Opus 2018-029: Headlines: The State of the Democrats

I caught the last part of the State of the Union last night.  I felt like the part I heard was all good.  There were the usual people brought in to get to us emotionally but they all seemed to be genuinely worthy of praise and support.  I thought Donald Trump was presidential and dignified.  I thought he was very American.

What I found discouraging was watching the shots of the entire audience during the times of applause.  I realize that they get carried away when they are on TV.  The first frustration I had was the herd mentality in standing ovations.  No one is good enough to deserve that much applause.  If I had been there I would have only been clapping half the time and probably refused to stand for all the ovations just because I am a contrary person. 

My second realization was the total lack of patriotism and common decency being displayed by the Democrat side of the aisle.  I can understand some of the places where they sat on their hands because the issue is complex but there were times when it seemed like everyone was on their feet, and anyone with an ounce of love for America would have been on their feet, but if you looked closely, half of the chamber was sitting with arms folded.  That was the Democrats.  I noticed that the network showed a group of senators with Cory Booker in the middle.  I thought I was back in middle school trying to calm down a dissing contest between two gansta bros behind the gym.  Did you see the look on his face.  He must have practiced it for hours in front of the mirror.  He looked like he should have been dressed in a loose flannel shirt with his pants showing his underwear.  He looked like a thug.  He looked like someone had just insulted his mama.  What an ass.  I guess the network realized that picture was not making the Democrats look good because they stopped showing him.

I also noticed that some of the Democrats kept forgetting they were Democrats because they would actually respond like Americans.  Some would get so enthused at what Donald Trump was saying that they would let their hands come together a few times before they realized that Nancy was not clapping.  A few actually got half way to standing up before they realized they were letting their patriotism overrule their party discipline.

I didn’t bother staying on to hear the talking heads or the Waters down version of the SOTU.

I trust the nation will survive my lack of interest in what they have to say.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-028: Forms of Government, part 5 of 5, What Next?

Where does our government go from here?  As we develop an electorate with a declining awareness of the issues, can democracy survive?  When you give the masses who don’t pay taxes the power to tax those who are more productive guess what will happen?  It is not property owners who vote for rent control. 

The standard historical answer is a growing anarchy until the masses are willing to give up their liberty to a strong man who will rule with an iron fist.  Revolution usually leads to tyranny.  This seems to be the goal of the left today.  Antifa and other terrorists are on one hand wanting to get us to give up our Second Amendment rights and on the other to give up our liberty for security.  You see it in the TSA.  You see it in the war on drugs.  Another form of this would be a military coup, but I don’t see that happening in America.

Some speculation about the future is in order. 

Cyber Government

With modern technology we could have everyone who cared vote on every issue.  Do you want to change the brand of toilet paper used in the white house?  Submit a form on Face Book and get everyone to vote on it.  If you are the only one who votes, you win.  It could be done.  It might lead to total chaos but it would be fun.

Or suppose that we developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) that actually “worked”.  We could turn over all of our decisions to the computers and let them run things.  Of course the big problem here is the same one we have in current government:  Who programs the computer? 

Pharmatocracy

Will drug induced stupors prevail?  Science fiction is full of examples.  Entire populations are given drugs that make them pliable.  There are many variations of this out there.  Some will work with the cyber solution.  We are all happy, smiling and drooling idiots and the nanny state elites can play with us to their hearts content.  Some think we are already part way there.

Anachronistic

We could turn back the clock to any one of the previous solutions.  At the extreme would be the concern of the preppers with EOTWAWKI (end of the world as we know it) fantasies.  Civilizations could collapse followed by massive starvation and plagues until those who are still alive become hunter-gathers.  From there we could go to any level of history you want:  Warring city-states, roving bands of barbarians bringing down centers of culture, kings, constitutional monarchy. 

I doubt if I will live long enough to find out the next step.  Send me an e-mail or have a seance to let me know.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-027: Forms of Government, part 4 of 5, Our Turn

Christians should have no trouble submitting to a king.  The Bible makes it clear monarchy is acceptable, but as Christian thinking developed and we had forces like the Enlightenment and the Reformation we developed more emphasis on us having an input.  What are the threads we look to for today’s systems?

Moses found that being in charge of the children of Israel was a job too big for one man.  His solution was to appoint elders who would appoint advisors, who would appoint someone under them and so forth.  Some point to this as a precursor of our representative form of government as expressed in our House of Representatives or England’s Parliament.  Later we have the Roman Republic and I am sure there are other forms of counsels that were formed to give advice or leadership.

I came across something that makes me think of the Senate.

(Revelation 7:4 KJV)  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

And then follows a list of the tribes with 12,000 assigned to each.

In this case each tribe is getting the same number.  Granted it was not two but still the same.  By the time of Jesus Judah was by far the largest and the other tribes had been hauled into obscurity, yet each one will get the same delegation. 

Having said that, these are just seeds.  The idea that the common man would have a right to vote and express a binding opinion on the ruling class was the talk of a crazy man.  Even in Athens, known for democracy, the only ones who could vote were free, male property owners.

But little acorns to mighty oak trees grow.  Or I guess you can say that a strong wind will spread dandelion seeds all over the place.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-026: Forms of Government, part 3 of 5, King Me

Once you get past the time of the Judges the Bible assumes the existence of kings.  That runs all the way to Revelation so we see a monarchy considered normal.

How do we put it together?  Old fashioned kings with total power don’t seem to be the plan.  I am not sure they were ever the plan.  If you study ancient cultures, kings often had a name but no real power.  In the Bible a king was not God’s plan.  When Samuel was on his last legs the people were the ones who wanted a king.

(1 Samuel 8:5 KJV)  And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

There is something about conformity that gets us in trouble.  They didn’t want a king because they thought it was wise, they wanted to be like other nations.  God was not happy,

(1 Samuel 8:7 KJV)  And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

From there on God tells Samuel all the things a king will subject them to.  Kings take the young for their own purposes, from soldiers to concubines.  Kings take the best of everything and a portion of what is left.  Can you spell eminent domain and taxes?

So, although the book of Proverbs and the rest of the Bible assumes kings, it is not God’s plan that a strong, powerful individual should tell us how to live our lives.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-025: On the Street: Obama 08

I was waiting at a signal in Maryland and my brain registered the bumper sticker on the car in front of me.  It referred to Obama 08.  I wonder if he forgot it was there.  Why had he not upgraded in 2012?  I assume he was a social worker or something.  The sticker was old enough to have been an original.  That meant it had been I place for almost 10 years.

The Obama stickers quickly disappeared after the election.  I always wondered why but when I saw this car a reason came to me.  Most of his supporters are rich enough to buy a new car every few years.  That would quickly remove the evidence.  About the only ones who did well during the Obama years were the wealthy.  They continue to have money to throw away in ridiculous movies that no one goes to see.  They throw millions into violent organizations like Antifa and BLM.  I am sure that there are millions of well placed bucks among reporters and government workers.

Bumper stickers for Republican candidates never were too common.  I was a teacher.  A Trump bumper sticker was an open invitation to broken windshields or other anti-social behavior.  The one consolation I had was that vandals don’t tend to vote.  In California the dead voted and the illegals voted, but not the vandals.

Things are changing.  If I may quote a leading Democrat politician:  Elections matter.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-024: Forms of Government, part 2 of 5, Anarchy

What forms of government are demonstrated in the Bible?

After the time of slavery in Egypt we see the rise of anarchy and the strong man.  Families and tribes existed but they had nothing formal holding them together.  Moses was never a king and had no claim as a patriarch.  After him you had Joshua in charge on the conquest of the promised land but that did not last long enough to even finish the job.  The patriarchal tribal system transits to anarchy with the occasional rise of a strong leader during a time of crisis.

(Judges 2:16 KJV)  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

This was the period of Judges.  Here is where we hear about Gideon, Debra and Sampson.  The Children of Israel went through a cycle.  They would face a crisis.  God would raise up a leader, a judge, and they would be delivered.  Life would be good again.  Then they would start down the road of rebellion.

(Judges 2:19 KJV)  And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

This lead to a new disaster and the cycle would continue.  It was kind of like losing weight.  Many people will get rid of the unwanted pounds through discipline but as soon as they reach their goal they start eating again and get fatter than they were before.

God did not have trouble with the general concept of anarchy.  He was quite willing to work with each person.  It is called a theocracy.  The problem then with anarchy is the same one we see when Sonny goes off to college and gets out from under his parents authority.  He may know what is right and what is wrong but when you live in a co-ed dorm with easy access to alcohol you start to think that the rules don’t apply to you.

So anarchy did not work.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-023: A Listening Genius

One of the things that impresses me about President Trump is that he actually seems to listen and, with the proper information, he is willing to adjust his thinking.  People have noted that his positions have changed from where they were a few years ago.  He used to be a Democrat.  Now he is a Republican and a better Republican than the majority who bear that name.  From what I can see, he has genuinely changed.  I guess that is a mark of his intelligence and independent thinking.

Consider the ways in which he is keeping his campaign promises.  He has been nominating solid, Constitution supporting justices.  It is what he promised to do.  He is cutting back on regulations and trying to cut back on illegal immigration.  I remember when he was considering the issue of the Second Amendment.  He didn’t just listen to the talking head of the media.  He actually went and talked to people at the NRA.  And he listened.

I like that.  I have gotten tired of people changing because they always seem to change in ways that betray the people who voted for them or appointed them.  The listening is unusual.  I think when he meets with Democrats he listens.  The fact that he doesn’t change is because he also thinks.  That is where the name “fake news” came from.

There are still some areas I think he needs to keep listening but I have hope.

homo unius libri