Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I'm
republishing this old letter because of our current national emergency. I dressed up the type styles for you and
reedited it. What Moses and Jesus
command is not optional. This is a
Christian problem. I pray that we take
it to heart.
Yours in
Christ,
Herb Swanson
aka Augie
Originally
written around Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Quote
Forgive
us our Debts
Dear
family and friends in the Lord Jesus Christ,
A
recent magazine article in Consumer Reports, “Student debt: Your threat”
caught my eye (May 2012, page 29ff). Here
is a snapshot:
Consumer
Reports is not an organization known for its use of hyperbole, so I take its
advice very seriously. I’ve used it for
years as a faithful guide in making purchasing choices. It’s the first place I go to evaluate a new
product.
The
article features a one-third page drawing of a diploma shaped hole, which
someone is futilely trying to fill, one shovelful at a time, with sand. The sand is not accumulating at the bottom of
the diploma scroll, but falls endlessly into the black void below. The article has lots of useful statistics and
seven handy suggestions for getting out from under debt at our level. It’s an article well worth reading.
It’s an Old Problem
The
first time I was made aware of this problem was way back in the sixties. Our Federal government began huckstering and
shilling college education loans to gullible college students and their equally
gullible parents. The sales pitch went
something like this. When the Federal
government gives or promotes loans to college students, more students will
graduate, graduate incomes will go up, tax revenues on increased incomes will
multiply, and the Federal government will earn back all its loan money with a
handy profit. “What’s good for America
is good for Americans.” Right?
Wrong! Dead wrong!
Even way back in the sixties anybody that passed first year algebra in
high school and had even a casual grasp of the Laws of Supply and Demand could
see that this wouldn’t work. The demand
for college graduates could not increase substantially; certainly not in pace
with the increasing flood of new graduates. The supply would quickly overtake the demand,
the value of graduates would go down, tax revenues would crash drastically, and
the system would inevitably bankrupt.
Yes, that’s right, it will inevitably put system America and Americans
out of business, as we see it doing before our very eyes today.
It’s an Outrageous Problem
A
word or two about lending money to gullible teenagers.... This is Statutory Rape[1] and it
ought to be against the law. Moreover,
those who have had their hands in this filthy crime should be put out of
business and severely punished for their culpability in this felony. But no, they still lead us, and will continue
to lead us because we’re not going to do anything about these crimes against
society. This is Statutory Rape and it’s
not even against the law; but it should be.
An Even Older Problem
Nor
should we be surprised. Our Federal
government pulled the same stupid stunt on American farmers in the previous
generation. The new scientific farming
methods were sold, largely through the A&M systems we all love. Thousands of farmers leveraged into new
tractors and the irresponsible application of chemical fertilizers, herbicides,
and pesticides. This battle still rages,
but it has been greatly sobered up.
Nobody foresaw the damage that DDT would cause. Or the decades it would take to clean up the
mess. Actually, DDT may have gotten a
bad rap, but it is the one illustration that everybody understands. America was in love with science, bad
science. Thousands of farmers went
bankrupt. Fortunately, to their credit,
the A&M systems have been working as hard as anybody to pick up the pieces
and undo the damage done by the irresponsible application of science.
We Survived
Somehow,
we’ve managed to survive as a Nation.
Hanged if I know how we made it through, but we did. But it ought to be perfectly clear by now
that the cure for a bad hangover is not another day and night of binge
drinking. Eventually this debt cycle
will kill us. It’s just a matter of time
and chance, like playing Russian roulette with five out of six chambers
loaded. The odds are going to catch up
with us. Actually, it’s worse than
that. We live with the delusion that
we’ve made it through the first two rounds unscathed. But, the cirrhosis of the liver, lung cancer,
and chronic bowel problems are all in advanced stages. It’s just a matter of time. There ain’t no chance to it. Radical surgery is necessary to save the
patient’s life.
The Utopian Fallacy
I
wish that this were not the tip of the iceberg.
College changes the way young people think. It creates in them, higher and unrealistic expectations
of wealth, living conditions, and lifestyle.
So, for example, the kid that might have been tickled to have a “32
Deuce Coupe” and work hard to get it, now wants a “Beemer” or Mercedes that he
can’t afford: so, of course, he borrows money to get it. After all, money does grow on the Federal
government tree. College teaches
something else; it teaches how to loathe work.
Many college graduates don’t want to go to work, many have forgotten how
to work; frankly, some are even unfit for work.
The simple joy of working has taken a damaging hit. Becoming a painter or a welder is no longer a
God honoring life goal. Who wants to dig
ditches for a living?
The Global Economy Fallacy
Meanwhile,
back at the ranch, our same Federal government, despite the screams of union
and other skilled workers, was busily pumping jobs out of this country into
other nations. We don’t need these jobs,
our new education programs will replace them with better jobs. American can manage the world. The rudest awakening came for me when I
discovered that even engineering jobs were being outsourced overseas. Isn’t it clear that we’re being sold down the
river by our own leaders, both Democrat and Republican.
The Great Disaster Amplifiers
Even
with this multiple punch: mounting debt, foolish expectations, dislike of work,
and the massive disappearance of jobs, we’ve scarcely begun to examine the
problem. We’re still above the waterline
of the iceberg. Under the water are the
great amplifiers, the real sinkers of the unsinkable steamship America, still
on her maiden voyage. I’m not absolutely
sure which ones are biggest, or even if I know them all. Of course, there is the false salesmanship of
corrupt leadership, which must be defeated.
We’ve already seen how utopianism is the mental, psychological driving
force behind debt, foolish expectations, dislike of work, and the massive
disappearance of jobs. The great
amplifiers are in addition to all that.
This is what I think their order of importance might look like from the
top down: inflation, taxes, and unearned entitlements.
But
the, still unnamed, greatest amplifier of all, is the vanishing belief in and
respect for God. God will be obeyed, no
matter how little we think of Him.
Hostile Parasites
Inflation,
taxes, unearned entitlements, and a bajillion other things are parasitic to the
American economy. To be blunt, these
parasites are sucking the lifeblood out of us, and don’t know how to stop, and
won’t stop until they kill us. They don’t
care. Their own selfish goals are all
that matter to them. They don’t care
that they are killing the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg. And these parasites are evidently too stupid
to realize that, when the goose dies, they die also. Or, maybe we are the ones being stupid. Maybe the parasites, just hole up all the
real money in Swiss banks and move on to a new host victim.
Inflation
We
all know that inflation works by simply printing new worthless paper or
electronic money. Inflation goes up, the
value of the buck in our pockets goes down.
We get taxed or robbed without realizing it. It’s invisible, painless, and ruthless. Nobody’s going to complain about it. It’s even against the law to complain about
it. We’ve all had our fill of the tax
discussion for another year; but long haul, one way or another, taxes are going
up. As business collapses, taxes must be
increased to maintain the great Federal
government, power monopoly. Unearned
entitlements are just another tax aren’t they? What these things all do is get a grip on
debt and other problems and make them tens, hundreds, thousands of times worse
than they really are, all by themselves.
In fact, we could have looked at debt as a problem amplifier as well.
Our Own Criminal Government
But
isn’t speaking out against the Federal government Anti-American somehow? And being Anti-American is somehow or other
Anti-Christian, as well. If we still had
a democratically chosen, representative parliamentary constitutional
government, “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” I suppose, that
would be true. Unfortunately, that
government is long gone. But, I’m an
incurable patriot. I served a few days
short of eight years in the American military.
And, I’m trying to figure out, what happened to our country, because
it’s 90% gone. Criticizing this Federal-level-leadership
lust for power grab, which is sustained by utopian dreams, unbridled spending,
and endless giveaway programs; is not, cannot, and never will be
Anti-American. In fact criticizing this
parasitic Federal mess is the single most important Pro-American and
Pro-Christian thing that I can think of doing right now. The fact is, that our Constitution is being
raped too.
It’s The Lord’s Prayer
Yes,
this rape is also Anti-Christian. These
essays started out as applications on the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts....” The application, intent, and clear meaning of
the Lord’s Prayer was reinforced by considering the Sabbatical Years and the
Year of Jubilee as taught by Moses himself.
The teaching of Moses was then related to the teaching of Christ in Luke
1, “The Magnificat,” Luke 4, “Christ’s declaration of Jubilee,” Matthew 18,
“The Unforgiving Steward.” If anyone is
still not convinced, or thinks that Matthew 18 is too strong, maybe reading all
of Matthew 25, but especially verses 34-46, will help.
Yes, It Certainly Does Mean That
Tell
me one more time that the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts....” has no
physical or temporal meaning. Are we
going to continue to live in denial until the end comes. This is exactly what the Lord’s Prayer
teaches and we are in default of our simple Christian obligation to our
brothers and sisters. Moreover, we are
being two faced about it, and have become a bunch of phony hypocrites in the
bargain, because we are so silent.
False Preachers Don’t Help
Thousands
of Christians watch their favorite TV evangelist every night while he spins out
yarns about utopian dreams, and scary Armageddons. So we, gullibly, continue to expect the
spectacular and catastrophic; while, in reality in the chair beside us, the
patient is bleeding-out one drop at a time.
We’ve become like the little Dutch boy.
Except we refuse to put our finger in the dike and plug the hole.
Worse yet, even with our finger in the hole, we steadfastly
refuse to yell for help. Our silence is
both deafening and damning. Christ
cannot be happy with us.
But
all we must do is keep on screaming for help, until help comes. Thirty million or more Christians can make a lot
of noise.
This
is Statutory Rape and it’s not even against the law; but it sure should be.
Yours
in Christ,
Herb Swanson
aka Augie, short for Augustine
aka Augie, short for Augustine
Unquote
[1] The
author is well aware of the contradiction of terms, which are used throughout
for emphasis. No crime can be statutory
unless it is against the law. It is outrageous
to live in a society where, children, widows, the aged, and the weak are not
protected from being preyed upon by the crafty, glib, and strong. What is true of the sexual abuse of teenagers,
ought to be equally true of financial abuse.
Many adults are not adequately equipped to see through these immoral and
unethical instruments of theft.
Deceitful language buries and hides fees and penalties deep within contractual
documents so that even trained lawyers cannot find them. This is wrong, and it ought to be criminal.
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