American Politics in a Nutshell
I am amazed at the amount of confusion as to why certain presidential candidates are leading despite the obvious foolishness of their so-called positions. The Bible states {paraphrased} that in a democratic society people will elect people that tell them what they want to hear (2Ti 4:3-4).
The pundits, one really cannot honestly call them reporters of news anymore, scream, “Watch me, Listen to me,” like grinders at a local carnie show (I use the word grinders because all the networks now hire attractive, short-skirted, long-legged women to shrill their current line). In America’s two-party system the choices are less confusing than in European democracies that have many parties shrilling the same basic message with delicate nuances of differences. Rather than a discussion of facts and serious content, presidential debates are show-pieces for the contenders to toss out similar one-liners (sound bites) for their particular grinders to transmit to the masses in support of each side’s favorite myth; err, I mean narrative.
One party has a history of government as the “solver of problems”. For the past one hundred years this party has pushed its agenda of government intervention for all the problems confounding its citizens. This took them from the point of near extinction to massive dominance despite the abysmal failure of government solutions. The reason is quite clear, they buy votes; err, they provide government assistance for those less fortunate (an ill defined populace that eventually includes everyone). This party began with the assumption that the money you make it theirs and they will let you keep some of it depending on the needs of the government. The American people thought this a good idea and voted for the 16th Constitutional Amendment. The people also voted themselves sole controllers over the federal government in the 17th Amendment thereby removing any control the state governments, professional politicians, may have been able to still exercise over the growing massive federal bureaucracies.
One of the major heroes of this party kept winning the people’s hearts, minds, and votes despite the clear facts that his policies extended and worsened the Depression by years during which time he won the hearts and votes of the farmers by supporting their prices increases by destroying food that the poor desperately needed. Another of its heroes went against this party line with the slogan, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” This clarion call coupled with a tax decrease actually gave money back to the people; unfortunately, he was killed and his policies quickly reversed. However, one of the legacies built upon this man’s legend was the legal distribution of wealth from the “haves” (who must have stolen it) to the “have not’s” (who have not earned it). This shaped party politics during our life-time. This party has run and won based on the amount of money it promises to give in exchange for votes (legal bribery). The artistry has been the manner in which this party has co-opted so many diverse interests into its fold based solely on its promise to grant them their desires in exchange for votes! An effective if not very subtle strategy but none the less, the myth that has one positions of power without the need for results for many years.
What has the other party offered? It began with the slogan of unifying America and then the world around, jobs?! While the other party offered granting of wishes and money, this party offered the opportunity for work and the myth of smaller government. Well, over the past two or three generations of Americans raised under the education system dedicated to the previous party and the support of Christendom in the form of the Social Gospel philosophy, this party found itself nearly extinct. Americans confronted with the promise of payment compared with the promise of jobs, they chose payment, of course! Now comes forth a candidate that speaks their language and this party is, confused! He promises to not decrease their government handouts, they speak in support of their desires and he does something no one has seriously spoken of before, he promises to limit the number of applicants for government handouts that may require those already receiving payments to get less! There is not the slightest mention of decreasing the size of the federal bureaucracies, which is OK since this party has reneged on this promise many times, actually increasing the size of the federal government each time in power! All challengers to this candidate seek to speak his foolishness and demonstrate their own ineptness to understand the basic problem with the system.
America was never a Christian nation, or so sound America directly in the 1803, Treaty of Tripoli. We can put that myth to bed. America was never a Christian society, though there have always been Christian elements influencing American society. The public education system was developed to indoctrinate citizens in a Christianized, Protestant morality in support of the federal government’s goals, whatever they may be at the moment. As the population moved from true Christianity, supported by Christendom, the education system also changed the morality it taught the nation’s future citizens. None of this was done in secret, it was all a matter of public record for anyone who wanted to take the time to read. But, Americans were not readers but doers in search of leaders who would tell them what to do and this has been the consistent message to those seeking nearly any office for the past century. It is a symbiotic relationship: “Tell us how special we are, and we will vote for you (provided that you buy our vote by granting our desires). If the grinders were really intelligent, they would be exposing this message but then they would be losing ratings and thus they buy your attention, and their ratings, by telling you what you wish to hear – just like the candidates they grind for, and against.
Thus, America is the nation it is because of the people. The people vote for the candidates, The Constitution begins with, “We the people…” In America the responsibility always rests with the people. What kind of people are we? Normal people, sinners who reject God and God’s truth in return for the furtherance of our myths of greatness and jingoism. The Bible speaks to such a people by calling us, “fools” (Ps 14:1-3)! As a people we do not seek for God, we do not seek to do good, we do not understand the Scriptures! As such, we are caught in snares of our own making for we despise the truth of God while we writhe in the passions of our own making (Pr 1:7-19). The truth of the Bible testifies against us as a people; yes, we claim to seek peace but we do not bring peace, only war and immorality due to our godlessness (Je 6:13-14). And we shall fall for we claim to come in the name of God while we demonstrate that we have no shame at all for we, and our representatives the politicians, speak without shame that which in previous generations was known to be debauchery. What kind of candidates are running for president this year? Candidates in our own image, unfortunately, This is the true religion of America.
It may be a government of the people, but once a party gets in power, they become elitist thinking only they know the best course of action. One of the indicators of this is how the “universal health care” legislation was passed.
I would also add that America has already planted the seeds of its own destruction. It is the same thing that caused the collapse of the Soviet Union which is a financial collapse due to what I label “central planning”. Central Planning is the power elite which tries to implement social equality thru wealth redistribution. To achieve these goals means a huge bureaucracy that controls all of the economy and decides how much is produced and where it is shipped to. But the flaw in central planning is that it becomes disconnected with the true needs and becomes horrendously inefficient and wasteful. (for example the long lines of shoppers waiting to buy toilet paper) The end result is spending way beyond income and ultimately financial collapse. While our economy is based on a free market, our banking system, higher education, and medical system are not. Oh, and also the farm assistance and Social Security. The banking system or Federal Reserve tries to control the economy thru central planning and has now tried to prevent a recession thru massive monetary infusion. But it is an experiment doomed to fail. The economy will never recover and when stimulus wears off, the recession which was only postponed, will resume, but now with much greater magnitude because much more bad debt has to be written off. But the FED cannot allow this to happen, so like a crack junkie, another hit of cocaine or monetary infusion will be implemented, but it will take even larger infusions to have the same effects which will then after some time wear off and then …etc. The end result can only be an endless series of “tarps” resulting in the government taking over more and more of the economy until we are just like the Soviet Union. And just like them we will end in financial collapse.
Both higher education and medical are funded either directly or indirectly by the government or central planning. I say central planning because it is not a free market system. This is evidenced by the fact that the costs for a education degree or medical coverage have increased at 3 or 4 times the rate of inflation for at least the last 30 years. It has gotten to the point that the middle class can hardly afford either. And the solution always seems to be more government, more central planning.
The more America votes for those who tell them what they want to hear, the bigger government will get and the closer we become like the Soviet Union. I pray that the Christians will not be blamed for the failure of these policies. For America is on a slippery slope to destruction and the progress is accelerating.
I agree with the specifics you discuss. Yet, I believe that the biblical approach is to recognize the failure of any man-made system. Does that mean we are not to seek a pattern based on the Bible? No! But, it does mean that we will fail because we are sinful people. Even Christians have sin in the flesh and will fail as evidenced by Peter, and each of us. Even Christ fails by this criteria because at the end of the age during the Millennial Kingdom sinful man rises up to seek the destruction of Him and all who follow Him. The problem is sinful man. There is no system that can overcome sinful man and no system that sinful man cannot corrupt. While I agree that Central Planning frequently falls short of expectations, Austrian economics cannot quite explain how sinful man will not dominate those less powerful than himself. By recognizing that no man-made system will really overcome sinful man, I seek to help Christians stop floundering in the world systems and to seek to better mankind in the only manner the Bible discusses, through the Gospel. We will live in whatever system that develops, just as Paul and Peter lived in the Roman system, with the main aim of spreading the Gospel free from political ties. Thanks for your insight.
I did not mean to imply that a system based Austrian economics was the solution to saving America. My point was that rather than America being a “Christian” nation (whatever that means), it is a lot closer to being an Atheistic nation like the former Soviet Union. There are so many who do not see any connection and would deny it. Even though we have an election with more than one candidate, because of sin and unbelief, the “worst” candidate always seems to be chosen. It is the illusion of free will but in fact is bondage to sin. As you have clearly stated in your response, the root of the problem is sin and the only remedy is the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel is the only task that Christians have been commanded to do by our Lord Jesus Christ, but we seem to have so many other priorities.