[MD] Sin Part 2

[Case]

[Platt]
No business or government can predict economic activity accurately.
When the government tries to and starts messing around in economic
activity, the results can be catastrophic -- as the great Depression
illustrated.

[Case]
Both government and business relies on statistical models of probability to
forecast the future. Businesses focus on the short term and this is always
going to be more successful than any attempt to make a long term prediction.


Government has a duty to be involved in economic activity, from the
regulation of the stock market to influencing the money supply to
establishing what economic activities are even legal to engage in. Neither
political party in this country has suggested that this stop. They typically
quarrel about specifics and degree but not over the principle itself.

I thought the lack of government restriction on stock speculation and buying
in the margins was the major cause of the depression but that was before my
time.

[Snip gratuitous Snot Stews on both sides]

[Platt]
I see an ungrateful world for all that we've have done for them.

[Case]
Why if we are so wonderful and benevolent would they be so ungrateful?

[Case]
The military is built into our system but we have always been rightly
distrustful of its use.

[Platt]
Me, fearful? Of what? Second-hand smoke? Global warming?
U.S. debt? Poverty in our midst? Running out of natural resources?
Seems to me you leftists are the ones who are fearful. As for government
policies, what policies do you have in mind?

[Case]
Point well taken we are both fearful. I am fearful of our lack of
stewardship for the environment and our waste on non-renewal resources. I am
fearful of the widening gap between our richest and poorest citizens. I am
sure I could point to specific government policies that make me feel
threatened in these respects.

But you seem to fear hostile foreign barbarians and evildoers. I am asking
if you think our government is innocent of culpability in generating this
hostility.

[Platt]
Yeah, I know. You leftists saw no threat in allowing the butcher of Baghdad
to get atomic bombs and see no danger from Iran or radical Islam. After all,
their vow to wipe Israel off the map and kill all infidels can't be serious.

[Case]
I actually supported the invasion of Iraq for the same reason many others
did. I was stupid enough to believe the Bush administration. I am rather
Pollyanna in that respect. I actually do have faith in our system and I
believe that our elected officials are generally honest in the pursuit of
their duties. 

[Snip nasty name calling on both sides]

[Platt]
I suggest you read Lila to discover the "central issue of morality."

[Case]
Don't bother with extended quotes please but what chapter do you have in
mind I would like to take a closer look.

[Platt]
Common decency means you fight to defend liberty but otherwise mind your own
business. That's what it means to be an American.

[Case]
I went on at length about God's answer to Job. I'll spare you the details
but remind you of Cain's answer to God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" to which
God might have answered, "Not any more."

It is curious, don't you think, that what you scoff at, I think are the very
best things about our country; while what inspires you makes me want to rend
my garments in grief and rage.

Maybe it is the fact of that paradox that makes us both proud to be
Americans.