The Modern Theatre was replete with guests during last week’s Ford Hall Forum on money and power, a debate that heated up when views on government spending and morality clashed.
The Thursday debate, moderated by Government Department Chair Dr. Rachael Cobb, featured Hedrick Smith and Dr. Yaron Brook. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times journalist and editor, Emmy Award-winning producer and correspondent for the PBS show Frontline, and author. Brook is the executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute and a columnist at Forbes.com.
After a short introduction by Cobb, Smith was granted the podium to present his side of the argument.
“I think we all know our country is in trouble,” Smith said. He went on to describe the way the country has gone from successful to unequal, outlining that between 1979 and 2011, 84 percent of the nation’s growth was distributed to the top one percent of the country.
“I’m trying to understand how we moved from a generally equal democracy…we’ve become almost two Americas,” he said.
Smith described the cycle of power from the 1970s, when the middle class was strong during the environment and peace movements. He recalled that at the time workers received good wages, people spent said wages, and so on the cycle went.
Then, it was time for the opposition to take the stand.
Brook began his speech at the podium saying that he was pleased to see a full house. His discussion focused mostly on the government’s power to coerce citizens.
“The government coerces us daily…today the government has redistributed wealth, maybe that has to do with the decline,” he said with a sly glance at Smith. Brook described that economic power is obtained voluntarily – a person purchases something because he or she views it as more valuable than the money it costs.
“In my ideal society, government has no coercion,” said Brook. He touched on the fact that life should not just be about money, but also things like happiness and satisfaction.
The two were allowed then to debate on each other’s views, which turned out to be a mild back and forth exchange. Smith said he could not get into Brook’s world of morality, and Brook said that banking is at fault for financial crisis.
Cobb opened the discussion to attendees for a round of question and answer, and that is when things really began to heat up.
The first question focused on Smith’s practical views opposed to Brook’s stance on the issues of morality, which showed the divided crowd as eruptions of applause were granted to either side. The most intense part of the evening though, was when a man stepped up to the microphone and challenged Smith on the content of his new book, Who Stole the American Dream?
“Shame on you for that,” the man said, referring to the lack of references to the left in the book. A woman sitting in the balcony then shouted, “Shame on you for what you say!”
Cobb’s job proved difficult for a moment as she tried to calm emotions in the Theatre.
The remaining questions and answers proved lackluster compared to the outburst, but the Ford Hall Forum did end with a round of applause for both Smith and Brook.
