Infrastructure and Unemployment 1

The opening point of discussion was the 65,000 unrepaired bridges in the Unites States.  Someone pointed out that such repairs would provide jobs and use materials, all from the United States.

Unfortunately, Congress stole most of the money with federal bailouts and credit-card wars. Bridges are just the beginning of the iceberg. We should start a deficiency list: road paving, sewer and water, electrical power generation, school facilities, storm shelters, parks.

We should start another list for stuff that is broken other than infrastructure: I'm afraid to get this list started, tomorrow is Halloween and I don't want to deal with anything too scary....

This discussion is continued in Infrastructure and Unemployment 2.

Infrastructure and Unemplyment 2

I wish I could agree that foreign aid is the problem.  It does show how our priorities are messed up, but there is not enough money in foreign aid spending to explain the reasons for the disaster we live with every day.

Fraud and theft pretty much explain it all.

Our jobs are being given away overseas to keep us the working poor in line.  The movers and shakers don't want us to get together and have too much power or we could and would overthrow them.  How do they pull this off?  Mostly by the shrewd use of propaganda.  One of the things this propaganda does is pit us against each other.  The buck private, the private worker, and the union guy are all set at odds with each other.  It's time we realized that with or without organization, we are all members of the same union: the union of the working poor.  Maybe somebody can run with this idea and get us organized.

What might our agenda be?

We must restore the honor, dignity, and skills of crafts and trades that can only be learned through apprenticeship; we must show that these are at least as important or even more important than a college education.

We must prove that if we build it, it is our property, ours the rights of ownership, ours the right to sell, ours the right to profit by; and we must break the strangling vice grip of leverage that claims otherwise.  We must get out of debt and stay out of debt.

We must form cooperative businesses, not corporations, that treat all participants with a weighted equality that accords with their individual skill and experience: the apprentice must respect the master, who has earned his stripes.

We must break the back of at-will employment and let workers truly find a place at the table in a free marketplace.

We must do this at law, not by riot, until we take away the power of a few to run business dictatorships.

We must teach this to our children, and our children's children until we have restored a free society.

In this effort to be free, both Democrats and Republicans are our enemy.  These political parties pretend to be at odds so they can divide and conquer us, and we are being played.

Our camaraderie stands on one fact alone.  We are the working poor: and by working poor, I mean everybody from an apprentice bean picker to a master surgeon, anybody who actually works for a living.

One more thing.  We will never appreciate or develop this camaraderie to its fullest extent unless we return to God.  It is God Who teaches us that these things are true in the Ten Commandments.  It is God Who hates slavery in all its forms and teaches how to break it.  Yes, and He has broken it (Luke 4:16-21).  We would not be in this mess if we had been faithful in following our Leader.  We won't get very far without Him now.

Totalitarian Culture

What is not to understand?

1.     The Unites States, for the past 50 years or longer has pursued an expanded worldview of Manifest Destiny in which it is the savior of the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny.  It should be clear to Christians that the substitution of the Unites States for the LORD Jesus Christ is a very wicked, anti-Christ, and anti-Christian thing to do.  It should be equally clear that in support of this doctrine that we reach out in care to other nations, and even animals, while people are going hungry on our own doorsteps.  The adage, “Cast out the moat in your own eye first,” comes to mind.  The point is not to change and neglect a different part of these obligations.  The point is that we must care for all: hungry on our own doorstep, the foreigner and stranger, as well as created animals, plants, rocks, and rills.  Such care is to be extended, not coerced, in the name of the risen Jesus Christ who offers freedom and peace to all.  The Unites States does not offer freedom and peace to all: it offers capitalism and economic slavery under the guise of a false-democracy.  It should be clear from the Ancient Greeks that the extension of a pseudo-democracy was merely a political-ploy to put a corrupt man in office: it resulted in a loss of, not an increase in freedom, and ultimately led to the downfall of Greece to the Roman Republic.  There is really no point in protesting that democracy is better: historically, democracy always deteriorates into anarchy and autocracy.  The Republic prevails because it is a better deal.  Even some monarchies are preferable to the sort of autocracy that democracy spawns: Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, for example.  The Unites States, in extending welfare, is simply playing with political manipulation.  The Church, on the other hand, in relationship with Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost, is merely doing its duty.

2.     There are not enough jobs to go around.  When the family farm was the predominant economic structure, there was always work to do.  The home was the castle, the family was the organization, and people could not be fired.  In our society, we are now dependent on jobs, get fired and poverty, even famine immediately threaten.  On the farm, if you were sensible enough to avoid mortgages and other debt, even in a bad year, you would probably still have: a roof, food, work, and a barn to shelter strangers.  The link between farms, jobs, and debt slavery should be obvious and not need development here.  The necessary jobs, through the combined efforts of government and industry have largely been deported through the guise of a global economy.  Ostensibly, in a global economy, jobs like making shoes and welding could be farmed out to third-world countries while jobs requiring more difficult technical skills would remain.  Now we live with the bitter irony that the technical jobs are all farmed out: engineers can’t find work, employers can’t find skilled welders, and Keds cost $100 (This is a joke.  Nobody wears sneakers anymore.  Everybody needs expensive specialized athletic shoes.  Keds retail between $20 and $100.)  The complaint about illegal immigrant labor is also a red herring: we wanted and demanded illegal immigrant labor ever since I was a small boy: but now in economic downturn we need a scapegoat.  How can this be?  Downturns occur naturally.  Some years we just don’t get enough rain, which is why we have barns and root-cellars.  The real reason that this is such a disaster is that we have not been dealing with it one year at a time: we’ve been postponing the inevitable by debt.  Everything is mortgaged from lunch, to gasoline, to wars.  The irony of putting lunch on a credit card ought to grip us all: it just doesn’t.  People ought to be able to get jobs and do them.  A thriving economy has a surplus of jobs, everyone who is able works, everyone has a place of respect at the table.

3.     Nazi Germany and euthanasia.  That’s what my doctor said.  He had a point.

4.     Chomsky’s point that we really live in a Totalitarian Culture is well taken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSBqkLDxmo.  Our government lies to us.  Our government manipulates us with propaganda: we are told what to think, when to think, and how to think.  God and the Bible are no longer central to our thought processes.  The Decalogue, which is designed to abolish slavery among the people of God forever, is now reduced to the ten suggestions.  Our education system, which was originally considered a way to defeat evil (The Deluder of Satan Act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_School_Laws), has been manipulated to become the means of controlling thought.  Children from K through PhD are not being taught how to think, but how to give the right answer.  Real thinkers, like Chomsky are a rarity in our culture: most of them have been marginalized.  The scientific community is commonly instructed by their political or other overlords, how to spin the facts.  If the scientists doesn’t “get it” the first time, they get retrained: failing at retraining they get fired or otherwise marginalized.  Many excellent scientists, realizing that this is who the game is played, go along with the lie so that they can get back to their work.  There is no freedom of speech in this.  Chomsky is tolerated only because he sounds like a raving madman to most people.

5.     Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Our ever increasing omnipotent central government is a disaster.  We continue, uninvited, to meddle in international affairs.  The fine balance between inclusivism and isolationism is rarely achieved.  Rarely do we approach the family of nations as brothers and sisters: usually, we come as know-it-all lords.  This is a byproduct of our folly, because only Jesus is LORD.

Many of us believe, and I proclaim that our forefathers envisioned a united STATES, not a UNITED states; which is to say that all truly important action is local action.  The home is the Castle, it is being invaded by government.  We need to get out of debt, and stay out of debt: in doing so we break the slavery leverage that crushes us.  We need to stop listening to government/corporate propaganda, learn to think, and start doing things for ourselves.  We really need to return to God and His Word.

The CBS link is: https://www.facebook.com/CBS.  Unfortunately, yesterday’s news is already buried deeply in the pile.

“Why do we always hear about Social Security [and Medicare] running out of money, But never hear anything about welfare [or Medicaid] running out of money. The problem is the [Social Security participants] worked for their [benefits], The [Welfare recipients] didn't [work for anything]!”

Two Homes, Two Destinies

Making Too Much of Bones

The cartoon made the point that one could not distinguish between sinners by looking at their skeletons.  In doing so, it glossed over the reality that sin must be forgiven; never excused.

A great deal has been said about the bones of man, recently. Certainly, bones are of great concern for man. However, we care only a little for the bones of man, as Christians, or for the flesh, skin, organs, even the brain: for all of these will die, be buried, and return to the dust from which these things were all made. Yes, it is true that these bones will be raised again at the last judgment.

Nevertheless, our principal concern is with the spirit of man: for God breathed into man the spirit of life and man became a living soul. Well, all animals have souls (Nephesh), don't they? Of all the animals, man (both male and female) is special; man is marked with the image and likeness of God Himself. So when the Son of God becomes man by adding to Himself a complete Human nature, something Cosmic is going on; an event so enormous that it shakes every star and planet in the universe. When Jesus is born of Mary, the stars and planets paid attention and worshipped: angels sing, shepherds bow, kings march forth. And when Christ is crucified....

This spirit of man, this immaterial aspect of man is capable of doing something that angels and animals cannot do. Man can sin. Worse yet, man is capable of suppressing the truth, and denying that he has sinned. Still more deceptive, man is capable of being an atheist. And man is capable of sweeping all of this under the table, with the words, "It is my genetic tendency, my DNA strand made me do it."

Frequently, man desires to embrace such folly, and yet claim the name of Christian. This just won't work. Such a person is no Christian at all. God is not deceived by such antics, neither is He mocked by them.

A Christian follows Jesus, and that always carries a price. For those who follow Jesus, He has prepared an eternal home. God's destiny for men and women is that they might become Christ-like, god-like. This takes a lot of hammering, but God is well able to do it. God has in mind the perfection of the image and likeness of God in man. What an enormous gift. This too is Cosmic.

Nevertheless, there will always be those who reject such a gift. Tragic. They follow the counsel of fallen angels, or demons. God has also prepared an eternal home for these angels: namely Hell, which is more accurately described as the Lake of Fire. Men who follow fallen angels, will follow them right into the Lake of Fire. How can one convince such men that this is a bad idea: an idea so bad that God has spent the whole course of human history persuading men not to do this, not to follow demons, not to see themselves as mere bones.

What a shame. Those who only look to bones can never comprehend the glory God wants to give to sinful man. What a shame.

Debt Slavery 4

Debt Slavery 4

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Here is where we left this topic, just about a year ago:

The bottom line is, we are in trouble as a nation.  This debt-slavery is no joke.  Please take it seriously.  I still trust the solution recommended by Moses and dozens of other prophets, and guaranteed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus, I trust.  Moses, I trust.  Any other opinions, I don’t trust.  The specifics change day-by-day, but the long-term principles never change.

·       Get out of debt and stay out of debt.

·       Show mercy, hate cruelty, help others in trouble; love your neighbor as yourself.

·       Never forget where all blessings came from, love God with all your heart.  You have a job because He gave it to you.  Become a more thankful person.

·       Enjoy sunrises, sunsets, and the simple pleasures of life and remember that your Creator gave them all to you.

·       Go to Church on Sunday, and remember that the most powerful person in the universe is still in charge of this mess.

Debt Slavery, an Update

I believe that debt slavery is a wicked and cruel social malignancy.

I believe that Moses specifies the only acceptable and possible working model in Exodus, where he requires zero interest,[1] very restricted debt on a 7 year cycle, and total debt absolution on a 7 x 7, 50 year cycle.

Our Prayer

We regularly pray, “forgive us our debts,” where the Greek word, ὀφειλήματα, refers specifically to duties, fiscal debt, and other obligations at law in exact conformity to the law of Moses.  Yet we consistently ignore this requirement.  We are nothing but a bunch of unrighteous hyocrites.

The Law of the Kingdom

Jesus says, I have come to fulfill the law . and the prophets, that is the entire Old Testament.[2]  Hence, this is the unmovable law of God's kingdom.  All Christians are bound to submit to it.

I, as a Christian, have no choice.  My King outranks my earthly nation.  I must hate and war against interest, and long term or predatory debt wherever I find any of them.  I must hate and war against any group that supports them.  Hence, the Federal Government of the United States and The Federal Reserve Banking system are in defiance of God’s unmovable Kingdom Law insofar as they promote and tolerate either any interest or any debt outside of the strict limits imposed by Moses.  Yet, at the same time I must find a place in my heart to love those involved in this sordid work.  Specifically, I must love them enough to tell them the truth about their sin, and faithfully pray for their repentance, so that they may escape the wrath of God brought down upon them for their own cruelty.  No one is allowed by God to be involved in this sordid mess in any way.  It is forbidden.

Nothing short of Moses’ full plan is acceptable to me.  To rub salt in my own wounds, Moses just makes good sense.  All this would fall to the ground had not Christ Himself made such a point of it in the Gospels.

What Matthew Says

For instance, the Gospel of Matthew divides itself into five main Sections.  Two of these Sections end with an exhortation on debt: Matthew 18 and 25.  Elsewhere, I have written extensively on Matthew 18,[3] but have not yet had time to pursue Matthew 25, or all of Matthew in detail.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Jesus is most certainly preaching the fiscal law of Moses.  It is the law of the kingdom.  It is not a suggestion.  Those who persist to live in defiance of it are asking to be thrown into the Lake of Fire.  In Matthew 6:15 a new Greek word, παραπτῶματα, is used.  This word means misstep or stumbling.  It is one thing to stumble at the law as we all must.  It is another thing to openly defy the law: this is not of faith and is unforgivable.

The Result is Freedom

The direct result of the Mosaic code is to obliterate slavery and the cruelty of it.  The only way to truly escape slavery is to enter God's kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ, the King of that Kingdom.  It appears that this Kingdom proclaims the final application of the Mosaic code in an eternal form, because Jesus fulfills it, and His blood is eternal.[4]

What Luke Says

Mary foresees all these things and sings of its future reality.[5]  Finally, Jesus Himself proclaims this teaching openly and clearly in Luke 4:14-21.  His words cannot be misunderstood, but they are certainly denied.

The Impact on our Nation

Shakespeare understood this when he wrote, “Neither borrower nor lender be....” Merchant of Venice.  We know it too, but by our open refusal to obey, we bring down well deserve fire upon our own heads.  Debt and usury are both cruel forms of slavery.  A slavery which God forbids, but we flaunt openly.  If we don't get this right, our nation will surely be destroyed.  At that point, I say, “good riddance.”  “Give me Liberty or give me death.”  We heard the alarm and did nothing about it.  Our house is on fire, and it will surely burn to the ground.  It's just a matter of time.

The Purpose is Love for God

The purpose of this strong law is plainly stated.  God wants people to love Him freely.  To this end, He openly displays His goodness everywhere.  “Everything we are and have, stems from His relationship with us.”  The Federal Government supplies nothing: it is simply a conduit.

As the necessary and obvious byproduct of loving God freely, God wants people to love each other freely.  Why?  Because, all are created in His image, Christ became man to die for all, and all may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It’s that simple.  It’s that complicated.  Debt Slavery is simply incompatible with this world and life view.  Debt Slavery is incompatible with God's Kingdom.

Yours in Christ,

Herb Swanson, aka Augie

---

[1] The Bible defines usury as any interest rate greater than zero.  Moses only applied this within Nation Israel-Judah.  Christ extends this law to the whole human race without exception.

[2] This figure of speech is a form of hendiadys, where two words, frequently the first and the last, are used to describe the whole: Alpha and Omega, first and last, hot and cold.  The Old Testament is often referred to as the Law and the Prophets, or as the Law, Prophets, and Writings, which are the three common Jewish divisions of the Old Testament, the TANAKH, which is an acronym for Torah (Hebrew for Teaching: namely, the Five Books of Moses; Nevi’im (Hebrew for Prophets) and Ketuvim (Hebrew for Writings).

[3] http://swantec.blogspot.com/2013/10/matthew-18.html

[4] Hebrews 13:20-21

[5] Luke 1:46-55