On Government

I inadvertently triggered an hour long heated discussion about America’s present economy and government. Let me give you a little background. This discussion was between a professor of ancient scripture (particularly Old Testament) and ancient languages (like Babylonian, Ugaritic, and Hebrew) and an accountant. They conversed/argued about a number of issues ranging from universal healthcare, the present quality of European and Canadian economies under a socialist government, government involvement and control in civil matters and non-civil matters, the difference between a civil matter and a religious matter, government’s involvement in the housing crisis, etc. Phrases like “right wing lies,” “moral obligation,” “government forcing the people,” and “freedom of choice,” were used in abundance.

All of this because I innocently asked the accountant what he meant when he said in the course of one of our conversations that government subsidies had only inflated the housing prices. There is a lot that I do not understand about our economy and I wanted to know what the “government subsidies” were and I wanted to know how they effected the housing prices. Somewhere during our conversation, the other individual who must have heard some of the things the accountant was saying, entered the discussion with his own point of view.

It was something else, let me tell you. Probably similar conversations about the same topics occur on a daily basis, country-wide or even worldwide, but this is the first time I ever had the debate standing right next to me. I have heard both sides of the issues expressed very passionately by individuals, but never have I heard both sides in the same room at the same time. (The debates I have heard politicians participate in do not count, because no matter what side they are on, they always swing to the middle in order to please the most people…which is understandable.)

Neither individual was particularly hostile, but both were very vehement and I knew from the beginning of the conversation that neither opinion would be swayed more than a couple of inches. I know that they did not want to be considered “close-minded” but it was very difficult for either of them to give way to a concept they did not believe. In the end, the closest thing to reconciliation was the accountant stated something like “well, thank you for your comments. You have changed my opinion slightly with your perspective. Now if ‘such in such’ does happen I will be a little less unhappy about it than I previously would have been.”

Here’s what is difficult for me to swallow: both men are good. They are both religious and their desires and hopes for humankind in general are almost identical—the difference lies in the how they believe those desires and hopes should be realized. They have the same religious and moral beliefs, and both are convinced that the political party they support will do the best in supporting those beliefs. Do you not find that odd and a bit difficult to reconcile? I also noticed that one of them would say something like “Look at Germany. Under their socialist government, they are currently enjoying the best economy in the world” (and this from a man who lived in Germany years ago for an extended period of time). Then the other would say something like, “No, Germans are experiencing an economic crisis there in many respects.” Now, who is right? Both are actually very well-informed gentlemen. They both keep current on the issues and read a lot, etc. But obviously, they are getting their information from very different sources. How do you know which source is correct?

Mark Willes, CEO of Deseret Management Corporation (meaning KSL, Deseret News, etc.) spoke at our 4th annual Neal A. Maxwell Lecture last night and he entitled his remarks “Reinventing the Church’s Media Businesses”. He has a very impressive work history (he was publisher of the LA Times for awhile) and he is an incredible speaker. I enjoyed his lecture immensely and at one point, he told a story about an issue that a reporter was researching. Apparently, they had heard reports that Africans were still selling slaves to individuals who would pay high enough. Many journalists would conduct several interviews and hear different opinions and pose questions like “Is Africa still involved in a slave trade?” to a variety of individuals, perhaps some of them African government representatives. The news story would have both sides of the issue but would it be at all conclusive? However, this particular journalist asked the question “Can I purchase a slave in Africa” and then took two individuals, one Caucasian and one African-American, and sent them to Africa to see if they could obtain the answer to that question. They did. They bought two boys who had been taken from their mother by slave traders (the boys, of course, were returned to their home). I thought that was interesting.

So what questions do I need to be asking and what actions do I need to take to find the real answers? Would I actually need to be a part of the government machine to know what’s really going on there, because honestly, I hear such different accounts from different people about government involvement? Then I hear of people living outside of the United States who love their socialist governments, and then I hear of people living outside of the United States who are not happy with their socialist government. That is not surprising- I am sure it, like any other form of government has its advantages and its disadvantages. It just makes it more difficult for me to wrap my head around it—largely because the people trying to “inform” me disagree with each other in a huge way. (Writing my frustrations down in this manner makes me feel a little bit of what it must have been like for that young 14-year old boy. Hmmmm…)

How on earth am I supposed to vote on issues and help to elect leaders and become involved with state and federal governments when I currently have no idea what I am doing, when I am not “informed” and when I do not feel prepared. I know most of the fault is my own, but I do feel, with all of the information and facts and opinions that are raining down on you incessantly, it is difficult to reach conclusions for yourself in these matters. At the same time, as I grow older, I feel an increasing sense of duty and responsibility to be involved and to become “informed” and to prepare myself to engage in these issues and help where I can. My question is how?

My mother’s father was a professor at BYU and is a fairly liberal republican and his wife is a democrat and perhaps they would have agreed with the professor who was debating in my office this morning. I am convinced that every single Roberts would have been arguing on the side of the accountant, with the same amount of fervor. My parents are Republicans on paper and issues like this were discussed in my house but it is hard for me to know exactly where my daddy stands. Anytime I said something with certainty in my voice, he always helped me to see the other side of the issue. I’m not saying he agreed with the other side—he just wanted to be sure that I knew that there were other ways of thinking. What is a girl to do?

I will tell you this much: I feel we will flourish the most as a country and as a people if we give the government the least amount of power that we possibly can. But the flourishing will only happen when we, as human beings, use our self-interest (that oh so dangerous trait that must exist to drive a capitalist society (did I get that right Nathan?)) to work hard, to use what we earn to provide for our families and to put into the economy, but then discard all self-interestedness to help those who are not able to work or function as we do live as full and happy a life as we . Which political party supports that? Is that kind of existence attainable? How do we become those kinds of people on a national level? What do we do on a community level to attain those goals?

Sounds a bit utopic and it doesn’t really allow for job shortages and a million other factors that can prevent many from being able to provide for their families.

At any rate, I am babbling—and obviously about topics that I know very little about but I just wanted to express my frustration. I am very frustrated.

I just asked Alison, who live in England for the majority of her life, what she thought about socialist governments and she told me that they never work for very long. She said that the post-war socialist government in England was nice for awhile, but things started falling apart. She has lived under a socialist government for a long time and she expressed her opinions without reservation, but very level-headedly. I appreciate that. She thinks it would be a huge mistake for United States to move towards a more socialist government.

The accountant is going to bring me a sort of “economics book for dummies.” I can’t keep up with the current issues if I don’t even know the foundational economic principles, eh?

Pictures Worth A Thousand Words

This is Forrest. Elin posted this blog and I am going to edit a bit before anybody reads it. I just want to say that my pants being wet down to me knees is a result of sitting in the front of the "boat" on Splash Mountain, and getting soaked, with water. It is not a result of anything that might have happened due to any fear I might have felt from sitting in the front of the boat.