Too bad your grandfather was a commie. Communism has worked out great where? That’s right. No where. Sounds like you didn’t notice that lesson of history.

In your article # 6 I presented a challenge to therumpus.net. I will repeat the challenge here:

Write an article and ask your readers who think they are better than Romney, and who think they are without fault and want to judge him, to spill their guts publicly about their past mistakes. Please ask the readers to use their real name and post their photo and tell us the most shameful things they did in their past. Perhaps this challenge can be used to show that one side of the political divide is morally superior to the other. To assist in that, please indicate your political party.

One more thing, I suggest that the writer Steve Almond should be the one to write the article I am suggesting. He appears to think he is morally superior to Romney, and is judging him publicly, so I also suggest that Mr Almond be the first to present his most shameful acts to the public, complete with his photo, and his political party.

I await, patiently.

There is a “basic dynamic of human life that drives our political biases.”

“Bill and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt talk about the psychological underpinnings of our contentious culture, why we can’t trust our own opinions, and the demonizing of our adversaries.”

Well the fact of the matter is that Americans have had an “unfair” advantage over the rest of the world for years. Why do you think Americans are hated in many places? Because of wealth and success. Don’t worry, now it will be our turn to envy the Greedy Chinese who only think of money! Look how they exploit their own people who have no freedom! Who now drive cars! Who took our jobs because we stopped buying high labor cost goods made in America. Whom we sent our money which we borrowed back and then couldn’t repay because we chose to shop at Walmart. It isn’t Bain or Romney, it is us. It is Asia. It is humans.

If you want to preserve democracy, which I think is a good thing, then let’s hire the businessman with the track record to run this American Enterprise and negotiate with him for more goodies once we are more solvent because then we can still be a democracy.

A centrifuge, by nature of the centrifugal forces it creates, would concentrate wealth at the bottom of the economic test tube.

I also love your writing, look forward to reading pretty much anything you’ve written. The idea of imagining other people in this picture is such a great way to get your point across. Your grandfather, those dimes, your memories…wonderful. While I do think there is a natural tendency toward acquiring or hoarding for security or power, that comes from ancestral times of scarcity, I think the kind of greed we see in this culture is of the culture, something we’ve been taught. J

You mention your daughter. Mine, too, at the age of ten, saves her money. I am very upfront with her about when I am running low or when my budget doesn’t allow for eating out or even a Gatorade at the convenience store. She always offers her money, says if I need to borrow, I can. And I do, and I pay her back. She is neither stingy with her money nor frivolous, and she keeps a written record of her money on a post-it on the refrigerator.

The other day, a news anchor reported something being bought at auction for thirty million dollars. My daughter asked, “How does someone spend that kind of money and still have money to spend?” Good question.