The View From Here

As the government draws closer to finalizing plans to bail out (read prop up) the financial system there is no shortage of commentators talking about it.  I have already joined the fray but I will again briefly.  I have heard several people saying that, as conservatives, they think people should have to bear the responsibility for their actions.  I agree with this.  If banks have given out loans that were to risky, they should have to bear the consequence that comes with that risk (good or bad).  If people take out loans that allow them to live above their means they must also bear the consequences of those choices.  Maybe they will be more careful next time.  Happiness is not a right.  It will be pursued but it is not guaranteed.  If the government has allowed and encouraged these things to happen people should reconsider who they elect and what role government should play in these matters.

The same commentators who espoused personal responsibility, in the next breath said that they understood why this bailout must happen.  What they are really saying is that if the bailout does not happen then their way of life will have to change and they don’t want that.

I am of the opinion that when we bear responsibility for our actions, even if it means that we fall flat on our face for a time, we will rise a better person for it.  When we have to face something hard it makes us stronger.  If a child totals their first car, driving recklessly, and then their parents pay off the loan on that car and buy them a new one, what did that child learn?  If, instead, the child must save up money for the first car then he is less likely to be careless with it.  We take care of what we care for.  If we have no reason to care for it (because someone else will take care of it) then we will wreck it again and again.

I have to admit that I don’t want my life to change because of this.  We could have gotten a much larger house than we did.  We could have credit card debt.  We could live paycheck to paycheck and not save for the future.  But we have made choices not to do those things.  I am not a part of the problem as far as these things are concerned.  But if our country has to fall on its financial face in order for my kids and grandkids to have a more responsible country overall then so be it.   If we prop things up now the fall will be so much harder at a later time.

We are living during a brief time in history when a stable life is possible.  Change is the norm, not stability.  We can’t hold on to stable thinking that change will never come.  If we do, when change does come, it will be so much harder.

A bail out now means that our lives will continue as “normal” for the most part.  If we don’t bail out our financial system we will probably fall into some hard times but people will learn a valuable lesson.  I doubt the latter will happen.  Remember this, a bail out does not fix the hole in the ship.  The ship has to be fixed or else we will continue to find ourselves with pail in hand, tossing water overboard.

Brian