America’s Spring of Meribah
The Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt for some significant time when God led them out of Egyptian slavery into the wilderness. Of the many things He would teach them in the wilderness, the earliest lessons involved the recognition that they were not worshiping Him but a god of their own choosing, a god who would meet their every whim, their every desire, without any responsibility or work on their part. In other words, they still had the slave mentality. The waters of Meribah, quarreling or rebellion, showed them, and us, that man really seeks a “santy claus” as god. Are we any different today?
I came of political age in the early 1970s while carrying a rifle for America. I spent a good chunk of my life defending “freedom” as a second generation military man. I traveled as far west as Korea and as far east as Turkey. In the end I realized that I was not really defending freedom as much as I was buying time, time for American’s to make decisions about the future of the country. The decisions Americans were, and are, making were not for “freedom” but for enslavement. This was the history of the 20th century and continues apace in the 21st century.
The Hebrews were used to a life that gave them everything: food, shelter, protection in return for their labor. When they felt that they were being abused they cried out for relief and God gave them relief from Egyptian slavery. However, they had not changed their way of thinking; that is, they were still looking to a centralized power source to give them everything they needed, or wanted when they wanted without deprivation, work, or cost. When they were not supplied on their time schedule, when they were forced to suffer need, they rebelled, even to the point of wanting to commit murder (Ex 17:1-7).
Ever since Teddy Roosevelt, Americans have looked to the government as the solution to their problems. In fairness, government from that time since has conditioned the population to look to it for solutions to their problems because this gave government more power. But, in order to have more power it must have more money and more control. Americans voted to give the federal government more money and power with the 16th and 17th constitutional amendments. Supposedly the 17th amendment gave more power to the people to elect senators by popular vote; however, this released the federal government from accountability to state governments and people have little interest in the intricacies of government that popular voting appears to be along party lines according to a few trigger issues. In other words, the people lost the power to control their government through their local and state governments with the 17th Amendment. Americans also became officially enslaved with the 16th Amendment which gave all their income to the federal, and also the state, governments. The governments then decide how much of the money you earned you get to keep via the income tax codes and each year you are allowed to keep less and less of your earned money due to the various taxes and controlled inflation allowed by the government.
This suits most Americans very well. Through public education they have been trained to look to government to “fix” their problems, and when the solution is not to their liking or their timing, they quarrel with the government, even to the point of murdering agents of the government; i.e., police, presidents and so forth. The reliance on government has not quelled discontent but increased discontent to such an extent that professional dissenters are paid to complain for the people; we call these professional dissenters reporters and pundits. At first they provided this service locally and for a short time during the day; however, there are so many that they broadcast around the clock clamoring to be your voice of discontent on any issue that appears to generate more viewers. Americans have lost more power to their pundits who are supposed to be reporting news but are now in the business of forcing news to the point that borders on continual propaganda. All claiming to speak for YOU.
I would like to report that some groups do not want the government to be the source for ALL their needs, but I cannot. The poor are herded into urban vote farms and given subsidies for their votes, others are herded into rural vote farms with the same enticements. However, these enticements are predicated on the receivers remaining dependent on the government so that they are actually taught to remain victims in order to receive their stipends in hopes of receiving more funds. But, it is not just the poor that looks to the government. Farmers have long suckled from the government. Farm subsidies are nothing more than government control to keep food prices at an artificial level. During the Great Depression the federal government was destroying food to keep the farmers happy rather than giving it to the poor who were actually starving! The financial system is deeply embedded with the government through the privately owned, non-federally controlled, Federal Reserve system that controls your inflationary tax while printing more fiat (fake) money. People believe that the more dollars they have, the more wealth they have but this is not so. Dollars do not translate into wealth, especially when they are printed independent of economic wealth. The reason many food products are made with high fructose corn syrup is: 1) the sugar industry is protected and thus the cost of sugar is artificially high and 2) the corn industry is protected and an outlet is needed for their crop so it is put into gasoline (causing many problems) and into your food (which causes many problems). Both industries are dependent on corporate welfare and your tax dollars.
The reason medical costs are so high is due primarily to government control. The government controls how many beds and what types of services any hospital may provide. They also control how many ancillary services can function in a given area (radiology, labs, etc.) which keeps costs high. Government also tries to control the artificial costs it has created by controlling reimbursements, especially since it has gotten into the the reimbursement arena since the 1930s. The government “promises” security but then rations the very means to maintain physical health security to “control costs”. The “Obama” healthcare insurance plans really do not insure people since they are high deductible plans that basically cover little costs until several thousands dollars are paid by the beneficiary, who usually cannot afford such costs or they would have had medical coverage previously. In other words, the government promises but reneges on those promises while blaming others.
So, here we are in another presidential election year – whining. What will the government do for me? How has the government failed me? Why won’t the government listen to me? Why can’t I get the government to do what I want? Why? Why? Why? This is slavespeak! The will to provide for one’s self is basically extinct. Rather than look to God, and self-reliance, people really look to government and those the government has made wealthy to meet their needs. Neither of these groups truly understand or care about the needs of the people. They are only interested in providing the wants in order to secure votes in order to further the power of self and government!
So, Americans sit by the barren rock begging its current initiate (president) to strike the rock (government) to provide the water (money, food, and services) it demands. There is a trickle but only enough to quell the loudest voices and secure the largest number of votes but never enough to provide true interdependence. Thus, America has become willingly enslaved under the guise of “freedom” in a manner that did not require firing a shot. Welcome to the waters of Meribah, waters that flow only to those who complain the loudest, to keep them ensnared the tightest, to make the government ever more powerful until the voting system becomes a sham and a shame, our shame.