Winning Words 11/9/11
“Keep things precisely as they are!” (The New Yorker cover) The NYer cover showed a cartoon of some Wall St bankers (looking like the Monopoly rich man) picketing and carrying signs. One was today’s quote. Others read: “I’m good, thanks!” “Change, Shmange!” “Leave Well Enough Alone!” A follow up cover could show a picture of people in need of change, and it wouldn’t be a cartoon. ;-) Jack

FROM TRADER MATT: I heard something from a friend yesterday that is hearsay but interesting if true. The Tea Party has been an orderly non violent movement. Occupy Wall Street has been violent and out of control. There is a message somewhere in there.////FROM JACK: A truism...We hear what we want to hear.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: One might also include “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water”. We certainly have economic problems but we can’t fix them by attacking the symptoms. As any Christian should know; men are not angels. There will always be people who will try to optimize their personal gain given the circumstances and environment that they live in. So is the real problem the fact that some (arguably a very small minority of) people are driven by greed and self-interest? Or is the real problem the fact that we have created an economy than manipulates the markets through interest rates and legal mandates and has resulted in a world where it is more important to be connected and know how to "game" the system than it is to offer a decent product at a fair price? The disinterested observer would probably find enough blame for both sides rather than just picking on the easy target. ////FROM JACK: My concern is for the truly needy who have no voice and who live in despair. "Keep things precisely as they are" is not going to help them. I see a parallel with Luke 16:19-21, the Rich Man and Lazarus.

FROM CL IN MICHIGAN: if we keep things as they are we will soon have a world of very old people. Do we need or want that???////FROM JACK: Like it or not, change happens. Jesus was all about change...especially with regard to how the poor are treated.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON: I confess, I'm afraid of change and would like to stay as I am; but poor people and people slipping from a middle class lifestyle to being poor people are just constantly becoming more numerous and right now don't think my family is very safe from becoming poor people either. It's probably a blessing that our country becomes more aware of what poverty looks like so we do better by other countries in the world who've been struggling with this for so much longer while we enjoyed eating high on the hog. We're still on the sunny side of the road. Thanks for quoting so even-handedly.////FROM JACK: Those of us who are living rather comfortably probably would carry the sign: "Leave Well Enough Alone." WWJD?

FROM JG IN MINNESOTA: Today's Winning Words reminds us of a quote that we heard some time ago. "Some people are willing to change not because they see the light, but because they feel the heat." Did we hear it from you? It is one of Mark's favorite quotes.////FROM JACK: I like that quote, too. I would rather that people change, because it's the right thing to do....instead of because, it's expedient.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER: You don't think the irony of it is sad?////FROM JACK: If I were to preach a sermon about it, I would use as my text: Luke 16:19-21. That's what moved me to write as I did today.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: The cover of the Economist today is a hamburger bun with nothing in the middle. It's titled the Missing Middle.////FROM JACK: I was trying to make a sociological statement today, but I can see where it might have led you in the direction of economics.