It has long been my mantra that social and economic policy are not mutually exclusive, but inextricably linked. Now, thanks to some spot-on economic statistics from Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns, I have calculations to back-up my contentions. In their best-selling business book The Coming Generational Storm, these two authors examine how the failure of families, and the corrosion of culture, has led us down a path of economic catastrophe. I only bring it up, because I believe there’s still time to fix our failure.
Proverbs tells us that, “he who troubles his own house will inherit the wind.” In the case of our Country, he who has troubled his own house is getting it taken away. The mountain of debt that encumbers our country is the result of marginal morality, not the culprit of capitalism. Free-markets operate effectively with faith and family, and falter with a philosophical free-for-all that trumpets relativism over Truth. The solution to our economic problems will be found in the depths of our heart, not the halls of congress.
In the book mentioned above, the authors make reference to another work entitled The Lonely Crowd , which was published as early as 1950, to support their assertion that members of society have grown increasingly isolated. As the divorce rate has skyrocketed, children have been left in the wreckage of broken homes. In our day, the physical life expectancy is rising, but the reasons for living have been lost. In the twenty-first century, we have every device at our disposal to communicate, but true community confounds us. We are, as the book suggested, “the lonely crowd.” As families have failed to aide one another, we have ceded that responsibility to government.
Our massive mound of liabilities results from our inability to come-together willingly, with a sense of community and fidelity to family. The longer America careens down the path of self-indulgence, the faster we face the future of financial ruin. I suggest that we stop making the state our surrogate and care for one another. It’s high time that we step in to save each other instead of stepping back and waiting for someone else to provide for our future. I call upon my fellow citizens to reject the lie of liberal policies aimed at growing government, not promoting prosperity.
