Social Links Widget

Click here to edit the Social Media Links settings. This text will not be visible on the front end.

Active Rain • November 2, 2010

Am I Becoming a Bleeding Heart Liberal?

by J. Philip Faranda

Yet again, I find myself nodding in agreement with the latest New York Times editorial on the mortgage mess. This has me wondering if I am becoming like so many other NY Times readers, some sort of limousine liberal, anti-business, anti-free market, pro government intervention, lefty. I was always a laissez fair kind of entrepreneur, against government regulation and supportive of the Adam Smith, Invisible Hand notion that market forces will stabilize even the most troubled of times. 

What happened? Why am I agreeing with the Times? I have even agreed with Paul Krugman’s last two columns! Paul Krugman!! Has the world turned upside down? Am I um, changing? Hell, 31 readers  have “liked” my last comment on the editorial! I used to get about three. And my friend Pam told me that I was echoing some things said by Ariana Huffington. 

Now that I ponder it, I see two forces at work. 

  1. The problems and injustice I see is so pervasive that both conservative and liberal sensibilities have common ground. The recognition of the problems and need for action is bi-partisan. 
  2. I have always viewed the government’s role as that of a referee who should not interfere with the game, but ensure that the rules are followed. I am pissed because the ref is not whistling a foul. We just had a mugging on the field, facemask, pass interference, balk, travelling, high sticking, offsides, and no whistle. 
As I have posted before, Jefferson envisioned a nation of self employed farmers. He didn’t envision a free market dominated by entities so huge that they could push the government around. But that’s what we have. What has happened in the financial markets is not capitalism or free enterprise as much as it has been the exploitation of the free market and the bastardization of capitalism. And our government has given us acronyms that haven’t worked instead of showing some backbone and making the lenders, who were bailed out with  hundreds of billions, do the right thing. 
And the Times, like myself, is asking the umpire to call the foul. It isn’t political. It is just obvious. 

 

Related Articles
Active Rain Dear Home Seller: A Letter From Your Prospective Buyers  [Note: This is a draft from 2015 but I thought it worth publishing. Some think a buyer’s letter to a seller is a smart move, others don’t. I think it has everything to do with what’s in that letter. This is an example of perhaps what not to write, borrowed slightly from one that was […]
Active Rain Father’s Day 2013: The Notebook While I am known as a guy who is never seen without a gizmo in my hand, I actually think better sketching my thoughts on a yellow legal pad. Typically, when meeting with people they’ll see my iPad, smart phone, and computer closely followed by that very old school pad and pen, and only then […]
Active Rain Why Your Market Report Stinks After a discussion of market reports in a real estate discussion group geared at forwarding the industry, I am prompted to revisit what makes a market report good or bad in terms of consumer response.  First, if what you produce gets no consumer response, you need to change what you write. If what you do […]
Home
Properties
About Me
Blog
Neighborhood News
eho-89x83.png
realtor_white-71x83.png

Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Statement | Fair Housing Notice

© 2024 Rand Realty