Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; (D&C 98:10)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Will the laws of God will be suspended?

I just read Dependence Day By Mark Steyn from a link from Hugh Hewitt.  The first thing that caught my attention is what we said about our debt.

Within a decade, the United States will be spending more of the federal budget on its interest payments than on its military.
According to the cbo’s 2010 long-term budget outlook, by 2020 the U.S. government will be paying between 15 and 20 percent of its revenues in debt interest—whereas defense spending will be down to between 14 and 16 percent. America will be spending more on debt interest than China, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, Turkey, and Israel spend on their militaries combined. The superpower will have advanced from a nation of aircraft carriers to a nation of debt carriers.
The tone of the article does not get better after this.
One-fifth of British children are raised in homes in which no adult works. Just under 900,000 people have been off sick for over a decade, claiming “sick benefits,” week in, week out, for ten years and counting. “Indolence,” as Machiavelli understood, is the greatest enemy of a free society, but rarely has any state embraced this oldest temptation as literally as Britain.
He concludes with a dire prediction.
Without serious course correction, we will see the end of the Anglo-American era, and the eclipse of the powers that built the modern world. Even as America’s spendaholic government outspends not only America’s ability to pay for itself but, by some measures, the world’s; even as it follows Britain into the dank pit of transgenerational dependency, a failed education system, and unsustainable entitlements; even as it makes less and less and mortgages its future to its rivals for cheap Chinese trinkets, most Americans assume that simply because they’re American they will be insulated from the consequences.
...
Do you think the laws of God will be suspended in favor of America because you were born in it? Great convulsions lie ahead, and at the end of it we may be in a post-Anglosphere world.
This article brought to mind something I read a month ago, Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators
“Fifty years later, our generation’s Sputnik moment is back,” Mr. Obama said. With billions of people in India and China “suddenly plugged into the world economy,” he said, nations with the most educated workers will prevail. “As it stands right now,” he said, “America is in danger of falling behind.”

If Shanghai is a showcase of Chinese educational progress, America’s showcase would be Massachusetts, which has routinely scored higher than all other states on America’s main federal math test in recent years.

But in a 2007 study that correlated the results of that test with the results of an international math exam, Massachusetts students scored behind Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Shanghai did not participate in the test.
We are being surpassed by countries with the will and work ethic to succeed in math and science.  Is it so important that America be the best at everything? No. What concerns me is that we are selling ourselves into slavery.  What I want is a world of independent, hard working, free people.  Free to pursue happiness unchained by debt.  Free to achieve great heights, free to help those in less fortunate circumstances to rise up and become self sufficient.  What we need is a revolution in commitment and work.

3 comments:

Nan said...

I like what ou said about helping people that are less fortunate to rise up and become self sufficient. I don't mind helping people out, as long as they make an effort to help themselves and not just expect the handouts.

D. Winifred said...

"What I want is a world of independent, hard working, free people. Free to pursue happiness unchained by debt."

But how? As a 24 yr old most of my peers are already buried in college debt. They couldn't manage to pay the $40,000/yr tuition, so they took out loans. It seems my gen is doomed before we even get a chance to work hard...I worked through undergrad to pay my way but not everyone can do the same. What are practical things youth can do to stay out of debt? Any suggestions? We feel like giving up b/c we can't find jobs and are afraid to take out loans...there's got to be another way...

Richard Alger said...

As for personal debt you have to be careful what you borrow. There are ways to pay it off. Dave Ramsey has some good insight into how. I hope you find a way to become independent of it.

I hope we as a nation do so also.