If there is one thing which stands out perfectly clear in the just-held US election, it is this: Perhaps half of all Americans now expect that the government should look after them and give them free stuff. They believe they are entitled to things they do not deserve or have not worked for.
It is the entitlement mentality, the same one which is destroying Europe and other parts of the West where the welfare state reigns supreme. Simply look at the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain). They are all in economic meltdown as we speak, complete with rioting in the streets, as in Athens. Their love affair with statism, welfarism, and socialism is producing its bitter fruit, big time.
Any nation in which large numbers of people cease producing and expect handouts is a nation that is going down the tubes fast. And what we witnessed yesterday in the US is a perfect example of this constricting entitlement mentality. It is just as addictive – and deadly – as any drug.
When Mitt Romney made the remark recently about 47 per cent of the electorate relying on money handed to them from the government, and therefore people who will only vote Democrat, he was 100 per cent correct. Why would anyone getting free government handouts – taken from the other 53 per cent of hard working productive Americans – want to stop the gravy train?
They have become addicted to and dependent on the state as a cradle to grave welfare provider, and it is a great system for them: no or little work in exchange for government handouts. We have entire generations now who have an entitlement mentality, and they will be hard pressed to be moved from it.
That is the one clear yet bleak message coming out of America yesterday. But it is not just me who has noticed this. Plenty of other commentators are saying exactly the same thing. One of them put it very simply, if crassly: “Nincompoops Elect Nincompoops For Free Stuff…Case Closed”.
In his article, “In a country of children where the option is Santa Claus or work, what wins?” Rush Limbaugh says this: “Conservatism, in my humble opinion, did not lose last night. It’s just very difficult to beat Santa Claus. It is practically impossible to beat Santa Claus. People are not going to vote against Santa Claus, especially if the alternative is being your own Santa Claus.”
He continues, “The world depends on what happens here. The world does not depend on what happens in Spain or Greece or Italy. Not to put them down. But regardless, wherever you go… Look at Greece. Whenever necessary austerity measures are proposed, what happens? ‘No, you don’t! You’re not taking it away from me!’ There is no rising to responsibility. There is no accepting responsibility. There’s just a demand that the gravy train continue, and we have an administration that’s promising an endless gravy train. All you have to do to stay on that gravy train is vote.”
Writer Tom Chantry spoke about the various evil positions of Obama, such as infanticide. He then said this: “Most Americans, though, did not vote for him for those reasons. The majority does not hold his extreme position on infanticide, and every referendum shows that the majority does not agree to the institutional legitimizing of perversion. But on the issues of this election his position is also on the side of evil. As I wrote two years ago in my political credo, fiscal policy is also moral in nature. The unavoidable reality of this election is that when Governor Romney ran on fiscal sanity, the majority decided to cast their votes in favor of more free stuff from the government.
“In other words, last night’s vote demonstrates one fundamental evil that has overtaken our society. Today’s voter is unimpressed by the biblical ethic of work and responsibility; neither is he too ashamed to engage in systematic theft. We have become Greece. Only a nation of wicked thieves could have produced last night’s results. So if I imagined that my countrymen were too good to re-elect this man, I was brought to a rude awakening.”
Or as Andrew Napolitano said in “Four more years to crush personal freedoms”: “What is going on is the present-day proof of the truism observed by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, who rarely agreed on anything in public: When the voters recognize that the public treasury has become a public trough, they will send to Washington not persons who will promote self-reliance and foster an atmosphere of prosperity, but those who will give away the most cash and thereby create dependency. This is an attitude that, though present in some localities in the colonial era, was created at the federal level by Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, magnified by FDR, enhanced by LBJ, and eventually joined in by all modern-day Democrats and most contemporary Republicans.”
Commentator Lyn Nofziger put it this way: “The reason this country continues its drift toward socialism and big nanny government is because too many people vote in the expectation of getting something for nothing, not because they have a concern for what is good for the country. A better educated electorate might change the reason many persons vote. If children were forced to learn about the Constitution, about how government works, about how this nation came into being, about taxes and about how government forever threatens the cause of liberty perhaps we wouldn’t see so many foolish ideas coming out of the mouths of silly men.”
Black American economist Thomas Sowell has written much over the years of such a damaging mindset. As he wrote in A Conflict of Visions, “Central to the concept of social justice is the notion that individuals are entitled to some share of the wealth produced by society, simply by virtue of being members of that society, and irrespective of any individual contributions made or not made to the production of that wealth.”
Or as he has said elsewhere: “One of the consequences of such notions as ‘entitlements’ is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.”
And again, “The entitlement mentality has eroded the once common belief that you earned things, including respect, instead of being given them.” And another: “The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take money quietly, then you give some back – flamboyantly.”
And one more: “What do you call it when someone steals someone else’s money secretly? Theft. What do you call it when someone takes someone else’s money openly by force? Robbery. What do you call it when a politician takes someone else’s money in taxes and gives it to someone who is more likely to vote for him? Social Justice.”
Of course all these modern day commentators are simply repeating what our forefathers have long taught. All the great statesmen and political leaders know that nations cannot long survive if they degenerate into hordes of people with an entitlement mentality.
Benjamin Franklin for example once wrote, “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” Or as Thomas Paine put it, “Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, may your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget you were EVER my countrymen!”
And this quote, attributed to Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor, in 1887, is also most relevant here: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.”
Or go back even further. Marcus Tullius Cicero said it like this: “Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and given him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean ‘more money, more ease, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the industrious’.”
We have been warned for many centuries, even millennia now, not to go down this path. Yet that is exactly what we are doing. The US is simply a few years behind its European counterparts. All over the West we see the end of once great and prosperous nations, because the entitlement mentality has latched on to the masses like a viper and refused to let go.
Thus the venom of welfarism and dependency is slowly but surely working its way through the national bloodstream, with only one inevitable outcome: death. Unless Americans – and others – can snap out of their slumber and see the dangers of this mortal addiction, they will not be able to endure for long. And history is replete with examples of this very thing.
34 Replies to “The Entitlement Mentality and National Suicide (Or Why We Are a Nation of PIGS)”
Not everything which involves the gov’t giving out payments or supporting various services etc is socialism. There is a question of the common good and sometimes the gov’t is in a better position to oversee things.
Which things these should or should not be is for greater philosophers than me to work out, but I can certainly say that people should be paying for their own contraception (or better yet, not be able to get it at all) and my taxes should not be used to pay for abortions as they currently do. Abortion, of course should be illegal and harshly penalised (targeting the abortionist).
Louise Le Mottee
Hi,
Just to add my 10 cc worth and some other thoughts. The Gospel has social implications which includes looking after and care for those less fortunate than us, the poor, the vulnerable the widow etc ( Acts 2, James 1:26-27, Mt 25: 31-46, Amos, Micah 6:8 etc ). I work in both a church setting and welfare and its important that the church is at the forefront of care – it is also gives us credibility and opportunity to demonstrate and witness to the Gospel. I love Tim Kellers material on this.
I believe its important to have a welfare system and at times it does get misused but we still need it. I rather err on the side of mercy than judgement as we are called to love our neighbour as ourselves. I think Obama idea of affordable health care for all as a good idea, I may not agree with all his policies but that seems like a fairer system. I think Romneys 47% comment was not wise and perhaps influence some to vote against him. I also understand your concerns Bill.
Cheers
Stephen Nicholas
Thanks Louise and Stephen
Of course neither I nor anyone I quoted here said there is no place for government assistance to the truly needy. What we are talking about is how the biblical notion of hard work and personal responsibility has largely disappeared from huge parts of America and the West. We have created an unbiblical welfare clientele which has become utterly dependent on government largess, and has no intention of getting off this. There is nothing Christian about this at all, and it spells the end of any nation in the long run, so that everyone suffers as a result.
But I deal with this in much more detail elsewhere, eg:
Today’s analysis reminds me very much of what early leader of the Brethren Movement in UK and leading figure in the formation of the Exclusive Brethren, John Nelson Darby wrote about the emergence of democracy in 19th-Century Britain in his article, “Progress of Democratic Power, and its Effects on the Moral State of England”[Accessible at: http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/darby/MISCELLA/32018E.html . Democracy is only as good as those who run its systems.
John Wigg
Stephen, I don’t think it is merciful in the long run to shield people from consequences. As for Obamacare, surely the fact that he himself, as well as his close crony friends and organisations have all got exemptions from it, tells you everything you need to know about its lack of merit.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!” – Samuel Adams
Mark Rabich
What makes some people have this sense of entitlement whereas others are too proud to ask for stuff?
It seems to me that things that go wrong are endorsed by the Left and sanctioned as being right (as in “good”) in an act of self-justification.
Two examples: a woman said she voted for Obama because of his stance in favour of abortion and women’s rights, which I thought was quite chilling. An abortion treats a mistake after the event whereas abstinence and chastity could have prevented the mistake in many cases but abstinence is practically forbidden by the Sexual Rights lobby. Another example wrong being made right is the US and the UN want to force their Sexual Rights and LGBT Equality agenda on small, poor countries against their culture on pain of losing financial aid. Hilary Clinton has said that this agenda is a priority of US foreign policy but it amounts to an act of cultural imperialism. How quickly totalitarianism creeps in.
The people with the sense of entitlement grab what is on offer unconcerned by the weak strategic position they are getting into with the State. Then again strong forces like the UN, the US and other Western donor nations are telling poor nations that if they want financial aid and free hand-outs then they must adopt the Sexual Rights Agenda, forcing them into a weak position.
As Winston Churchill said of socialism, which could equally apply to statism, “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
. http://www.standforfamiliesworldwide.org/sffww/documentary/
Rachel Smith, UK
Just because people voted for Obama does not necessarily mean they want handouts or are largely dependent on the government. I am tired of this notion that supporters of Obama or democrats sit around with no job feeding off of the government. I am not a democrat but to generalize people in such a way is plain ignorance. America is not how it use to be where one could easily work their way to success. These days it may require some help. You also have people who work hard but have to depend on government aid not because they want to but they may be single parents and their current occupation does not provide a substantial income.
Chantelle Simmons
Thanks Chantelle
I of course nowhere said all Obama voters are jobless, and I already have stated that there is some role for government aid. But as my article makes clear, the situation in the US is now a much different matter, with tens of millions of Americans fully embracing the entitlement mentality and expecting the government to subsidise them from cradle to grave. That is the death of any nation.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I guess we have to make the distinction between the “deserving” and the “undeserving” poor as well as working out if the church or the state is responsible for meeting their needs.
But any measure that stifles, rather than fosters and supports the individual:”s – – family’s ability to create their own income and therefore perpetuates poverty, has got to be wrong.
The problem on a state level is also that those with a “entitlement” mentality can only be supported by the industrious as long as they have the ability to create wealth. But the way all these economies are now regulated by the state, those who can create income are taxed and regulated out of assets and in the end probably also determination to continue their futile efforts and all end up poor. I think that is what we are seeing in the Pigs nations at the moment.
Watching their struggle should be a wake up call to our economies because apart from our moral shemossal, which in itself will cause the material downfall of a civilisation, but the financial system is also based on illusions and lies and plainly shonky business practices that reach into the regulatory bodies and make them inoperative and another dead weight around the neck of the already sinking state.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
The US is indeed in decline. The financial bubbles that went from the NASDAQ to the Housing bubble has now moved into the dollar/government/bonds. The US is printing money to keep interest rates artificially low in order to service the massive 16 trillion in debt. Soon they will have only two options; declare bankruptcy (the grown up choice) or print their way out of debt.
It seems likely that the latter will be the course taken and thus prices like oil and food will sky rocket. Keep in mind the US produces very little any more, they are running on debt and consumption. China is propping up their dollar by buying treasuries. Soon this will come to a stop and so will the cheap imports.
Its dreadful what is coming and Obama will be left holding the bag.
Damien Spillane
It might be a Republican left holding the bag. And copping the blame for it too.
As a person who has been liberal for most of his life and only recently become conservative, since Obama’s initial election to the Presidency, I thank God for opening my eyes.
Peter Wall, NZ
Thanks Bill
I agree 100 percent for 3 reasons in my opinion.
1. I believed the world owed me something in my pre Christian days
2. Children think this way; we have to teach them the value of a dollar because by default they are lazy.
3. Accross the road from my house is a homes west complex. Yes they sit outside each day, all day, and drink and listen to music which is then followed by yelling at each other at night.
I could move and not have to watch this and hide in a nice suburb. Where no unclean thing my eyes see. Or I can pray and pray and get my church praying and dare I say it, try talking to them. Not as much fun as overseas mission granted.
Daniel Kempton
And all this has not happened by accident:
More than half the population — 50 percent plus one — is dependent upon government benefits. For the past four years, the Obama administration has created a Franco-German welfare state whose sole purpose is to forge a majority political coalition wedded to the Democratic Party. The stimulus; the health care overhaul; the redirecting of financial resources to the inner cities; the explosion in the number of Americans on food stamps and welfare; the massive spending increases in public education, infrastructure and agriculture; the green-energy boondoggles; the bailouts of the auto industry; the contraceptive mandate; the federal funding of abortion; support for homosexual “marriage”; and pushing amnesty for illegal aliens — all of these measures directly bought off key liberal constituencies, such as unions, public-sector workers, environmentalists, blacks, Hispanics, feminists and the homosexual community.
In short, America has been fractured into two nations: the tax producers and the tax consumers, the givers and the takers, those who generate wealth and those who exploit it. Mr. Obama has peeled off the larger chunk. The productive classes are being harnessed into subsidizing the nonproductive elements. Statism and sex trump entrepreneurship and self-reliance.
Bill, my wife sometimes sends me your columns, and I enjoy reading them.
I take no joy in reading this one however, because you are pretty much bang on.
I wonder if recovery is possible at all. It seems inconceivable the the US lived through the last 4 years and decided to re-elect this man.
The best they can hope for is stagnation, the worst…. is somewhere off the scale I fear. Meanwhile, on the now unguarded borders of Western Civilisation, the barbarians are sharpening their knives and watching their fat, slow targets with interest.
P Miller
Everyone knows now what the GFC stands for.
By the end of next month everyone will know what the “Cliff” means!
Economic disaster for America – a nation not dealing with its debts.
Graham McLennan
ATTENTION – This is one of the most significant videos to have appeared in the past few years, and especially incisive as to what Obama is up to. And now this 90 minute doco can be seen for free for a limited time. I urge every single one of you to take the time to watch this. It explains so much about what is happening today.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Of course neither I nor anyone I quoted here said there is no place for government assistance to the truly needy.
Yes, I see that.
What we are talking about is how the biblical notion of hard work and personal responsibility has largely disappeared from huge parts of America and the West. We have created an unbiblical welfare clientele which has become utterly dependent on government largess, and has no intention of getting off this. There is nothing Christian about this at all, and it spells the end of any nation in the long run, so that everyone suffers as a result.
I agree entirely. It is better for human dignity to be as self-sufficient and productive as possible.
Louise Le Mottee
To Stephen Nicolas, Steve, I understand what you are saying in it’s broad context but I think you are potentially overstretching the Biblical concept of loving our neighbor and erring on the side of mercy. This has the potential for Christians to be seen as tolerant of anything, if people are doing the wrong thing then it is not Christian to simply say “Oh well, we should love our neighbor as ourselves and err on the side of mercy rather than judgement. This tendency has the implication of sweeping judgement aside completely which is foreign to the spirit of our faith and if there is a wrong then it is our duty to right it where possible instead of making excuses for evil in the name of Jesus. I do not want you to think I am having a go at you but we need to be careful about how we present the Christian concept of love, mercy and judgement because they are all a part of the same package and you cannot leave any of them out. If we help people who we know are genuinely in need then we do well, however compassion must be mixed with common sense and responsibility as well as a big picture view so if we keep giving handouts to people who we know are capable of toiling for them selves then 2 things happen here 1. We are giving help to those who do not need it at the expense of those who do and 2. We are complicit in their deception. Something to think about for all of us.
Steve Davis
Bill,
Have to disagree with you. I know people from all walks of life and political persuasion and I can’t think of anybody who isn’t fully committed to working hard to support their family and improve themselves. And I’m talking about people of many faiths, or no faith, not just people I know from church.
I think this kind of class warfare does no good to anyone, especially conservative politics. Romney and his associates alienated many voter groups with patronising comments and they have no chance of ever winning their support with this kind of attitude.
I don’t share your pessimism about the future of Western societies. It is just stereotyping people without any acknowledgment of the diversity of the human condition. I don’t think you can tar a huge segment of society with the same brush, just because a few might not be pulling their weight.
John Furness, Townsville
Thanks John
Of, so you have determined on the basis of your knowledge of 0.00000000000000000000000001 per cent of the world’s population that it just ain’t so, that hardly any are not working hard, and only “a few might not be pulling their weight”. Wow, what a call. Impressive social science data that – not.
Not only is the world of course filled with people who will do less than what they have to, will slouch off others, and refuse to work, but if you call yourself a Christian, then you should believe the word of God which affirms this constantly. Because we are all sinners in a sinful world, we have numerous warnings in Scripture about sloth, laziness, carelessness, irresponsibility and so on. Simply start reading the book of Proverbs for starters. But your view of life with your rose-coloured glasses seems to trump both empirical fact and biblical truth. Sorry, but I know which side I will run with here.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Bill, I think I speak for everyone with an IQ above 5 when I say that you’re right. The only problem is that now the majority of this country is stupid, and has adopted the ‘entitlement mentality’ as you called it. I don’t know what the solution is, because you and I both know that if I come out and say what you said, then I will simply be labeled as an intolerant, racist, homophobic bigot by the left. They love free speech until it’s speech they don’t agree with. But that’s beside the point. Great article.
Matt Mullaney, US
Damien, no nation has ever printed themselves out of debt, remember the Weimar Republic before Hitler? Bankruptcy seems the more honest, though of course the most painful option. But it won’t be just the republican holding the bag, it is usually the ordinary people that suffer the most due to their leaders mistake. If jobs have been eliminated because of their “social justice experiments”, what help do the really poor have, those who want to work and can’t find work. Is the church ready to step in, the time will come again when the church is the only left willing and able to help. Glory to God.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
OK Bill, so where is your empirical evidence?
John Furness
Thanks John
You are obviously quite clueless here so let me try to help you out – that is if your mind is not already closed shut on this. There is a mountain of data and research on the huge and growing amount of Americans living on entitlements. Entire libraries have been written on this. The fact that you are completely unaware of all this is quite staggering. You can go here for starters for a nice summary of the data, complete with heaps of stats, charts, figures and facts:
Plenty more where that came from. And of course the welfare states in Europe, the UK and elsewhere are even more packed with people dependent on government handouts. This is just economics 101 – it so so surprising that some people are not at all aware of these basic realities.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your thoughts. I wasnt meaning tolerance, throwing away truth or wise judgement or discernment. As it states in Johns Gospel Jesus was full of grace and truth, so we both need to be merciful yet speaking the truth in love. I particular was commenting on working in a welfare context when working with people. I have at times judged people on initial impressions without hearing there stories first, I assumed things that I shouldnt of. When I have heard there stories and then I have understood the choices they may have made due to their circumstances – not excusing the the choices but understanding why they may have made them. Sometimes people are sinned against and carry baggage from the past and they need help to work through that.
People may need welfare assistance for a various reasons -retrenchment add middle age and now finding it hard to get employment, a breakdown, mental illness, domestic vioence, or just dont want to work (laziness) etc. Not one shoe fits all. I hope that clarifies what I mean.
Have a good day.
Cheers
Steve Nicholas
John, surely the biggest evidence of the level of entitlements is the fact the left use the fear of losing them as political leverage. Why else jump on the 47% comment from Romney? If there were not significant numbers of people who would potentially be swayed by such a message, why would they bother?
The most ridiculous thing about this tactic – is not that it is plain to see that the left shamelessly use it to cheaply buy votes because they are drunk with power – but so many people falling for the tactic and facilitating their own ongoing enslavement.
It makes it rather ironic when leftists have a go at the bible for supposedly being for slavery! They are actually the modern-day versions of slavers, seeking to imprison people for life by irrationally making the risks associated with freedom greater than the incentive of rewards to live a full and self-reliant life, something immensely more satisfying.
True freedom brings the opportunity to both fail and succeed, and far too many do not want to face up to this, preferring the chains of ‘security’ – money coming from the government. That is not very likely to be the path to anything than a tepid and cynical life, devoid of any great achievement. You may as well be an animal on a farm, waiting for the farmer to dole out slop each day.
Of what worth is your individual human capacity to reason, to invent, to make something better out of your life? It isn’t just to give out your bank account details so that someone can put a subsistence plus a bit more amount of money in every couple of weeks. That will eventually deaden your spirit and suck the life out of you. I had this experience personally when I was younger just out of school, and I’m glad I broke out of it.
Mark Rabich
If I may add a couple of quotes from Benjamin Franklin:
“I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
But I guess he’s just some dead ignorant white guy to some…
To Steve Nicolas,
Thanks Steve, it does clarify what you mean to a great extent, my fear, based on what I have seen among my fellow Christians, is that our churches seem to be filling up with an increasing number of people who are simply applying the mercy/non judgement tag to everything which is why in part I believe that we as a society have slipped from grace to an alarming level. Like you, I (and probably everyone else ever born!) have made judgements on an initial impression only to find out just as you did. It is good that you appear to be seeing the whole picture, it is just a pity that more Christians did not. All the best mate.
Steve Davis
To Mark Rabich – I read that letter from Franklin to the young tradesman – pure gold mate, thanks for posting it here, I am going to print this off and give it to my son.
Steve Davis
Some good stuff here:
“The message being conveyed to an ever larger portion of a willing and susceptible American population is: there are no restraints on personal behavior and it is acceptable, using the auspices of government, to forcefully take from one group and give to another. In fact by the mere circumstance of living in America one is entitled to a livelihood and a vast panoply of rights as defined by and granted by the government.
“As this mindset takes hold in any country, a calamitous cycle begins. In order to satisfy the unleashed greed and envy of more and more people and to fulfill unsustainable promises, the governing class must tax, spend and borrow at an ever-increasing rate until they can no longer borrow on the open market or tax a rapidly diminishing producer class. At that point either the nation descends into chaos or revolution or its leadership embarks on war and conquest.”
I actually agree with you regarding this trend, and its unhealthy effect on a society. I have to take issue with the notion that any one party is primarily responsible. Both parties have grown government enormously. The need to satisfy the “takers”, both individual and corporate, is what politicians find themselves doing to remain in power, which they intend to do with little regard to anything else.
Thank you for the reply.
Sincerely, Anthony Bartoletti
Thanks Anthony
There is no question that the entitlement mentality is an equal opportunity offender – a virus that can affect anyone. The claim which I and others have been making all along here is that many, if not most, of those on entitlements will tend to vote for the party offering more of the same. We have not been saying that every single person on the government gravy train votes Democrat, or that every single Democrat is on entitlements, or that no Republicans receive them. The point is Obama has become the entitlement king, and plenty of folks voted him back in on the basis of this fact.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
The issue here, as so clearly delineated by R J Rushdoony (see http://www.chalcedon.edu) is who or what is Saviour? Who or what is God? For Christians, there can be only one answer–God is God, not the State. The State, in claiming Self-sufficiency and Self-sovereignty, has progressively denied the sovereignty of God. It is the State’s function (see Romans 13:1-6) to suppress evil. See in particular Rushdoony’s ‘The Politics of Guilt and Pity.’
Not everything which involves the gov’t giving out payments or supporting various services etc is socialism. There is a question of the common good and sometimes the gov’t is in a better position to oversee things.
Which things these should or should not be is for greater philosophers than me to work out, but I can certainly say that people should be paying for their own contraception (or better yet, not be able to get it at all) and my taxes should not be used to pay for abortions as they currently do. Abortion, of course should be illegal and harshly penalised (targeting the abortionist).
Louise Le Mottee
Hi,
Just to add my 10 cc worth and some other thoughts. The Gospel has social implications which includes looking after and care for those less fortunate than us, the poor, the vulnerable the widow etc ( Acts 2, James 1:26-27, Mt 25: 31-46, Amos, Micah 6:8 etc ). I work in both a church setting and welfare and its important that the church is at the forefront of care – it is also gives us credibility and opportunity to demonstrate and witness to the Gospel. I love Tim Kellers material on this.
I believe its important to have a welfare system and at times it does get misused but we still need it. I rather err on the side of mercy than judgement as we are called to love our neighbour as ourselves. I think Obama idea of affordable health care for all as a good idea, I may not agree with all his policies but that seems like a fairer system. I think Romneys 47% comment was not wise and perhaps influence some to vote against him. I also understand your concerns Bill.
Cheers
Stephen Nicholas
Thanks Louise and Stephen
Of course neither I nor anyone I quoted here said there is no place for government assistance to the truly needy. What we are talking about is how the biblical notion of hard work and personal responsibility has largely disappeared from huge parts of America and the West. We have created an unbiblical welfare clientele which has become utterly dependent on government largess, and has no intention of getting off this. There is nothing Christian about this at all, and it spells the end of any nation in the long run, so that everyone suffers as a result.
But I deal with this in much more detail elsewhere, eg:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2007/05/21/rethinking-the-welfare-state/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/08/08/social-justice-part-one/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/08/08/social-justice-part-two/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2007/10/29/the-church-the-state-and-social-responsibility/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2006/11/16/christianity-and-poverty/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
And for what it is worth, I discuss Obamacare here, which I think is a horrendous idea on just so many levels:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/03/24/obamacare-and-the-decline-of-a-nation/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Today’s analysis reminds me very much of what early leader of the Brethren Movement in UK and leading figure in the formation of the Exclusive Brethren, John Nelson Darby wrote about the emergence of democracy in 19th-Century Britain in his article, “Progress of Democratic Power, and its Effects on the Moral State of England”[Accessible at: http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/darby/MISCELLA/32018E.html . Democracy is only as good as those who run its systems.
John Wigg
Stephen, I don’t think it is merciful in the long run to shield people from consequences. As for Obamacare, surely the fact that he himself, as well as his close crony friends and organisations have all got exemptions from it, tells you everything you need to know about its lack of merit.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!” – Samuel Adams
Mark Rabich
What makes some people have this sense of entitlement whereas others are too proud to ask for stuff?
It seems to me that things that go wrong are endorsed by the Left and sanctioned as being right (as in “good”) in an act of self-justification.
Two examples: a woman said she voted for Obama because of his stance in favour of abortion and women’s rights, which I thought was quite chilling. An abortion treats a mistake after the event whereas abstinence and chastity could have prevented the mistake in many cases but abstinence is practically forbidden by the Sexual Rights lobby. Another example wrong being made right is the US and the UN want to force their Sexual Rights and LGBT Equality agenda on small, poor countries against their culture on pain of losing financial aid. Hilary Clinton has said that this agenda is a priority of US foreign policy but it amounts to an act of cultural imperialism. How quickly totalitarianism creeps in.
The people with the sense of entitlement grab what is on offer unconcerned by the weak strategic position they are getting into with the State. Then again strong forces like the UN, the US and other Western donor nations are telling poor nations that if they want financial aid and free hand-outs then they must adopt the Sexual Rights Agenda, forcing them into a weak position.
As Winston Churchill said of socialism, which could equally apply to statism, “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
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http://www.standforfamiliesworldwide.org/sffww/documentary/
Rachel Smith, UK
Just because people voted for Obama does not necessarily mean they want handouts or are largely dependent on the government. I am tired of this notion that supporters of Obama or democrats sit around with no job feeding off of the government. I am not a democrat but to generalize people in such a way is plain ignorance. America is not how it use to be where one could easily work their way to success. These days it may require some help. You also have people who work hard but have to depend on government aid not because they want to but they may be single parents and their current occupation does not provide a substantial income.
Chantelle Simmons
Thanks Chantelle
I of course nowhere said all Obama voters are jobless, and I already have stated that there is some role for government aid. But as my article makes clear, the situation in the US is now a much different matter, with tens of millions of Americans fully embracing the entitlement mentality and expecting the government to subsidise them from cradle to grave. That is the death of any nation.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I guess we have to make the distinction between the “deserving” and the “undeserving” poor as well as working out if the church or the state is responsible for meeting their needs.
But any measure that stifles, rather than fosters and supports the individual:”s – – family’s ability to create their own income and therefore perpetuates poverty, has got to be wrong.
The problem on a state level is also that those with a “entitlement” mentality can only be supported by the industrious as long as they have the ability to create wealth. But the way all these economies are now regulated by the state, those who can create income are taxed and regulated out of assets and in the end probably also determination to continue their futile efforts and all end up poor. I think that is what we are seeing in the Pigs nations at the moment.
Watching their struggle should be a wake up call to our economies because apart from our moral shemossal, which in itself will cause the material downfall of a civilisation, but the financial system is also based on illusions and lies and plainly shonky business practices that reach into the regulatory bodies and make them inoperative and another dead weight around the neck of the already sinking state.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
The US is indeed in decline. The financial bubbles that went from the NASDAQ to the Housing bubble has now moved into the dollar/government/bonds. The US is printing money to keep interest rates artificially low in order to service the massive 16 trillion in debt. Soon they will have only two options; declare bankruptcy (the grown up choice) or print their way out of debt.
It seems likely that the latter will be the course taken and thus prices like oil and food will sky rocket. Keep in mind the US produces very little any more, they are running on debt and consumption. China is propping up their dollar by buying treasuries. Soon this will come to a stop and so will the cheap imports.
Its dreadful what is coming and Obama will be left holding the bag.
Damien Spillane
It might be a Republican left holding the bag. And copping the blame for it too.
As a person who has been liberal for most of his life and only recently become conservative, since Obama’s initial election to the Presidency, I thank God for opening my eyes.
Peter Wall, NZ
Thanks Bill
I agree 100 percent for 3 reasons in my opinion.
1. I believed the world owed me something in my pre Christian days
2. Children think this way; we have to teach them the value of a dollar because by default they are lazy.
3. Accross the road from my house is a homes west complex. Yes they sit outside each day, all day, and drink and listen to music which is then followed by yelling at each other at night.
I could move and not have to watch this and hide in a nice suburb. Where no unclean thing my eyes see. Or I can pray and pray and get my church praying and dare I say it, try talking to them. Not as much fun as overseas mission granted.
Daniel Kempton
And all this has not happened by accident:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/8/obamas-america/#ixzz2BhNmM8IS
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Bill, my wife sometimes sends me your columns, and I enjoy reading them.
I take no joy in reading this one however, because you are pretty much bang on.
I wonder if recovery is possible at all. It seems inconceivable the the US lived through the last 4 years and decided to re-elect this man.
The best they can hope for is stagnation, the worst…. is somewhere off the scale I fear. Meanwhile, on the now unguarded borders of Western Civilisation, the barbarians are sharpening their knives and watching their fat, slow targets with interest.
P Miller
Everyone knows now what the GFC stands for.
By the end of next month everyone will know what the “Cliff” means!
Economic disaster for America – a nation not dealing with its debts.
Graham McLennan
ATTENTION – This is one of the most significant videos to have appeared in the past few years, and especially incisive as to what Obama is up to. And now this 90 minute doco can be seen for free for a limited time. I urge every single one of you to take the time to watch this. It explains so much about what is happening today.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Of course neither I nor anyone I quoted here said there is no place for government assistance to the truly needy.
Yes, I see that.
What we are talking about is how the biblical notion of hard work and personal responsibility has largely disappeared from huge parts of America and the West. We have created an unbiblical welfare clientele which has become utterly dependent on government largess, and has no intention of getting off this. There is nothing Christian about this at all, and it spells the end of any nation in the long run, so that everyone suffers as a result.
I agree entirely. It is better for human dignity to be as self-sufficient and productive as possible.
Louise Le Mottee
To Stephen Nicolas, Steve, I understand what you are saying in it’s broad context but I think you are potentially overstretching the Biblical concept of loving our neighbor and erring on the side of mercy. This has the potential for Christians to be seen as tolerant of anything, if people are doing the wrong thing then it is not Christian to simply say “Oh well, we should love our neighbor as ourselves and err on the side of mercy rather than judgement. This tendency has the implication of sweeping judgement aside completely which is foreign to the spirit of our faith and if there is a wrong then it is our duty to right it where possible instead of making excuses for evil in the name of Jesus. I do not want you to think I am having a go at you but we need to be careful about how we present the Christian concept of love, mercy and judgement because they are all a part of the same package and you cannot leave any of them out. If we help people who we know are genuinely in need then we do well, however compassion must be mixed with common sense and responsibility as well as a big picture view so if we keep giving handouts to people who we know are capable of toiling for them selves then 2 things happen here 1. We are giving help to those who do not need it at the expense of those who do and 2. We are complicit in their deception. Something to think about for all of us.
Steve Davis
Bill,
Have to disagree with you. I know people from all walks of life and political persuasion and I can’t think of anybody who isn’t fully committed to working hard to support their family and improve themselves. And I’m talking about people of many faiths, or no faith, not just people I know from church.
I think this kind of class warfare does no good to anyone, especially conservative politics. Romney and his associates alienated many voter groups with patronising comments and they have no chance of ever winning their support with this kind of attitude.
I don’t share your pessimism about the future of Western societies. It is just stereotyping people without any acknowledgment of the diversity of the human condition. I don’t think you can tar a huge segment of society with the same brush, just because a few might not be pulling their weight.
John Furness, Townsville
Thanks John
Of, so you have determined on the basis of your knowledge of 0.00000000000000000000000001 per cent of the world’s population that it just ain’t so, that hardly any are not working hard, and only “a few might not be pulling their weight”. Wow, what a call. Impressive social science data that – not.
Not only is the world of course filled with people who will do less than what they have to, will slouch off others, and refuse to work, but if you call yourself a Christian, then you should believe the word of God which affirms this constantly. Because we are all sinners in a sinful world, we have numerous warnings in Scripture about sloth, laziness, carelessness, irresponsibility and so on. Simply start reading the book of Proverbs for starters. But your view of life with your rose-coloured glasses seems to trump both empirical fact and biblical truth. Sorry, but I know which side I will run with here.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Bill, I think I speak for everyone with an IQ above 5 when I say that you’re right. The only problem is that now the majority of this country is stupid, and has adopted the ‘entitlement mentality’ as you called it. I don’t know what the solution is, because you and I both know that if I come out and say what you said, then I will simply be labeled as an intolerant, racist, homophobic bigot by the left. They love free speech until it’s speech they don’t agree with. But that’s beside the point. Great article.
Matt Mullaney, US
Damien, no nation has ever printed themselves out of debt, remember the Weimar Republic before Hitler? Bankruptcy seems the more honest, though of course the most painful option. But it won’t be just the republican holding the bag, it is usually the ordinary people that suffer the most due to their leaders mistake. If jobs have been eliminated because of their “social justice experiments”, what help do the really poor have, those who want to work and can’t find work. Is the church ready to step in, the time will come again when the church is the only left willing and able to help. Glory to God.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
OK Bill, so where is your empirical evidence?
John Furness
Thanks John
You are obviously quite clueless here so let me try to help you out – that is if your mind is not already closed shut on this. There is a mountain of data and research on the huge and growing amount of Americans living on entitlements. Entire libraries have been written on this. The fact that you are completely unaware of all this is quite staggering. You can go here for starters for a nice summary of the data, complete with heaps of stats, charts, figures and facts:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444914904577619671931313542.html
Plenty more where that came from. And of course the welfare states in Europe, the UK and elsewhere are even more packed with people dependent on government handouts. This is just economics 101 – it so so surprising that some people are not at all aware of these basic realities.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your thoughts. I wasnt meaning tolerance, throwing away truth or wise judgement or discernment. As it states in Johns Gospel Jesus was full of grace and truth, so we both need to be merciful yet speaking the truth in love. I particular was commenting on working in a welfare context when working with people. I have at times judged people on initial impressions without hearing there stories first, I assumed things that I shouldnt of. When I have heard there stories and then I have understood the choices they may have made due to their circumstances – not excusing the the choices but understanding why they may have made them. Sometimes people are sinned against and carry baggage from the past and they need help to work through that.
People may need welfare assistance for a various reasons -retrenchment add middle age and now finding it hard to get employment, a breakdown, mental illness, domestic vioence, or just dont want to work (laziness) etc. Not one shoe fits all. I hope that clarifies what I mean.
Have a good day.
Cheers
Steve Nicholas
John, surely the biggest evidence of the level of entitlements is the fact the left use the fear of losing them as political leverage. Why else jump on the 47% comment from Romney? If there were not significant numbers of people who would potentially be swayed by such a message, why would they bother?
The most ridiculous thing about this tactic – is not that it is plain to see that the left shamelessly use it to cheaply buy votes because they are drunk with power – but so many people falling for the tactic and facilitating their own ongoing enslavement.
It makes it rather ironic when leftists have a go at the bible for supposedly being for slavery! They are actually the modern-day versions of slavers, seeking to imprison people for life by irrationally making the risks associated with freedom greater than the incentive of rewards to live a full and self-reliant life, something immensely more satisfying.
True freedom brings the opportunity to both fail and succeed, and far too many do not want to face up to this, preferring the chains of ‘security’ – money coming from the government. That is not very likely to be the path to anything than a tepid and cynical life, devoid of any great achievement. You may as well be an animal on a farm, waiting for the farmer to dole out slop each day.
Of what worth is your individual human capacity to reason, to invent, to make something better out of your life? It isn’t just to give out your bank account details so that someone can put a subsistence plus a bit more amount of money in every couple of weeks. That will eventually deaden your spirit and suck the life out of you. I had this experience personally when I was younger just out of school, and I’m glad I broke out of it.
Mark Rabich
If I may add a couple of quotes from Benjamin Franklin:
“I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
But I guess he’s just some dead ignorant white guy to some…
He also said:
“Remember that time is money.”
The letter this comes from is worth a read:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz3/eserve/ayt.html
Mark Rabich
To Steve Nicolas,
Thanks Steve, it does clarify what you mean to a great extent, my fear, based on what I have seen among my fellow Christians, is that our churches seem to be filling up with an increasing number of people who are simply applying the mercy/non judgement tag to everything which is why in part I believe that we as a society have slipped from grace to an alarming level. Like you, I (and probably everyone else ever born!) have made judgements on an initial impression only to find out just as you did. It is good that you appear to be seeing the whole picture, it is just a pity that more Christians did not. All the best mate.
Steve Davis
To Mark Rabich – I read that letter from Franklin to the young tradesman – pure gold mate, thanks for posting it here, I am going to print this off and give it to my son.
Steve Davis
Some good stuff here:
“The message being conveyed to an ever larger portion of a willing and susceptible American population is: there are no restraints on personal behavior and it is acceptable, using the auspices of government, to forcefully take from one group and give to another. In fact by the mere circumstance of living in America one is entitled to a livelihood and a vast panoply of rights as defined by and granted by the government.
“As this mindset takes hold in any country, a calamitous cycle begins. In order to satisfy the unleashed greed and envy of more and more people and to fulfill unsustainable promises, the governing class must tax, spend and borrow at an ever-increasing rate until they can no longer borrow on the open market or tax a rapidly diminishing producer class. At that point either the nation descends into chaos or revolution or its leadership embarks on war and conquest.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/11/a_nation_adrift.html#ixzz2C67TLsQX
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Dear Bill,
I actually agree with you regarding this trend, and its unhealthy effect on a society. I have to take issue with the notion that any one party is primarily responsible. Both parties have grown government enormously. The need to satisfy the “takers”, both individual and corporate, is what politicians find themselves doing to remain in power, which they intend to do with little regard to anything else.
Thank you for the reply.
Sincerely, Anthony Bartoletti
Thanks Anthony
There is no question that the entitlement mentality is an equal opportunity offender – a virus that can affect anyone. The claim which I and others have been making all along here is that many, if not most, of those on entitlements will tend to vote for the party offering more of the same. We have not been saying that every single person on the government gravy train votes Democrat, or that every single Democrat is on entitlements, or that no Republicans receive them. The point is Obama has become the entitlement king, and plenty of folks voted him back in on the basis of this fact.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
The issue here, as so clearly delineated by R J Rushdoony (see http://www.chalcedon.edu) is who or what is Saviour? Who or what is God? For Christians, there can be only one answer–God is God, not the State. The State, in claiming Self-sufficiency and Self-sovereignty, has progressively denied the sovereignty of God. It is the State’s function (see Romans 13:1-6) to suppress evil. See in particular Rushdoony’s ‘The Politics of Guilt and Pity.’
Steve Swartz