They will get fooled again

By Robert E. Meyer
The late Christian philosopher and apologist Francis Schaeffer was once asked by a colleague which cultural

trend he feared most looking toward the future. Without hesitation, Schaeffer replied “statism.”

Our presidential campaign thus far has shown us that Schaeffer’s concerns from yesteryear were anything but indulgence in paranoia.

The democratic front runner, Barack Obama, has garnered much political capital on a vague platform template of “change.” His swooning crowds of admirers reflexively applauding, or even fainting, at his every statement and gesture. Obama’s campaign has been so emotionally hypnotic, that Schaeffer’s son Frank is gushing giddily about supporting Barack with his heart. What candidate of the opposition party has ever offered anything unique to the theme of change?

What this “change” really connotes, amounts to more government programs, and increased dependence on government, resulting in greater learned helplessness by individual citizens.

People are now asking government to meet the needs that were once obligations of individuals themselves, family and neighbors, the public charity, church organizations, and Almighty God. A clear recipe for tyranny.

The Democratic platform, and to a lesser degree some Republican politicians, have forsaken individual accountability and initiative, while moving in a direction contrary to the roles of limited government delineated by our Founders. The best government is one that governs least.

Far too many people have stopped asking the question about what limited role in society our government should fulfill, but have hopped aboard the gravy train to paradise, never suspecting it to be the graveyard express to the ideological gulag.

In 1971, the English rock band, The Who, released an album that featured their anthem “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

The refrain from the song is totally appropriate, and further reminds me of the populist reaction to this overworked theme that change of any sort is virtue…

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again

Since the time of the New Deal, we have increasingly become a wayward people that asks government to solve all of our problems, rather than one that provides a clear pathway for individual initiative and virtue. The Great Society lies in smoldering ruins, but some Pollyanna hope for government-made utopia soars like a Phoenix above the ashes.

The contemporary view is that everything from health care to education is a “right.” That sort of mentality is the kerosene fueling the engines of enthusiasm for the democratic political tent revivals.

True charity is an obligation of mercy and grace placed on those able to provide sustenance and aid to those truly in need. Nobody has a right to benefits funded by wealth taken involuntarily from others. Such mandates are not compassion, but extortion that will ultimately lead to worse disparity then it remedies.

We are seeing the emergence of a false messianic state. In order to incorporate an essential religious theme into their campaign message, liberal candidates and political commentators have presented a socialist reinterpretation of The Sermon on the Mount as the true biblical paradigm.

Our problem is not whether we are ready for the first minority president, or the first women president. The question is whether America’s good is best served, in either case, by a potential leader that will lurch us further toward socialism than George McGovern would have in 1972.

That sort of change is anathema!

Robert E. Meyer is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.
(www.thenma.org). The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national
coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets
He can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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The opinions expressed in this column represent those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or philosophy of Borderfire Report.
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