After reading several other blog posts about it, I decided I needed to read yesterday’s David Brooks column in the New York Times, “The Great Seduction by Debt.” The column itself is eminently quotable; two good commentaries are here and here. The second one is written from a conservative Christian angle (which is not surprising to me — I run into Jesus again and again again in my hunt for frugal tips, probably even more than environmentalism, but that’s a whole other post in itself), but it’s really more of a call for unity. Reading Brooks’ column, the right-wing angle isn’t hard to see. This is the very definition of conservative thinking, without the political baggage:
“The people who created this country built a moral structure around money. The Puritan legacy inhibited luxury and self-indulgence. Benjamin Franklin spread a practical gospel that emphasized hard work, temperance and frugality. Millions of parents, preachers, newspaper editors and teachers expounded the message.”
Brooks actually has me excited about reading the think-tank report summary he references, which is here. I hope this exchange of ideas means more people are starting to see what I do: a rising social consciousness, one that transcends left and right.
mom said,
June 11, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Wow–what a good idea, to bring anti-debt attitudes into the mainstream. Just like anti-smoking. The reason we have this enormous problem is that somebody is getting a bang from it. There is profit to be made, so what if people are hurt? As I’ve said before, money trumps everything.