To the editor:

Gen. Robert E. Lee believed he lost his right hand with the death of Stonewall Jackson. Worried about losing the other, at Gettysburg he commanded Gen. James Longstreet to stay back from the fighting. Longstreet responded that officers cannot lead from behind.

The economic meltdown of October 2008 is widely recognized as a psychological phenomenon. It is like a military rout. Each soldier loses faith he can do anything to stop it. They stop believing courage matters. No longer individuals, becoming a herd, wanting only to save themselves, they doom each other. If you doubt the effect of fear at an elemental level, read the accounts of the death of the Wal-Mart worker in the store stampede last Friday in New York.

After eight years of exacerbating fear, our societal herd has broken; we are routed. Few of us have an ability to do much, but each can do a little. I am reminded this time of year of my favorite movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life.” If you’ve forgotten, watch it; if you don’t know it, find it. George Bailey is a great hero because he did the small things that were in his power to do; he led from the front.

William Skepnek,
Lawrence