamorized in their social feeds. Change has less to do with alcohol, and more to do with learning new ways to solve these problems.
Now more than ever, we need modern approaches that go beyond traditional notions of treatment and recovery and reflect that drinking isn’t always a question of addiction.
Rachel Hart
San Francisco
The writer is host of the podcast “Take a Break From Drinking” and the author of “Why Can’t I Drink Like Everyone Else?”