Letters From Home

Everywhere you look, from talk shows to the office water cooler to the dinner table, you see people wringing their hands about the state of our nation. No wonder: It feels like we’re living through a slow-motion train wreck. Our national debt is out of control. Our politicians are corrupt. Our business leaders are greedy, inept, or both. Our young people are disrespectful and lazy. And a shocking number of citizens are more interested in grabbing entitlements than in working hard to pursue the American dream.

Okay, these unflattering descriptions don’t fit everyone. But if we’re honest, we have to admit they do apply to enough citizens to constitute a problem—a big one. And according to David and Andrea Reiser—coauthors of Letters From Home: A Wake-up Call for Success & Wealth (Wiley, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-4706379-2-0, $27.95, www.ReiserMedia.com)—if we don’t shift our culture back to one that embraces the principles that made our country great, conditions will only worsen.

“It’s hard to deny that America has lost its way,” asserts David. “And there’s not going to be any easy fix. Certainly, we can’t legislate our way back to greatness. We have to find the seeds of that greatness inside us, one person at a time.”

“So many people we talk to feel the way David and I do,” adds Andrea. “What we need is a way to mobilize them—a way to spark a grassroots movement to return our country to its core values.”

That’s the hope that fueled the writing of Letters From Home, a project that’s part cultural treatise and part kick in the pants: for parents, for young people, for influential leaders—really for anyone and everyone who values America and wants to see it restored to its former glory.

Written in the form of letters to the authors’ four sons, the book explores fifteen basic American virtues that built our country and that foster individual success. Each chapter includes profiles of exceptional “real people”—the authors’ wealth management clients, friends, and neighbors—who truly walk the talk.

Here, excerpted from Letters From Home, is a quick look at the virtues the Reisers want Americans to embrace:

Education. Obviously, the way Americans make a living has changed a lot over the past few decades. Our education system needs to change right along with it. John Dodig, principal of Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, the top public high school in the state, wants to transform education to emphasize flexibility and adaptability. This, he believes, is the only way our young people will be able to compete in a global marketplace.

Hard Work. Too many Americans expect the maximum return for a bare minimum investment of “elbow grease.” Eli Zabar is the antithesis of this mindset. The youngest son of Russian immigrants, he is living proof of what can happen when you’re born into a hardworking family and internalize their values. Zabar has established himself as an esteemed icon of the New York City gourmet food world through his proprietorship of numerous markets, restaurants, and other operations. And he keeps his nose as firmly to the proverbial grindstone now as he did when he was just starting out in the early 1970s. 

Recognizing Opportunity. Many people seem to think that life owes them what they need, when they need it, on a silver platter—and that they shouldn’t have to go looking for opportunity. However, businessman Tim Brabham knows that such an attitude probably won’t propel you very far. Since graduating college in the early 1990s, he has held progressively more challenging positions at companies all over the United States. Brabham has learned that actively looking for the next great thing, combined with hard work and self-marketing, is a surefire formula for attracting opportunity.

Gratitude. We Americans have so much. The vast majority of us have a place to live, regular meals, and family and friends who love us. We have the freedom to do whatever we want with our lives. And yet, rather than feeling a deep sense of gratitude for the abundance in our lives, when people ask, “How are you?” we often answer with an empty, “Fine,” or a pathetic, “Terrible!” (followed by some self-centered whining).

“Our hope is that people will read our book, think about its lessons, and figure out ways to apply them to their own lives,” says Andrea. “We want them to say, ‘Well, lately I have been griping a lot instead of being grateful for all I have,’ or, ‘You know, maybe I am teaching my kids to be lazy and entitled.’ And then, we want them to commit to making a change.” “We can all stand to make improvements and live more consciously,” adds David. “And if enough people make the effort, then collectively, we can shift an entire culture. Yes, it’s an ambitious goal, but if any country is up to it, it’s America.”