FAMILY AGREEMENT

I just returned from my holiday vacation visiting relatives where arguments abound. To my surprise, my brother and I agreed on politics and economics for the first time in memory. He lives in Texas, has been a life long Republican while I live in Southern California, vote Democratic and support various progressive agendas. Until now, I have been cynical that the crisis on wall street had changed anything; but my brother ended up arguing in favor of new financial regulations deemed necessary by unbridled greed on Wall Street and further pointed out that human nature always tries to get away with whatever it can thus needing to be curbed by rules enforced by an agency with some teeth. And he was disgusted by the huge salaries paid to CEO's of financial organizations. Perhaps, the crises of the last year, despite the political turf wars taking place on the internet and in Washington, D.C., have created more common ground throughout the nation than party leaders are willing to acknowledge. I remain stunned, pleasantly so, and maybe a touch more hopeful than I was before my trip to Texas.