Compassion or Trickery?

The Feds have decided to bailout homeowners, to subsidize mortgages so some folks don't go into foreclosure. There are all kinds of hard questions not being asked. Aren't we simply protecting people from bad decisions? Why should those of us who chose to live within our means being forced to bankroll other citizens?

The claim is that foreclosure is bad for everybody. Excuse me, but it's not nearly as bad as creating a culture in which the general population feels free to cast aside restraint, because the kind, loving, all-knowing Federal angels will swoop in to save them. There is an old example in economics that says if you want people to drive safely, put a spike on the steering wheel instead of an airbag.

Central to this push for subsidizing mortgages is the idea that it could happen to anyone. Every last one of us is on the brink, just a few paychecks away from disaster. So, we should buckle up and have compassion. Uh....simply not true. Foreclosure does not show up by surprise one day. Thomas Sowell said it well recently, that put another way, what we're seeing is many Americans living so stretched out, so financially risky, that a few common misfortunes in life push them over the edge.


That kind of decision making should not be subsidized, I don't care how bad it hurts for those involved. The cliche "saving for a rainy day" is cliche precisely because of its merit. Everyone experiences a transmission going out, a medical bill, getting laid off. It's part of life, learn to deal with it and be responsible. I know some people were not taught that by their parents, but we can't go back in time. They will never learn if we insulate them from their decisions.

(Let me emphasize that this is something wholly different that caring for those close to you. If some family or friends of mine were going through hard times, which can happen, then I would gladly open my home to them.)

But here's the impetus. People gaining wisdom through experience, and thus making wiser decisions, and the market restoring itself to balance....these are things for which politicians cannot take credit. Individual learning and success is poison to people like Obama, because it takes him completely out of the picture. They want you insulted from your decisions by their "compassion," and soon enough you won't be able to make very many decisions.

The essence of liberalism is this: We care, we understand. You can't make it on your own, and if you do something foolish and fiscally irresponsible, then don't worry about it, you were too stupid to know any better. We will fix it all, make everything alright, just become our indentured servants. You don't have it within yourself to overcome the challenges of life, and we will get even (on your behalf) with the people that do.

This leads to people relying on gov't for their security, safety, provision, happiness, and anything pleasurable in their life. Precisely what Obama & Co. want, I might add. The independent course of events that might lead us out of this has to be stopped. Otherwise, the voting blocs might wake up and realize they don't need a 3.5 Trillion dollar nanny.