Economic Recovery Begins With Forgiveness

Does holding a grudge work? The Occupy Wall Street movement is just the latest sign that Americans aren't ready to let go of the trauma of 2008-09. I'm partway through Ron Suskind's recently released Confidence Men, which recalls the events and decisions made during 2008 and 2009, and at times reads like a laundry list of policy mistakes made at the start of President Obama's administration. In addition, Ezra Klein put out a great piece over the weekend detailing all the reasons why the economy and fiscal policy evolved the way they did since the start of 2009, and why we remain stuck in this economic and political quagmire. What's the underlying emotion behind our deepening political paralysis as a result? I was having a debate with a friend of mine on Twitter about Occupy Wall Street after he linked to this picture, which has been making the rounds by those hostile to the movement:

His ultimate point, which has been made by many, including Rick Santelli in his infamous rant, is this: "I don't see why an individual who worked hard and saved prudently should pay more taxes to fund debt forgiveness." It's a fair point, and one that I would have made and agreed with as recently as six months ago. I was as die-hard libertarian as they come. My very first investment decision after graduating from college in 2003 was buying a precious metals mutual fund. In 2007, at age 26, I gave the max donation, $2,300, to Ron Paul's presidential campaign. I handed out flyers and knocked on doors for him in that great conservative hotbed called San Francisco. In March and May of 2010, I spent a week and a half volunteering in Kentucky for Rand Paul, knocking on doors and making phone calls. I attended his private reception the night he won the primary in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Because of my activities and donations, I was a guest of Ron and Rand Paul's at Rand's oath of office reception at the US Capitol this January. I attended CPAC in February.