YOUR DEC. 15 editorial on who will take responsibility for maintaining the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway exposes a symptom of a nation that desperately needs a civics lesson. We are living with the 27-year-old legacy of Ronald Reagan, who is really more responsible than George H.W. Bush for the mantra, "no new taxes." That simplistic approach has led to a culture of selfishness and, at best, resentful investment in anything public.
There are essential public needs - safety, schools, health, recreation, protection of the environment, transportation, the well-being of elder citizens, to note a few - that ask for our collective commitment. They enable us to feel like engaged and caring citizens, and must be funded by all of us. This nation desperately needs a lesson driven by the words of former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Taxes are the price we pay for civilization."
The Greenway is a public park, and it should be maintained by public funds. Isn't it time for the polity to move beyond the notion of what's best for me and recognize that what's best for the entire community is the answer?
ROBERT J. WEINTRAUB
Brookline
