I have friends who can quote statistics and numbers until eyes glaze over and snoring can be heard. There are always numbers, percentages, voting blocks, proposed legislation, on and on ad nauseum. But a wise man looks past most of that to the principles involved.
Ronald Reagan was thought by many to be rather dumb and uninformed. His papers later revealed that he was actually very smart and in control of a lot of data, but what he really did was win hearts with his ability to speak in terms of the principles of freedom. He understood the human longing for freedom, for opportunity, for morality, and righteous glory. It worked very well for him, and American self esteem went way up while he was in command of the world stage.
Three principles I look for as the pillars of human prosperity are:
1) Freedom and opportunity, the ability to learn something, do it well, and keep the reward of the investment.
2) Energy. When personal energy is lacking, it is difficult to do much. When public energy is rationed or unreasonably expensive, it is very hard to grow and employ people. Gasoline at $4 a gallon is a hardship, and when home heating bills are in the hundreds of dollars, people suffer.
3) Morality. A breakdown in general morality means people are fighting each other rather than working together for mutual benefit. A society with crumbling morality cannot be prosperous.
So these three areas are my main concern in the political arena, they involve principles, they are targets for those who wish to shape the future in ways that affect my life and happiness. It doesn't take a hard look to see the political decisions that put stress on all of these areas, and the current American retreat from former prosperity can be traced to political pressures against freedom, energy, and morality.
When the Affordable Care act was passed with zero support from one party, when it contained 18 new taxes burried in 2700 pages of regulations, and when doctors were never consulted on how to structure it, and when the general public was told it had to be passed so that we could see what is in it, something died. We have a serious problem unfolding.
Political debate and discussion is essential, or force takes over.
My interest in this post is not to spark debate on any particular issue, but rather to suggest that political discussion might have a healthy role in this forum. Partisan cheap shots and insults will kill a discussion quickly I know, but well reasoned debate is a treasure of potential learning. I just hope we could do some of that within the bounds of Christian charity.
