Money for Nothing - the Dire Straits We're Now In

I have a new article posted on Michael Wilson's Preaching Politics


Money for Nothing - the Dire Straits We're Now In about the Million Student March and their demands for free tuition, etc.  I placed the text below but it's easier to read on the site, and the picture Michael chose fits nicely but doesn't reproduce here.

There's also an incredibly powerful article on the same site, done by Dr. Mark Creech - Stop Just Looking On and Do Something  I'd urge everyone to check it out. The picture it discusses will move you like nothing else.

Quote :

On November 12th the Million Student March took place on over 110 campuses nationwide, with thousands of students walking out of classes, demanding free tuition, cancellation of all student debt and a $15 minimum wage on campus, among other things. The organizer, Keely Mullen appeared on Fox News and was interviewed by Neil Cavuto. [1] When asked where the money for all of this was to come from, she couldn’t give a cogent answer, merely responding that it should be taken from the rich.

There is a widening gap of income disparity between the top 1% and the rest of the population, and it’s true that the middle class is shrinking. But the philosophy of taking from the rich has become a mantra for those who have grown up in nations where they they’ve been taught that they’re entitled to a life without discomfort or deprivation. When asked if she thought those making over $250,000 yearly should pay 90% in taxes, she opined that this would be fair. Asked if someday, when she and her friends reached the point where they made that much, whether they’d gladly pay that tax rate, she said absolutely. Yet when asked whether she and her family would pay more now so that these benefits would be available to all, she responded that she came from an “incredibly working class family, and my family is already on numerous forms of government assistance….”

Does this surprise anyone? Having grown up indoctrinated in the concept that government (which to spoiled students and increasing numbers of the population, is that vague entity which exists to guarantee absolute safety, protection from offense and to provide freebies) is meant to pay for all we want but can’t get otherwise, there’s no conception that government programs don’t exist in a vacuum – that someone actually has to work to pay for them. In a fantasy dreamland like someday, it’s easy to give anything away. But when it comes to the here and now, giving isn’t contemplated; it’s getting that’s the focus, no matter who else has to pay.

When confronted with the fact that if we took 100% of all the money from the top 1% of the population, that wouldn’t even fund Medicare for 3 years, her response was that, “if we’re to the point where the rich is (sic) paying 100% on their taxes, then we’re on the road to socialism and we’re going to have a completely different type of public infrastructure.” We’re already a long way down that road. Yet she has no conception of what that really entails for society because when asked about Greece, where years of extremely generous social welfare now has led to forced austerity, leaving people with insufficient money to eat and afford housing, her answer for them, again, was to “take it from the rich.” Listening to this interview, I was reminded of my garbage collector.

Each week I rush out at the last minute to put bags in the can, and as a result I’ve gotten to know the man a bit. For many years there were two men, one to drive and one to hop off and collect the bags, tossing them in the truck. But for the last three months there’s only been this single man doing it all. When I asked about it, he said it wasn’t a temporary arrangement due to vacations or illness. This is his new reality because recently, every time they hire someone, the new man lasts about three days before quitting because it’s too much work.

Both of these things are symptomatic of a generation raised to look to government rather than to God. It’s not just that they’ve been indoctrinated into leftist ideals in the schools, but the virtual war against faith has led to youth who know nothing about Him and his precepts. To them, the Bible is as foreign as a forgotten novel; God has been pushed completely out of their consciousness. This obviously has led to a breakdown in morality, as sin becomes rampant and accepted. But it has done something more subtle; it has opened the door to things like political correctness and a rejection of the basic principles which led Western civilization to reach the heights it did. We don’t need a large influx of immigrants from the third world to perform jobs; we need to return to the values that built this country, and one of them is to value work for its own sake, as the Bible counsels.

As we head toward Thanksgiving, my thoughts go to the Pilgrims, who endured years of poverty in the Netherlands before that desperate voyage on the Mayflower. After their arrival, things only became harder, as near starvation set in. This was compounded by winter weather with only one real shelter built before sickness hit so hard that only a handful were well enough to care for all the rest. Fifty percent died that first winter, yet they weren’t discouraged or bitter. They expected to endure trials and continued to worship and praise God. When winter ended, even though their strength was slow to return, they immediately set about planting crops and building homes, living out those biblical principles they studied and valued.

Though their original charter specified that everything would be owned in common until the debt from their voyage was repaid, they quickly found that scheme unworkable. Once again, the biblical principle of each providing for his own led them to work harder and to build a strong, successful colony. The Protestant work ethic was part of the foundation of America’s prosperity, with capitalism tempered by biblical concepts like accountability and justice. Although it isn’t usually recognized as the result of our increasingly secular culture, the sense of entitlement has opened the door for our downfall just as surely as overt sin has.

The Bible isn’t just a rulebook of do’s and don’ts. It’s a guidebook for an entire way of life, one which provides all of the best things if we honor God. Those things don’t always include material prosperity, though it’s more likely to occur if we follow biblical teachings. But two of the most important things the Bible teaches are gratitude and responsibility. It doesn’t focus on accumulating; it focuses on character. The Mullen interview is one worth watching if you have any doubt about what removing God from American education and society has led to. It’s sobering enough that it should lead us all to collective repentance over what we’ve wrought, and into prayer for another great awakening to turn things around.


Resources:

1. Fox News: Neil Cavuto Interviews student organizer Keely Mullens

money 4 nothin, all yer chicken 4 free...could life b so good...