To The Reader’s Forum:

After the November election, my 16-year-old daughter mentioned to me that some of her male friends really admired Donald Trump. The word she used was that they love him. She also said that in their mock election at school, Trump won in a landslide.

When I was young, our generation admired John F. Kennedy. We admired him for his sacrifice in the military, as well as his slogan, “Ask not what you country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” As a result, young people were inspired to join the Peace Corp, to enlist in the military to serve their country and to donate their time to charitable causes.

Many young people today look up to Donald Trump and say, “I want to be so wealthy that I can have anything I want. I want to be so smart that I don’t have to pay taxes. I want to be so famous that I can abuse women and no one will say anything. I want to be so selfish that I don’t have to give my money or time to charity. I want to be so clever that I can write a book to teach others how to outwit (cheat) people in business dealings. I want to plaster my name on everything that I own so people will worship me. I want to be so powerful that I can do or say anything I want and no one will challenge me. I can be this arrogant because I am never wrong about anything.”

We will survive four years of Donald Trump, but it may take several generations for our young people to get their priorities straight and forget him.

Jeffrey Johnson

Jamestown