Don’t get me wrong. The U.S. is a great nation. She has pushed the bounds of science and technology and brought prosperity to the masses, creating the world’s largest middle class. She has defeated some of the world’s vilest villains and brought freedom and the rule of law to the farthest reaches of the planet. But she is not perfect. She has toppled democratically elected governments in favor of friendly dictators and firebombed civilians. She has consumed resources at a dangerous pace and ravaged the environment in the process. She has allowed her cities to fester and her family farms to wither and die. And, she has gone from a progressive tax structure, that was built upon the biblical premise that to whom much is given much is required, to one that provides massive tax relief to the people who need it least the rich.
The faith community has our work cut out for us if America is to become the “city upon a hill” envisioned by some of our greatest leaders. And if self-awareness is the beginning of wisdom, perhaps we should start by reading the Bible with different eyes. Let’s lose the hubris. Maybe we’re not ancient Israel. Maybe we’re Rome.
While I agree with some of what this author writes, there is at least one, glaring omission: he never even mentions abortion.
[blockquote]Perhaps the best measure of a nation is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Here, again, we Americans fall short. Our infant mortality rate is among the highest of the developed nations. According to America’s most notable child advocate, Marian Wright Edelman, 9 million of our children lack health insurance. The only time many of these kids see a doctor is in a hospital emergency room. [/blockquote]
Yes, our nation falls short–far short– and in ways Thomas never gets around to mentioning.
great article, makes one want to do a little deep soul searching.
[blockquote]But she is not perfect.[/blockquote]
True, the US is a project by and for humans, and therefore imperfect as all human endeavor is. But the author is vague in his finding of sin, possibly deliberately, to strengthen a case that might well be weaker if he actually relied on facts:
[blockquote]She has toppled democratically elected governments in favor of friendly dictators and firebombed civilians. [/blockquote]
Which democratically elected governments are we talking about here? Allende, the guy who invited in Russian and Cuban “advisors” after his election? True, we gave some support to the coup that toppled him, but we were not the instigators of it.
As for fireboming civilians, well, we did lay waste to Tokyo in WWII. But one cannot argue that the alternative would have been automatically less evil in terms of the loss of life. Tojo’s Japan was most certainly not a cuddly, weak-willed place.
[blockquote]She has consumed resources at a dangerous pace and ravaged the environment in the process.[/blockquote]
As opposed to what? The environmental catastrophe that is the former Soviet bloc? Our air, water and land have been getting progressively cleaner, not more polluted. And exactly which resources have been consumed at a “dangerous pace?” What does that even mean?
[blockquote]She has allowed her cities to fester and her family farms to wither and die. [/blockquote]
Cities have deteriorated as the result of crime and a virtually uniform political monoculture. “America” isn’t letting its cities decay, the leadership of those cities has made it policy to do so in order to reign in Hell rather than serve in Heaven.
And has this writer seen crop prices as of late? If farms are in such dire straits, where is all this food coming from?
[blockquote]And, she has gone from a progressive tax structure, that was built upon the biblical premise that to whom much is given much is required, to one that provides massive tax relief to the people who need it least the rich.[/blockquote]
It’s odd that he speaks in words of “tax relief” as opposed to “tax burden.” If one pays no income taxes (as roughly 40% of American do not), it’s hard to give tax relief unless one is going to refund taxes one hasn’t paid to, in the words of one prominent politician, “spread the wealth around.” The income tax is already heavily progressive, in practice, in case this guy hadn’t noticed.
All in all, a shallow jeremiad that recycles conventional wisdom, but is short on substance.
These are very popular comments to make in an article like this. But, like #3, I find the facts rather underwhelming. And to indict the tax system is truly ridiculous! Yes, it can be made more “progressive” than it already is (though obviously it is heavily progressive now). But at what price will this new “progressiveness” come? The “rich” will not sit idle while the government unfairly taxes them. Unlike a prominent politician says and seems to believe from his years of associations with socialism and socialsists, an economy is not built from the bottom up – otherwise, Cuba, Russia and China would be the greatest economies the world has ever seen. The “rich” will find other ways and other places for their money, time and talents. The the bottom-grown economy will falter and fail, at the greater expense of those on the bottom.
As I understand it when Reagan greatly reduced the progressive aspect of the Federal income tax the percentage of taxes paid by the rich actually increased. Also, presently many more income earners pay no federal income tax compared to the time when we had a more progressive tax structure.
“Perhaps the best measure of a nation is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Here, again, we Americans fall short. Our infant mortality rate is among the highest of the developed nations. According to America’s most notable child advocate, Marian Wright Edelman, 9 million of our children lack health insurance. The only time many of these kids see a doctor is in a hospital emergency room.” He is right on target here. We pass Lazarus at the gate all the time. Meanwhile, the term ‘re-distribution of wealth’ does not apply when it’s $700 billion plus going to wall street! We all fall short of the glory of God. Maybe some social gospel would not hurt.
So, #6, is the Gospel to be enforced at gunpoint these days?
Well, [7] I support the 2nd Amendment, but your point eludes me. My use of the word “target” refers to darts.
If the government is going to hand out healthcare to those 9 million children (and how many of them are here illegally, I wonder?), where will it get the money to do so?
If farms are in such dire straits, where is all this food coming from?
The asparagus we bought Saturday came from Peru. Other stuff comes from Venezuela, Mexico, etc., etc. In the heartland, families have been selling up their farms at an alarming rate and auctions of farmland and equipment occur frequently.
#8, I think he meant use of the police power of the government for social gospel accomplishment is enforcement at gun point. We have no free choice whether to give to charitable causes or not, when the government redistributes our wealth for us. But if that is the case, we have no need of charities, do we. Equation of the $700 billion with simple giving to the poor (and those with leprosy, like Lazarus), is not that simple to me. How many people’s jobs were saved and families’ were saved from that “bailout?” There was social policy there, also – at least one hopes there was. (Use of the money for acquisition of other banks is causing me some concern as to what is going on, however.)
And, she has gone from a progressive tax structure, that was built upon the biblical premise that to whom much is given much is required
The actual biblical premise distorted here is that: to whom much is given by God, much is required by God.
This author is naturally confusing government with God.
[blockquote]The asparagus we bought Saturday came from Peru. Other stuff comes from Venezuela, Mexico, etc., etc. In the heartland, families have been selling up their farms at an alarming rate and auctions of farmland and equipment occur frequently. [/blockquote]
I occasionally get produce from abroad, too, but only out of season. That doesn’t explain the record crops of wheat, corn, soy, etc.
Me I buy at farmers markets. I belong to community supported agriculture. When those container ships stop coming I would hope that there would be smaller farms in business. Contrary to what one might think, those bumper crops are not enriching many farmers. Folks around here are selling off their herds because they can’t afford the price of grain.