At present, THE issue of our day politically has been or is being crystallized in places like Greece. THE question we face is whether we will reduce the promises and entitlement that we presently have or whether we will cling to our entitlements and be content to incessantly steal from each other. The choices are clear—embrace reality or cling to the fantasy. If we do not change our ways and even come to terms with the fact that we have made promises that we obviously cannot keep, we will perish as a free people (maybe we already have). This is not a prophetic utterance—any simple glance at a rudimentary spreadsheet will confirm the fact that we have embraced a view of life that is fantasy. The silver lining has now worn off the clouds.
What is worse? It seems quite obvious presently that we will choose fantasy over reality. We have set a trend presently with bailouts (more coming as California becomes our own little Greece) which are built on this principle: if the government so deems it can hand over massive amounts of public funds to whomever it wishes and if it deems this to be in the public’s best interest. Once this principle is entrenched—and we must remember that both parties supported it (the first bailout occurred under “conservative” President Bush), now, under the veil of reform the principle is being even further entrenched. Some see conspiracy behind this. I am doubtful. It is worse than conspiracy. It is sincerity. Politicians simply want to keep their jobs and consolidate their power. They do this buy by keeping the voters happy—they do this by putting off as much pain as possible for as long as possible and by letting everyone have as much pleasure as possible now. This does not seem pernicious at first blush, but consider the metaphor of a doctor and a patient. Our country is obviously ill. We are piling up debts and making promises that we can’t keep. We are like one of those hyper-obese people that often shows up on a heart tugging documentary on HGTV. When we go to the doctor (our political friends), they should tell us the obvious truth—you need to stop eating 15 quarter pounders and three quarts of ice cream a day. However, that diagnosis might hurt the feelings of the patient, make him sad, and, perhaps, send him looking for another doctor (at the ballot box). Thus, the politicians of the left and right steer clear of doing any real doctoring. Instead, they prescribe the best drugs they can to keep the patient’s bodily systems working under the horrific weight of the massive obesity. The patient, us, longs for the tickling words of the doctor telling us that we can have our cake after we just gulped it down. This might work for a while, but in principle it is the END OF DEMOCRACY. I will say it again. IN PRINCIPLE, THIS IS THE END OF DEMOCRACY. This lowering of the tastes and rejection (even irrational rejection) of the obvious truth is what the ancient feared and loathed democracy. Name the principle, you say. Here it is: If a people will not govern themselves, then they WILL NOT govern themselves.
This, however, should not lead to hopelessness for believers. Our hope is in the Lord. Who made the heavens and the earth. We must remember Psalm 146:
Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Put no confidence in princes,
Nor for help on man depend;
He shall die, to dust returning,
And his purposes shall end.
As Christian parents and for those of us at classical schools, we must remember to work this economic reality into all that we do. We must continue to teach our children to embrace reality, spreadsheets with black numbers, hard work, and, when necessary, pain.
