Putting your mouth where your money is

Paul Krugman’s Monday column in the New York Times had two great quotes. (He was hot.)

1. Upton Sinclair: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

Some of the arguments being sold and brought in the current civic debate are comically bizarre. (In fact, The Comedy Channel’s Daily Show has become a huge success just by showing what's being said so viewers can laugh at it.)

And yet people who should know better continue to participate in this foolishness. Or, worse yet, refuse to call their fellows on the insanity of it all. Smart, respected people who are in a position to do a lot of good.

To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, “It is difficult to get people to understand something when their power or position or, yes, their money too depends upon their not understanding it.”


2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, reflecting on the stock market crash and Great Depression: “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics.”

In this case, it’s a radical reversal of that quote that seems to apply: We should known by now that headless self-interest is bad economics but, in these days, we seem to have forgotten that headless self-interest is bad morals too.

See, I'm not accusing these people merely of political posturing or insincerity. No, I'm talking about something much worse.

We’re missing men and women of candor and courage in our national dialog. And we badly need them right now.