Mourning Our War Dead

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented."Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, `Go!' and he goes, and to another, `Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment. (Matthew 8:5-13,NAS)

Jesus marveled at the Roman centurion’s faith.

Jesus didn’t endorse Imperial Rome - an officer of Imperial Rome endorsed Jesus. The centurion acknowledged a kingdom other than Rome, and a king other than Caesar. And King Jesus received him.

Were Jesus a modern Neoconservative, he’d have pledged allegiance to Rome, and thanked the centurion for "preserving freedom." (Never mind that Neoconservatives are the enemies of freedom)

But Jesus is no jingoist.

Had Jesus been a modern Progressive, he’d have waxed indignant, chastising the centurion for supporting a regime that upheld slavery, wars of conquest, and occupation of foreign lands. (Never mind that Progressives historically support the worst tyrants)

But Jesus isn’t a political agitator.

King Jesus transcends political views. He called Apostles from the extreme left (Matthew the tax collector), and the far right (Simon the zealot).

He hasn’t come to take sides - He’s come to take over!

Therefore, whether you believe in the justness of some, all, or none of our several wars - don't insult the troops. But don't pretend their deployments around the world "keep us free."

Today, Memorial Day, is supposed to be the day we mourn the nearly 1.5 million who didn’t survive the wars we sent them to fight. They did their duty, and paid the ultimate price.

American Idol: John Maynard Keynes

Keynesian economics is a religion, fervently adhered to by its devotees despite its history of failure.

Obama's Keynesian spending orgy will not lead to prosperity. The most uneducated tea partier grasps this, whereas highly educated elitists have immunized themselves against basic universal truths such as gravity, and serfdom being the plight of the borrower.

Note that Keynes didn't invent the idea of government spending as economic stimulus, just like Marx didn't invent central banking. Keynes and Marx were just audacious enought to collate the theories and utopian dreams of others.

Marx called his compilation "scientific socialism" - not because it was scientific, but because he was sure the proletariat would act out his theories in the laboratory of history, and that he would be counted prescient rather than presumptuous.

Keynes gave an academic gloss to what central banks were already doing, disingenuously implementing central planning while claiming to promote free enterprise.

Of course the proletarians never rise up to validate Marx - they have to be coaxed by professional revolutionaries and community agitators, who in turn are financed by the ruling class who direct central planning.

It isn't pure Marxism or pure Capitalism. It's acquisition of power, and let the masses argue about whether the culprit is Capitalism or Socialism. George Soros and Barack Obama don't care - they are focused on expanding the power of the state.

The results of Marxist-Keynesian central planning have been:

*Removal of financial limitations when war is contemplated. Wars have become larger in scope, and more destructive, as states have financed their war efforts with the blood and sweat of future generations.

*Expansion of the welfare state, creating the illusion that Socialism and central planning lead to lasting prosperity for society. Disillusion regarding this myth is spreading throughout Europe presently.

*Bubble and bust economy. Central banks were suppose to prevent this, but instead have been a primary cause of it. The Great Depression started years after the Federal Reserve bank received its charter. Fed expansion of credit markets created false demands, which led to oversupplies, which led to market crashes.

* Instead of blaming central banks, Keynesians and Progressives blamed "capitalism" and lack of regulation. They are doing the same thing now. "Leading economists," - i.e. the ones in government and on TV - is a euphemism for government-approved economists. Economists of the Austrian School predicted the crash of '29 while "leading economists" were heralding an era of permanent prosperity.

*The free market doesn't coexist with central banking, except in name. Hence, when the bubble economy caused by the Fed bursts, it is counted as a failure of the free market. More regulation is called for. This is like setting a house (the free market) on fire (Fed credit expansion), blaming the house, and then calling for kerosene (more regulation) to be added.

When Harding took office, America was in a severe recession, which would have become a depression had he and Coolidge done what Hoover and FDR later did.



http://blog.conservativetoday.org/index.php/ConservativeToday/Economy/the-severe-recession-of-1920-the-forgott