Why can’t kids earn a few bucks?

Re “Bren’s children seeking millions,� Dec. 25

Greed seems to float to the top of one more story of spoiled children in our culture of opulence. Thousands of dollars a month is not sufficient for two teenagers to squander because they want millions. Where is Mom when this is happening? We have developed a whole new society that has never been exposed to want because we parents have found it easier just to give. These rewards are given to avoid a proper regard for the work ethic. To see this story on the front page of the California section validates the concept that it is acceptable to want anything and everything without any sense of guilt or shame.

Donald L. Bren has provided a king’s ransom for his children. It might be nice if they discovered a way of earning a couple of bucks with a little sweat.

Ira Kaplan

Woodland Hills

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This article illustrates California’s separate and unequal system of calculating child support. For the poor, the courts simply apply an algebraic formula to calculate the amount of child support that is deemed to be the appropriate amount a man must pay. There is no discretion used by the courts, even if the formula condemns a man to a life of poverty. As a result, many men are forced by this “system of justice� to work in the underground economy to survive financially while supporting their children.

For the wealthy, the courts deviate from this algebraic formula to award child support based on “equitable principles.� The time has come for California to use one system, using discretion to award child support regardless of a man’s income. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Jeffrey A. Lowe

Beverly Hills

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I hereby publicly offer to be adopted by Bren. For a monthly remittance of $1,000, I promise to buy him one tie on Father’s Day, one pair of slippers and/or a robe at Christmas, and one joke card on his birthday. For an extra $500 a month, I’ll throw in two father-and-son fishing trips a year. As a bonus, if he acts in the next 48 hours, I’ll also visit him monthly in his dotage (75-plus years, or younger with doctor’s certification), and listen to 30 minutes of complaining about “kids today.�

For my part, the contract will be considered null and void if I get a DUI, disparage Bren in public or cause the police to be called to a noisy beach-house party.

John Rabe

Los Angeles