Letters

The Science of Happiness

Thank you for the tips and techniques for finding happiness and peace of mind [Jan. 17]. In particular, "Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life" was just what I needed to read. I believe in making my life a more satisfying one, and I am learning to forgive those who have hurt me. Forgiveness works. It is therapy that lets us be pals again.

ANNA VICTORIA REICH

Albuquerque, N.M.

While reading your report on happiness, I felt a touch of sorrow that science seems to be nosing its way into every aspect of humanity. Can't we go back to the days when people lived passionately without wondering what chemicals in the brain made them happy? Since when has happiness been a technical thing?

JANET MA

Rochester, Mich.

I was tired of hearing a daily litany of complaints when I drove my daughter home from middle school, so I imposed a rule: she and her friends could recount their entire bad day without comment from me but only after I had heard three good things that had happened to each of them. Some days the best I heard was, "Well, lunch didn't suck." But I can attest to the long-term effects. For the next three years, our ride home was far more pleasant. And when my now 21-year-old daughter calls to talk about things going wrong, she always brightens her mood by relating something good. Happiness is a habit best learned early.

KAREN REDDICK YURKA

Manzanita, Ore.

Happiness is not a product of achievement or wealth or fame. It is the reaction of our mind to the environment. Faith in God and the values of religion are a source of well-being. Happiness comes from caring for others and giving whatever we can--help, hope, love, respect, sympathy or just a smile.

MANSOOR MALIK

South Hadley, Mass.

Among the quips from celebrities about what makes them happy, I was struck by what conservative gadfly Ann Coulter said: "Liberals weeping, crying and threatening to move to Canada." Many a truth is spoken in jest. That is not the statement of someone who loves America as a free, diverse melting pot; those are the words of someone who cares only about people who totally agree with her. Coulter wants to see the rest of the population miserable or, better yet, gone from the U.S.

RUSSELL LOSCO

West Grove, Pa.

People will never be happy so long as their greed exceeds their needs and they don't comprehend the meaning of the word enough.

HART SPRAGER

Portland, Ore.

Happiness is the feeling you enjoy between periods of unhappiness. When you experience it, remember to say thank you and relish it while it lasts.

ARTHUR T. HIMMELMAN

Minneapolis, Minn.

Too Few Good Men

"Where Are The New Recruits?" Had it right: the U.S. National Guard and Army Reserve are strained to the breaking point because of enlistee shortages [Jan. 17]. But there's another reason. Even though the U.S. has been virtually at war since 9/11, the Pentagon's civilian leadership has resisted increasing the number of active-duty Army forces. Why? Because it's cheaper to use Guard and Reserve troops. The Department of Defense does not have to provide housing, medical care and base facilities for the families of reservists as it does with active-duty troops. The shortage of regular troops is not an accident; it is a conscious decision to save money. I have served in Iraq and support the mission there. But I do not back the use of reservists, and I object to the impact it has had on small towns. They are losing fire fighters and police who are members of the Guard and the Reserve simply because the Pentagon wants to save a buck.

CRAIG T. TREBILCOCK

LIEUT. COLONEL, U.S. ARMY RESERVE

York, Pa.

The U.S. does not have a tropp shortage; it has misdeployed the troops. The thousands of active-duty U.S. service members sitting on their duffs in Europe and Japan far exceed any alleged shortage in Iraq. If the slow-moving, bureaucratic Pentagon would take the obvious step and redeploy some of these troops, there would be no talk of a shortage.

FRANK BUBB

Boca Raton, Fla.

A person would have to be nuts to join any branch of the U.S. military now. The National Guard and Army Reserve were supposed to be ready reserve troops, not an invading and occupying military force spreading U.S. aggression abroad. If confidence is to be restored in the U.S. military, our forces must be used for the defense of this country, not for the personal goals of the President. U.S. troops belong on U.S. soil, not stationed in 135 different countries. There is no justification for U.S. soldiers serving in other countries, except for a U.N.-sponsored peacekeeping mission.

TED JOHNSON

Colrain, Mass.

Torture and Terrorists

In his column "Where's The Outrage?", about the Senate confirmation hearings of Attorney General--designate Alberto Gonzales [Jan. 17], Joe Klein wondered why there was no outrage over the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and elsewhere or over Gonzales' complicity in the Bush Administration decision to use severe physical interrogation techniques. A similar apathy was the response to the excesses of the Patriot Act, the question of immigrant rights, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's ineptness and arrogance, the need for affordable health insurance and, most tragic, the endless slaughter in Iraq. There is no outrage because pollsters tell us our country is evenly divided politically, and the officeholders who should take a stand on those issues find self-preservation preferable to the possibility of being driven from office for doing the right thing.

GREGORY NELSON JOSEPH

Glendale, Ariz.

The aggressive interrogation of suspected terrorists in our custody has probably led to critical intelligence gains, possibly thwarting other cowardly terrorist attacks on civilians. I am grateful for leaders who are willing to revise the interrogation policy and look at the larger picture. That is the most important task they were appointed to do. Our freedom to criticize the government would be ruthlessly curtailed if the terrorists we are fighting had their way. The very policies that Klein criticizes are preserving his freedom to be critical.

JEFF COPES

Frisco, N.C.

The torture of prisoners has stained the American character, and the naming of Gonzales as Attorney General has made that stain indelible.

MARY G. NOCELLA

Wayne, N.J.

The greatness of this country is inextricably linked to constitutional protection for all--even the bad guys. Forgetting that lesson--or subverting it, as Gonzales has seen fit to do--weakens us at our moral center and further cheapens us in the eyes of the world.

ANNE RIFFENBURGH

South Pasadena, Calif.