Volume 2, Issue 2
Let me explain.
Richard Engle, the NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent, gave live commentary from Istanbul, Turkey. When Brian Williams introduced him and asked him for his thoughts as someone who was close to the action, Richard replied without hesitation saying that, “It sounded like the president was outlining a world that he wishes we were all living in but is very different from the world that you just described.”
And, as to the President’s assertion that we are winning the war against ISIS, Richard Engle said, “That just isn’t the case.” I have never heard a national correspondent take direct issue with a statement in a State of the Union speech offered as fact. Engle went on to say that ISIS is gaining ground in Syria and that the generals there have told him we are losing the battle.
What struck me about this dialog is that the same generals who are talking off-the-record to Richard Engle are the same generals briefing the President and his staff with greater specificity. The President has been told by those in charge of the campaign against ISIS that we are not winning the battle. By telling the American people that we are winning, he is ignoring the facts and therefore leaving the American public without the full picture.
The President then went on in his speech to describe the U.S. economy as stable, growing, and basically on a trend to provide prosperity for the American public. The United States is the investment of last resort. This situation has allowed the U.S. to deficit spend and increase debt without raising interest rates. But the resulting societal trends are alarming. I now understand how he can say the economy is back on course when he has such little regard for the facts, if the facts don’t help him make his case. In a recent article by George Will entitled, “The Welfare State Keeps Mushrooming,” Mr. Will quotes a study conducted by Nicholas Eberstadt for the National Affairs Quarterly that in America today, transfers of benefits to individuals through social welfare programs have increased from less than one federal dollar in four (24%) in 1963 to almost three out of five (59%) in 2013. Will further says, “It is probable that this year, a majority of Americans will seek and receive payments.”
The primary cause of this growing welfare state is not Social Security and Medicare transfers, increases in poverty, or immigration. The cause is, according to Eberstadt, that the structure of U.S. government spending “has been completely overturned within living memory,” resulting in the “remodeling of daily life for ordinary Americans under the shadow of the entitlement state.” Will argues that family disintegration and the percentage of children born to unmarried women has increased as a percent of the population and that for some women, children, and even working age men, he quotes Eberstadt again, “The entitlement state is now the bread winner of the household.”
This was never the intention of welfare or The New Deal as presented by President Franklin Roosevelt. Government entitlements were meant to help people get back on their feet so that they could pursue their individual initiatives as they saw fit in life. It was never to become a way of life pursued as an end in itself. This trend breaches the principles of government and economics that we have discussed in prior reports (see www.marcnuttle.com). These trends are unsustainable. They will lead to total government control and result in socialism. This was one of Thomas Jefferson’s greatest fears. A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have.
Citizens are engaging in conversation at the New Horizon Council (www.NewHorizonCouncil.com ) about principles that bind us as a culture. The discussion has centered around four basic principles: The Constitution, Economics, Government, Foreign Policy.
I now suggest adding a fifth principle as a foundational pillar necessary for freedom. The principle is Citizen Responsibility. Citizens have an obligation to contribute as much to society as they take, to the best of their ability. That we hold each other accountable for our determinations based upon principles that bind us. And that we take the time to determine for ourselves what eternal truths we believe that we want to pass on to the next generation as their inheritance of values.
It is absolutely critical to understand that in 6,000 years of recorded history, socialism has never worked and has always imploded upon itself. If in fact over half the population becomes dependent upon government benefits and entitlements, then ultimately, the state will have to take over all resources to maintain services, resulting in inefficiencies, rationing, lower standards of living, and decline. The issue is individual liberty and freedom and the right to pursue happiness without obstructive and offensive government limitations. Free enterprise and less government is the best protocol to provide for that individual liberty.
In the coming weeks, I will be providing a 12th chapter to my book, Moment of Truth, as an epilog entitled “Moment of Reality.” The premises stated in that book have become reality today. If we continue to ignore the obvious signs of inappropriate government actions, we will suffer the consequences of history’s lessons. Further, we will offer training and directions on how to take part in a new movement for citizens to participate in the conversation and debate for the future course of our great country starting with the presidential campaign of 2016. We will provide tools for engagement and simple first steps on how to impact the major events facing our country and society today.
And most importantly, we will discuss our options together in the light of the truth with a commitment to honor those principles that we believe to be eternal. The moment of reality has arrived. To turn away from it in denial is a betrayal of our children and the next generation. May the conversation and debate expand among all who care about a purpose greater than themselves.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?