Letter from Ronald Reagan to his son • Hacker News Board

Re: Letter from Ronald Reagan to his son

#61

Post by nessus42 » Fri, Jun 15, 2012, 5:48 PM UTC

jhermsmeyer wrote: post #60

nessus42 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't gloss over any deeper meaning to the letter--it's not there. It's a very focussed and on-point sermon on remaining faithful. He barely even touches on why men sometimes cheat, other than to prove their manhood. But without addressing the real reasons, the message is just a lot of hot air. The real reason that most people cheat is because they don't feel loved, not because they just need another notch on thei…

You kinda did gloss over, well, everything that makes this letter good. The letter is powerful because of how it said what it wanted to say. The examples and imagery are vivid; the message consistent. What you wrote: "The real reason that most people cheat is because they don't feel loved" is right there, wonderfully articulated, in this letter. The hard part of being married, and the hard won wisdom contained in thi…

I never said that the letter didn't say what it intended to say. Nor did I say that it doesn't say what it intended to say well.

My point is that it's not a message worth saying, just like the message, "Just say no" is not worth saying. It's a pointlessly simple message that is not likely to affect its target audience or change any outcome. This message is, in fact, insulting to its intended audience, Reagan's son.

Maybe, just maybe, the part about the wife always knowing when something is going on, would have an effect down the road, but the bulk of the message is, "Men are dirty dogs. You're a man and consequently, you're a dirty dog. All men want to do is dip their wicks, and therefore you will want to dip your wick. When you do, you will ruin your marriage, even if you think you won't, and then you will blame your broken marriage on your loving wife, just like all dirty dogs do. If you want to be happy, refrain from being the dirty dog that you know you are."

The fact of the matter, however, is that most men are not dirty dogs. The reasons that they cheat (which are the same as the reasons that most women cheat) are largely not due to just a desire to dip their wicks. The reason are much more complex, and by the time they do cheat, their cheating is a symptom of something deeper that is wrong with the marriage, and not the root cause of the marriage going bad, as is portrayed in Reagan's letter.

Re: Letter from Ronald Reagan to his son

#62

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 15, 2012, 5:48 PM UTC

jhermsmeyer wrote: post #60

nessus42 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't gloss over any deeper meaning to the letter--it's not there. It's a very focussed and on-point sermon on remaining faithful. He barely even touches on why men sometimes cheat, other than to prove their manhood. But without addressing the real reasons, the message is just a lot of hot air. The real reason that most people cheat is because they don't feel loved, not because they just need another notch on thei…

You kinda did gloss over, well, everything that makes this letter good. The letter is powerful because of how it said what it wanted to say. The examples and imagery are vivid; the message consistent. What you wrote: "The real reason that most people cheat is because they don't feel loved" is right there, wonderfully articulated, in this letter. The hard part of being married, and the hard won wisdom contained in thi…

[deleted]

Re: Letter from Ronald Reagan to his son

#63

Post by jason_slack » Fri, Jun 15, 2012, 6:31 PM UTC

bstewartnyc wrote: post #5

nickpp wrote: post #4

How qualified was Reagan to give marriage advice? How many marriages did he have? Was he a marriage counsellor? Did he study marriages? Statistics on couple behaviors? Or is this like listening to the Kardashian's opinion on... child rearing or something?

Ronald Reagan was a wise man and great president.

One of my favorite sayings is "Trust, but verify"

I use this a lot in my daily happenings.

Re: Letter from Ronald Reagan to his son

#64

Post by protomyth » Fri, Jun 15, 2012, 6:53 PM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #3

As an armchair history buff, I love famous historical people who were also prolific letter-writers. It gives a great insight into the person, especially when the letter was between family members or close friends and never intended for public consumption. (Reagan was one of these people) As much as I like Letters of Note for the great letters, for me having a stream of letters makes the person much more three-dimensi…

President Reagan also has a book of speeches. His early speeches were self-written and pretty refined from multiple tellings. The advantage today is that you can listen to how he gave them as opposed to having an actor read it.

Of the modern Presidents, he probably wrote the most words and he did learn his style from radio and Hollywood. Not bad teachers in his day.

I do wonder in a hundred years what the historians will think of the writings of the first President to grow up with social media or maybe even USENET.

Re: Letter from Ronald Reagan to his son

#65

Post by ktizo » Fri, Jun 15, 2012, 11:51 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #54

myko wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Talk highly of him all you want, his rhetoric has hurt the US far more than it has helped. Between his voodoo economics and ignoring of the AIDs crisis, Iran Contra, the 'Moral Majority', I think you are embarrassing yourself here, not me. He is the epitome of style over substance.

I'd say winning the Cold War was a pretty significant triumph for the man.

The US didn't win the cold war, the USSR stopped playing due to an insolvency of mostly their own creation. And the same could happen to the US if it is not extremely careful over the next decade or so.