Ethics: Not In My Backyard, You Don't

Call it the NIMBY syndrome. It is happening in New York City, where middle- class homeowners are on trial on charges of setting fire to a foster home for infants. In tiny Louisa, Ky., it is the battle cry against a proposed hazardous-waste incinerator. It has cropped up in Berkeley, where residents banded together to keep out a drop-in center for the emotionally disturbed. The acronym stands for "not in my backyard," and it symbolizes a perverse form of antisocial activism. "Everybody says, 'Take care of the homeless, take care of the boarder babies,' " says New York City Mayor Edward...