One Nation Read online

  In the 2012 presidential election, tens of millions of Americans did not vote even though they were eligible to do so. I have had an opportunity to talk to thousands of such people who have become so discouraged and disillusioned by the bickering of their representatives that they have simply given up on our nation and its promise to be centered on the people. I encourage those people to fight rather than give up, but this should be a fight for unity, not for a party. If Americans simply choose to vote for the person who has a D or an R by their name, we will get what we deserve, which is what we have now.

  I would love it if party labels were not allowed on ballots and people were forced to actually know who they were voting for. Blind loyalty to a party platform is tantamount to relinquishing the important duties of intelligent voting. Leaders of both parties want to have voters who will blindly follow them and not even consider what’s being said by their opponents. This was not the intention of the multiparty system. Rather it was to make sure that different sides of the issues were carefully examined, allowing the average citizen to then make an intelligent choice. I believe that it would be beneficial to the future of our nation to find ways to increase the likelihood that voters would actually know about the person for whom they are voting, rather than their party affiliation.

  Strength in Unity

  In 1968 I was a diehard Detroit Tigers baseball fan. I listened to almost every game and could tell you quite a bit about each of the players. That year the Tigers won the American League pennant for the first time in thirty-seven years, which resulted in great unity across racial and socioeconomic barriers throughout the city. Even more remarkable was the team spirit that created almost miraculous comebacks in what appeared to be impossible situations. Every night there was a different hero and the esprit de corps was magical. The World Series was played against the St. Louis Cardinals, who amassed a three-games-to-one lead. Although things looked grim for the Tigers, no one in Detroit was willing to give up on them, because of the incredible comebacks they had witnessed all season long. Because of that unity and belief in one another, and the backing of the fans, the team won the last three games, taking the World Series crown in seven games. Anyone who does not believe in the power of unity certainly did not experience the 1968 Detroit Tigers.

  That same kind of unity is possible among the people of our nation with the right kind of leadership. But we the people must for ourselves determine that we will be indivisible regardless of the leadership, and we must exercise our ability to identify the divisive forces and vote them out of office.

  If we are to put an end to division, people from all political persuasions will have to stop fighting one another and seek true unity, not just a consensus that benefits one party. Right now, some of the Democrats say, “We all want to help people,” but their next sentence is about how Republicans want people to die. One Democratic representative famously said, “The Republican health plan is for people to die quickly.” Republicans, on the other hand, often talk about how Democrats want to change America into a socialist country. They may not intend to sow seeds of discord but the constant spewing of hatred is having a deleterious effect on the unity of the nation. The America haters and extremists may not be that concerned about the well-being of the country, but reasonable people from both political parties must be able to see the big picture and not fall into the traps set by those who wish to divide and conquer. We must be able to sit down and engage in civil discussion without casting aspersions on others.

  Action Steps

  Pretend that you are in a different political party from yours and that you must give a rational defense of something you currently strongly disagree with that the other party embraces.

  Ask the people who spend the most time around you to let you know if and when you are being intolerant.

  Determine to study at least two alternatives to the Affordable Care Act.

  Invite friends and neighbors over for a civil political discussion.

  ENSLAVING OUR CHILDREN—DON’T SELL THE FUTURE

  Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.

  PROVERBS 13:22

  I have a lot of very wealthy friends and have watched with interest over the years how they raised their children. One family I knew always provided their several children with the best of everything including limousine drivers and top-of-the-line clothing. There was always an abundance of maids, gardeners, and other people to care for personal needs. Unforeseen circumstances abruptly ended their life of luxury and no significant inheritance was left for the children. If they had lived a slightly less extravagant lifestyle and put away a small fraction of their enormous income each month, the tragic event would not have had such a profound effect on their lives. Living large and disregarding the future was a major mistake for this family, and it continues to be a predominant issue for today’s families from all socioeconomic groups.

  Unfortunately today in America, many parents appear to be more concerned about their own lifestyles than the financial landscape they are leaving behind for those who will follow us. Our national debt, which is the accumulation of annual federal budget deficits, is now approaching $17 trillion with a trajectory that could take us well beyond $20 trillion within the next few years. These astronomical numbers represent new financial landmines unlike anything we have encountered previously. We do not know what the result of this kind of debt will be, but it can’t possibly be good!

  Debt Leads to Disaster

  There are recent examples of what happens to nations that continue to accumulate debt without regard to its consequences. Like ancient Rome, modern Greece continued to expand the dole for all citizens while increasing taxes on businesses and doing nothing to foster the economy’s growth. As it became clear to lending nations that this pattern was continuing with no imposition of fiscal responsibility, they became less willing to make additional loans to the Greek government, precipitating a crisis. As the Greek government worked to cut down on spending, Greek citizens rioted in the streets to protest austerity measures that decreased the monies they felt they were entitled to receive from the government.

  It is hard to believe that our leaders in both political parties do not understand that they are jeopardizing the financial future of the next generations by allowing continued debt accumulation, even if they are slowing the rise of that debt. The government recently announced it will pay down our debt by $35 billion in the next quarter. This sounds good, but that equals about 0.02 percent of the total amount owed. They will probably pat themselves on the back and proclaim what a great job they are doing while at the same time borrowing even more during the next quarter rather than continuing the downward trend in borrowing.

  Our Ballooning Debt

  Here are some interesting facts of the last few years, demonstrating how exponentially the problem is increasing: In 2007 the United States federal debt was 64 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). By 2012, the federal debt had risen to 103 percent of GDP. It is still growing, although admittedly at a slower pace. The implementation of Obamacare and the progressive aging of the populace at large will do nothing to help these numbers.

  And as of March 19, 2012, the national debt had increased more during the three years and two months of the current administration than during the eight years of the previous administration. Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that this is a huge problem and that whoever downplays it or uses rosy language to assuage the anxiety of the populace is disingenuous at best.

  Many, particularly in the Democratic Party, seem to feel that this level of debt is not a serious problem because the U.S. government has the ability to print money. Unfortunately, this solution cannot be sustained indefinitely because the more money we print, the more we devalue the dollar, thereby gradually weakening our financial foundation. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt decoupled the U.S. dollar from gold, our currency has been backed only by our good name. Not only has t
his resulted in fiscal policy problems, but it has also steadily increased the gap between the wealth of the rich and poor in this country and provided the opportunity to do a lot of fancy currency manipulation. Nothing good will happen if we continue along this reckless course of fiscal irresponsibility.

  Economic Growth as a Solution

  I believe there is some relatively painless budget cutting that can be done, because there is a fat layer in virtually every governmental budget, but the real emphasis should be on growing the economy, which has been extremely sluggish for the last several years. I have great respect for economists and their complex theories, but I don’t believe sophisticated theories are necessary to spur economic growth in our country. We have the highest corporate tax rates in the world, which obviously encourage many U.S. companies to conduct business outside of America. We also have high individual taxation rates and high rates for small businesses. None of this is conducive to economic growth, particularly during times that resemble a recession.

  Couple this with excessive governmental interference in business and the imposition of a national health care program that adds substantially to the cost of each employee and you have a formula for persistent anemic growth. If the rest of the world, and especially China, loses confidence in America’s ability to handle its fiscal responsibilities and calls for repayment of the money we owe them, an unimaginable economic crisis would likely ensue.

  Ignore the “Spiders”

  When I was nine or ten years old, some friends and I were climbing a rock mountain located in Franklin Park in the Roxbury section of Boston. We felt we were invincible and paid little attention to the signs forbidding such activities. I had climbed those rocks on many occasions and really didn’t even consider the possible consequences of falling—death or great bodily harm. This particular day, I was very high on the rock face when the ledge I was standing on broke, leaving me dangling with my hands tightly gripping the protruding rocks. At that point I realized that my life was in danger and it was my own fault. I earnestly prayed to God asking Him to save me and promising that I would never engage in such stupid activities again. Suddenly off to my right, I saw a cubbyhole large enough to admit my hand, providing me a better position from which I could place my feet and continue my climb. I have never been a fan of big, hairy wolf spiders and the cubbyhole featured a nest of them, but considering the alternatives, they looked like beautiful, welcoming creatures and I happily placed my hand in their domain. Gaining that leverage, I was able to complete my ascension to the top of the mountain for the very last time. I was never even tempted to climb it again.

  Our government reminds me of myself in this story as it pushes its debts higher and higher, ignoring the warning signs posted by history. Feeling invincible, it brushes off concerns about the fragility of financial markets easily panicked by rumors as a result of the vulnerability created by debt. It ignores the U.S. Constitution, our chief warning sign, which describes the responsibilities of the government toward the people, attempting to preclude a massive and intrusive governing structure that would require so much spending.

  If we fail to heed these warnings, unexpected disaster will leave us desperately grasping for solutions. Eventually, something is going to slip. Just as entering the domain of the spiders was not a pleasant option for me as a child, adopting a policy of fiscal responsibility is an unpleasant option for our government, which seems to have difficulty distinguishing needs from wants, but there will be no other option.

  The difference between my story and the government’s situation today is that I learned my lesson after I was miraculously spared, while our government seems incapable of understanding the danger ahead. The debt burden it is creating will have to be paid by someone at some point in time. When we look at history, we see that the ancient Greeks had a complex and large governmental structure that necessitated an ever-growing tax burden on the populace, eventually reducing many of them to serfdom. Although the serf-like population was provided with certain handouts by the state, it was essentially rendered into slaves to the government. Are we in the process of doing the very same thing even though we have examples from the past of the consequences of such a direction?

  I do not doubt the sincerity of individuals in both political parties who want to use government to enhance the lives of the citizenry, but I seriously doubt their understanding of our nation’s founding principles. We the people need the application of smelling salts to awaken us from a slumber that imperils the financial freedom of the next generations. Only through careful analysis of what is going on today and comparison of today’s events with the things that have gone on in societies that preceded us, will we be able to recognize and correct our course. We are engaged in nothing less than a war of philosophies, one of which will lead to prosperity and continued freedom, and the other, which will lead to fundamental changes in who we are and our role in the world. We get to decide which of these futures we want to leave to our children, but we only have a short time to make that decision.

  A Balanced Budget

  Balancing the budget is not a goal out of reach. The last time the United States experienced an annual budgetary surplus instead of a deficit was during the Clinton administration, when the House of Representatives was controlled by budgetary hawks and the White House was controlled by a president who was pragmatic and not an ideologue. Even though Democrats and Republicans had different ideas regarding fiscal policy, they were not so entrenched in their positions that they couldn’t understand the other side and compromise. If that spirit of cooperation had continued with multiple years of budgetary surpluses, by now we would have had a much smaller national debt or perhaps as in 1835, no national debt at all, as occurred under the watch of President Andrew Jackson.

  Although our financial problems may seem large and complex, there is nothing about them that is not subject to commonsense solutions. The question is are we willing to abandon ideological gridlock and learn to compromise for the sake of those who follow us in this nation? Also, do we know the meaning of the word sacrifice anymore, and if not, are we willing to learn what that word means and to enact policies that are truly compassionate toward our progeny? We have time to do it if we are willing to act now before the crisis occurs.

  If we spend our money wisely, we can still be quite comfortable without stressing about budgetary shortfalls. We don’t even have to be heartless when it comes to reducing the size of government, even though those who promoted such massive growth were not particularly caring regarding our long-term financial well-being. If we simply do not replace those workers who retire, natural attrition will quickly work in our favor. It might be necessary to retrain and shift some younger workers into areas that need them, but the result will be the same: a slow shrinking of government bloat. These kinds of simple and compassionate solutions cannot only make a big difference in the budget but will improve the esprit de corps.

  During the recent sequester and government shutdown, the executive branch of government, which has the power to decide where to focus the budgetary cuts, made little or no attempt to target the cuts in such a way that they would have a minimal effect on the population at large. Whatever the reasons for this lack of compassionate effort, maturation on both sides of the political aisle should lead politicians to more intelligent budgetary solutions. Everyone knows there is waste and duplication in virtually every federal program. To deny this is a complete divorce from reality. Nevertheless, there are those who insist on continually raising the federal debt ceiling and consequently the federal debt. The directors of every federal program know where the excesses are and if directed to cut a certain small percentage of their budget, could do so without wreaking havoc on the program and its beneficiaries. In order to be fair, the argument should not be about which programs to cut, but rather about what percentage gets trimmed from every federal program with no sacred cows. Such cuts should be made every year until we eliminate the federal budget deficit.

  Th
e people who should be the most concerned about our growing national debt and our future obligations are the young people in our society who will be saddled with massive taxes if we don’t alter our course. When I was in college, students were much more involved in what was going on in the country and there were frequent marches and protests. Other than the misguided Occupy Wall Street movement, there has been very little heard from the next generation about current fiscal issues. It is essential for the next generation of young people to start paying closer attention to what is going on in our country and in the world because it will profoundly affect their future. They need to make their voices heard in order to create some guilt among the members of my generation who are greedily spending their future resources.

  Action Steps

  Try to live for one week without accumulating any additional debt.

  Calculate how long it would take to pay off a national debt of $17 trillion if we pay $1 billion per day with no further deficit spending. This does not begin to address the over $90 trillion in unfunded liabilities associated with entitlements. Determine which candidates in the next election would take quickest action to reduce the debt.

  Discuss fiscal responsibility with a young person in your sphere of influence this month.

  When you engage in your next financial endeavor, ask yourself, “How will this affect the next generation?”

  PUSHING BACK

  If you fail under pressure your strength is not very great. Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God knows all hearts, and He sees you. He keeps watch over your soul, and He knows you knew! And He will judge all people according to what they have done.