Our country seems to be heading in the direction of socialism, especially on two fronts: taxation, and government ownership of corporations.
Movements are growing to shift an increasingly unfair tax burden upon those successful corporations and individuals who stimulate the economy by creating new jobs. This practice has recently become known as “spreading the wealth,” where the government becomes the great equalizer. The wealthy are made poorer by the increased taxes, while the poorer people not only pay no taxes, but they’re subsidized by the government with the taxes collected from the upper middle class.
The current trend of bailouts is equally socialistic. Although the politicians like to refer to these bailouts as loans, the truth is that the government is indeed providing bailouts for the poor decisions of corporate executives, at the expense of the taxpayers. The rescue of financial institutions and automakers is only the first of what could grow to $7 trillion in bailouts. Even worse, not only is the federal government going to oversee corporate operations (such as with a “car czar”), but there is now talk of Uncle Sam taking a stake in the company stock of these unstable corporations.
For those freedom-loving Americans who still believe in democracy, one question comes to mind: How did it come to this? I wonder if this movement toward socialism didn’t get a subtle start some 70 years ago, and then it just gradually became worse. With hard times during the depression, folks were all too eager to have FDR start taking over their responsibilities for themselves with the New Deal, Social Security, and welfare. Then, LBJ brought Medicare and Medicaid. Various groups of people began to view themselves as being discriminated against, or disadvantaged, and they were willing to swap their pride for a free check, especially when they saw others doing it. When the bailouts started with the financial institutions, I don’t remember hearing anything about the automakers wanting a bailout, until they saw how eager the government was to step in.
I believe that the awful explanation is rooted in what the Bible calls the “sin nature.” We have an inborn inclination toward doing the wrong thing (Gen. 6:5), especially when it appeals to our laziness by getting something “free.” We would do well to remember Proverbs 12:24, “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.”