Pitching or Catching, The Bailout

Pitching or Catching

One's opinions and preferences, whether political, religious, or social, depend upon the circumstances of their viewpoint at the time of the circumstance. This viewpoint, in turn, is influenced by the level of control that one has over that circumstance.

At its most simple definition, as espoused by a distant mentor:

"It all depends on whether you are pitching or catching."

This simple definition says that if you are in charge of the circumstance you make one sort of decision.
If you are on the receiving end as a beneficiary you make one sort of decision.
If you have to pay or provide at your own expense you make a different decision.
If you are being taken advantage of, you make one decision.
If you are in danger you make a different decision.
If you are a victim you make a different decision.
The circumstance remains the same, just where one's place is in the circumstance. Our personal opinion on any issue can change dramatically when our role in the dynamic changes to our benefit or our detriment.
We all want small government, but we want to benefit from a big government decision. We all profess wanting less regulation when less regulation makes us money, when it is our money making someone else benefit to our detriment, we want more regulation.
We all want cheap goods even if our neighbor loses their job to provide it. When it is our job that is lost in the name of cheap goods we want government to mandate change.
We all want a big fat 401K until the lost jobs and that attendant loss of income causes our 401K to plummet.

Now we want the government to bail us out.

I guess "It all depends on whether you are pitching or catching".

dw