Peggy Noonan is one of my favorite writers, and as I sit here writing this digital post, I acknowledge with a good amount of irony that I have a newspaper publisher to thank for the introduction to her work.

As a former speechwriter to Reagan and Bush Sr., Peggy Noonan is responsible for some of the most memorable political lines of the era: "a thousand points of light", "a kinder, gentler nation", and lots more.  She later served as a consultant to what I believe to be one of the best television programs ever produced, "The West Wing," and continues to write books and articles for the New York Times, along with many other publications.

One of her recent pieces talked about the social and psychological effects of the faltering economy.  When she asked an unnamed Wall Street giant for advice on securing one's future, he replied in an entirely unexpected way:  "Everyone should try to own a house, he said, no matter how big or small, but it has to have some land, on which you should learn how to grow things."