Lively war of words between father, son

Three cheers for Mr. James Prescott Sr.’s letter of Dec. 27. I had a hunch the previous letter of Dec. 2 was his son’s before he even said it, and I was wondering if the father was going to let that go unanswered. My question was: “Why contradict your father in public? Not too tactful or respectful, if you ask me. I am sure Mr. Prescott Jr. is a successful person, but whether he is 30, 40 or even 50 years old, he will not have accumulated the experience and wisdom the father has at 60 or 70. Book learning doesn’t always equal or surpass that.

I agree with Mr. Prescott Sr.’s explanation of stock market workings and job creation, which is sorely needed in this country, but Big Business doesn’t want to create any unless it can do it at pre-French Revolutionary conditions when working people didn’t even get enough money to buy their daily bread and were forced to pay all the taxes. We all know what happened to the exploiters of that day — they lost their heads. All of a sudden everybody is supposed to be so overly frugal, live on less and less in order to pay for the debts created by the bad decisions of those in charge in which the ordinary citizen had no voice

I certainly don’t want to meddle, but the exchanges between father and son are interesting — as long as they stay reasonable. Is it possible that Jr. wanted to deter his father from writing articles because his views are not favorable in the milieu he finds himself in? Well, Mr. Prescott Sr. has a right to free expression, though I am sure that regardless of the father’s opinion he will always have his son’s best interests at heart.

Liesel Knudsen

Arlington Heights