The Politics of Greed

Who would have thought it? David Brooks in the New York Times wrote my blog for me-- The Great Seduction. Well maybe not totally wrote it as there is always more to say when it comes to something this important although a lot of what I would write is yeah and that too. He nailed it so well.

Greed and instant, no-cost, no-work rewards has become a big problem in our country (and my bet is anywhere that life has gotten easier). Brooks sees it as having happened here in the last 30 years. I am not sure of its timing; but it wasn't this way when I was growing up in the 40s and 50s.

If you are old enough, you remember when credit cards were not the norm for everybody. There was a time when if I saw a dress I liked but could not afford it right then, I would arrange to put it on layaway where I would pay so much each week until it was mine. Same thing with refrigerators or most everything except the largest purchases like cars or homes where loans were arranged. Today's world doesn't wait. They put it on a variety of credit cards and worry about the payments the next month.

Personally I think some of this I-want-it-all-now came with the lottery. I looked up when that happened and the first state lottery was New Jersey in 1970. Indian casinos began popping up in most states after they were okayed in 1988 by federal law. [High Court clears way for Casino].

I know the arguments. Nobody is forced to gamble. The fact, that most lottery tickets are bought by people who can't afford them, isn't salient to those who like the idea of their services being funded by someone else. The thing is what else is this costing, and I am not referring to those who are addicted. To what has this attitude led?

When I was growing up, back room gambling, betting on the horses, and Las Vegas didn't support state services. Today gambling, including the state run lotteries, is a $400 billion dollar industry if you only count the legal varieties. It is in every grocery store with promises of instant solutions to financial problems.

Some see it as bad because government is relying on a regressive tax that people pay because they are bamboozled into thinking their odds of winning the jackpot are not that bad. (Getting hit by lightning is more likely).

I don't like the lottery because of how I think it has been one cog in the process of transforming the thinking of our country. Easy money. Don't have to work for what you get. Luck will transform your life. If not luck, then easy credit. Don't save for anything. Have it today. A culture of greed leads to a politics of greed. Fix it for free. Easy solutions are promised by politicians only to get power. An irresponsible culture tolerates or even encourages an irresponsible government to whom it gives the power.

An example of how this all plays out is in today's home loan crisis of foreclosures and cries for government to fix it. Except exactly whose fault was it that people took out those variable interest, second mortgages to buy what often amounted to frills? Who should be blamed if we buy a house we couldn't afford just because the bank didn't stop us?

There is blame to go around though as business and government had a hand in what happened. Government changed programs already in place allowing businesses to make money at other's naivety. Government wanted people buying homes they couldn't really afford because it was making the economy look good-- until it didn't.

Constantly you hear politicians saying-- you can handle your money better than we can. The suggestion slyly is given that tax cuts solve every problem. Those tax cuts usually give ordinary people a few dollars while it gives somebody else thousands.

And how exactly can the citizens handle that money better when it comes to building freeways, making sure food is handled safely, making standards for safe construction, educating children, and on and on? The truth is that unless we live in the woods, miles from anybody and never come out, we need government and how is a government going to be free? Logically we know it's not.

Consumerism has been the answer to every problem. What did Bush ask of Americans after the tragedy of 9/11? True his reason might have been wanting Americans distracted so they didn't notice what happened next; but what he asked people to do was not to sacrifice anything but to spend spend spend (while their freedoms were taken taken taken).

Currently when the economy is in the toilet and trying to avoid being flushed, what was the government solution-- $600 rebates to everybody. What can you buy with $600? Mostly the kind of feel good products that temporarily give the economy a bump. Although it might not even do that given people have so much debt they may be paying that down or using it to buy gasoline that has doubled in cost in one year.

I wish I had a tidy solution to this but my only answer is individually. Quit admiring greedy people. Those ostentatious homes built to impress could instead be considered an embarrassment-- like how gaudy and distasteful. What if we went back to admiring people for their character not their fortune? Admiring them for what they give to the world, not what they take? Would it change things? I don't know but admiring greed sure doesn't help.

What if all of us only borrowed when it was absolutely necessary. Save today for what we want tomorrow instead of buying today and paying somebody else for the instant pleasure. Ever notice how much our banks look like temples? It might be suggestive of what we actually worship but there is another element to consider. What do you think is paying for those temples?

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Finally because it followed the YouTube in the last blog, I wanted to be sure that no one missed this link from the UK and so am carrying it forward. It really does explain a lot about Obama and McCain. We are a product of our upbringing in so many ways. I know my attitude expressed above comes from my parents. It's worth looking at these two men and what impact their parents had on them:

To understand what this race is about, consider who the fathers of these two men were and the impact that has had on who they are.