Personal Responsibility

In “Last Refuge of a Politician in Trouble” (Opinion, Feb. 3), James Campbell writes of years of watching Republican leaders “devalue the suffering of others with talk of responsibility and rugged individualism.” Demonizing a sense of personal responsibility by linking it with Republicans is clever but futile. My immigrant forebears were certainly not Republicans but they did encourage their children to take responsibility for their lives instead of weeping in a corner, bewailing their misfortunes and envying the rich. They lacked Campbell’s advanced degrees but certainly surpassed him in wisdom and a sense of the practical. I will always be grateful to them.

Manuel H. Rodriguez

Burbank