A Liberty Carol: Stave III the Future

Last time we finished the second of a four part series inspired by Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol”. First we went back in time and saw the triumph and struggle of the founding of the nation. We shivered at Valley Forge, saw the driving of the golden spike and reveled in the economic prosperity that ensued. We also saw the nation begin to loose its moral bearings in the hippie movement of the ‘60’s and were distressed anew at the fall of Saigon. Then we moved about the nation today and saw both the lasting exceptionalism the American spirit and the forces that threaten it. Today we revisit those same souls to see what will become of the “last best hope of man on Earth”.

First we return to the streets of Detroit and we find… chaos. Rioters roam the streets, police cars are in flames shop windows are broken and looted, many are hurt, some are dead.  The inevitable has happened the government has run out of other people’s money. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment, food stamps, welfare, all our bankrupt. All the years when the government was “helping” these people they were destroying their ability to take provide for themselves, now that the help can no longer flow these people have no alternative but to act out. The scene is appalling it would once have been un-American, but America is not what it once was, the government’s stash has run out. Then a new wave of concern sweeps over us ….

The scene changes we are once again in the home of the building contractor and his family, but the change is astonishing. On the desk are layoff notices for the last of his employees, his business is done. Taxed and regulated into submission he simply can no longer keep the doors open. The house is dark part of the schedule of rolling blackouts that are the result of severe energy shortages brought on by the government’s energy policies. Unemployment is at record highs which are the new normal, opportunities are rare. Despite all his work to build better life for his family he sees his children go forth into a world that more resembles a Russian Gulag than the land of opportunity. The Star Spangled Banner may still wave but no longer o’er the land of the Free.

Next we go again to the Midwest to the farmer who so impressed us with his diligence and generosity. We are relieved to find that he still has his land, but we find that he is ill, his family has gathered and the end seems near. At first we are touched by the scene but then we see a paper on the table stained with the tears of his children, it is from the Health and Human Services actuary committee. Our friend this hero and patriarch suffers from a treatable disease.100% curable but he does not qualify for the treatment due to age and cost considerations, he can’t even pay for it himself, it’s not legal.  It is little wonder. The government controls health care, incentive is removed production is set not by the needs of the market but by the whim of a government bureaucrat. Shortages ensue, innovation dries up. Life and liberty are now rationed along with health care.

Once again the scene changes and takes us to familiar ground. We return to the church that we visited before but it is dark, the windows boarded the Bibles gone from the pews. Those stalwart warriors who prayed so hard are no longer heard. The words from the pulpit were deemed politically incorrect, then deemed a threat, then a hate crime, now they are outlawed. We sneer at our own ignorance; this all began with the inane debate over religious institutions paying for contraceptives. Freedom lost.

We walk to the alter and kneel, too late to pray, or is it too late… we are come full circle. We recall the words of Scrooge “Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?" "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me."

For Scrooge the answer was simple. A man makes his destiny, but to change the course of a nation is not so simple. But if the course can be changed so may the ends. Next week we will look more intensely at the necessary steps to change our nations ends.

Until then…keep on the firing line!