Boy, the Public Editor’s column in the June 28 edition of The New York Times really struck a chord with me. The column by Margaret Sullivan wondered if both The Times and its readers are served by reporters who write books, people like columnist and PBS commentator David Brooks, whose latest work, “The Road to Character,” has been the subject of several columns that linked to his website. Readers complained not only about his shilling for his book but about errors in the book that have since been corrected.

While I haven’t read the book, I thought the premise of related columns – that the individual needs to be subjugated to the good of the community – was essentially illogical and unrealistic. ...