Something In Common

Morgan is one of my friends. He's a guy I respect and really enjoy talking too. We mostly agree on all the stuff that really matters (faith and people) and mostly disagree on all that stuff that doesn't (politics). In light of things going on in the economy right now, here' s a discussion we had today (it was on gchat, so forgive misspellings, bad punctuation, etc.):

Morgan: Wow, Obama and McCain have been throwing out the 1-3 sentence memorable quotes the last three days like they are going out of style
Me: That's because they don't know what the hell's going on with the economy either. They both thought Iraq was going to be the main issue. Both campaigns were and continue to be so unprepared for how to react and deal with this mess.
Morgan: Where is FDR or Harry Truman when you need him?
Me: Lincoln, Eisenhower, JFK, Reagan, or Jefferson? Jefferson or Reagan I'd take right now for sure, because they both would have the sense to keep the federal governmnet out of something like this! FDR and Lincoln, not so much. They were way too involved and, in my opinion overstepped their bounds. I know, I know, everyone loves them, but it's the truth!
Morgan: True, but you need someone who is going to do something extreme, whether it is a hands off aproach or whether it is a economically revolutionary approach
Me: Buying all the debt in the country is pretty extreme. . . extremely wrong!!!!
Morgan: Hmmm....why would it be wrong? By the way, I think it is probably wrong as well, but I just want to know your reasoning
Me: Well, one thing is, I'm not sure things are really as bad as we think or are being led to believe they are.The free market got us into this, so shouldn't the free market be allowed to run it's course and eventually correct itself? I mean, did those banks have the right to give people mortgages and credit that was outrageous? Yes. Did those individuals have the right to apply for loans they couldn't afford? Yes. So, should we have to ride this out and go through the crap, because of it? Plus, on a constitutional/philosophical level I just don't think the government should be the escape clause and answer to every problem. I don't think it was designed that way. Morgan: You are probably right, people invested more than what they should have, this is an important lesson that hard currency that is immediately available is something that will always be needed for a free market economy. Too much credit and investment can in a way slow the economy. Things are bad in that people are losing jobs, people are going into more debt, people are not able to save for the future, but is the government responsible for saving people? in a way...the government is supposed to protect its people, but here is the key....the a republican democracy is a reflection of its people, we give the government the power to "save" us, so in this situation....instead of doing things to help, we are sitting back and expecting government to save us, so do I blame the government necessarily? No. Should we blame ourselves? Yes. I apologize, the government is at fault, but their fault lies in us.
Me: But, it's just built into our DNA, and for that I blame FDR and the New Deal. Once you start expecting the government to give you money if you're out of work, and give you money when you're old, and give you healthcare if you can't afford it (okay that one lies at Johnson's feet), where does that mentality end?
Morgan: Ah...but I do not think the fault lied in FDR, the fault lied in the people of the 1920's who used credit and investing to prosper, then the backbone of the economy crashed.
Me: I get that in the moment of crisis all those programs were designed to "protect the people," like you're talking about, but we're reaping the effects of that mentality.

Here's the thing: at the end of the day, as you can see, we don't always agree on every point, but we are able to have meaningful, historically based discussions about things. Let's just hope our elected representatives follow suit. (By the way, if there's enough interest, we might pick a topic and do this kind of thing from time to time. If not, oh well.)