I find lately though that I have a lot to say. I always have something to say when I come here (or else I wouldn't), but there was a lot I was trying to say with the novel, too. Fiction is difficult for me, and maybe it's the difficulty that's most enjoyable. I used to draw mazes as a kid, and writing fiction is like building a psychological labyrinth, at least if it's the kind of novel I really like to read. I still don't know where I want that particular maze to end, so while the idea simmers a little further, I'm catching up here and reading novels like crazy, because the more I wrote in November, the less I felt like I knew what I was doing. And unlike the first time I participated in 2007, this time I cared.
This is a topic I've been saving up for a while, and fiction won't do it justice. Unless I try to write another Animal Farm or something like that. Not likely. But I'm starting to think someone should.
I keep seeing this picture pop up on Facebook, and I'm going to write this now hoping that when I see it again it will better enable me to keep the friends I have left, because I will have finally gotten this out of my system. Because I'll tell you this: The last time I saw this picture, it almost got really ugly. REALLY ugly indeed.
My friends like to make it clear to me when I raise a fuss that this is directed at only the truly greedy, poor-hating conservatives out there, not to ME personally. Okay, so let me get this straight. You're telling people that don't believe in socialism that they're greedy and anti-Christian for that very reason alone. Well good for you, because you're making yourself look damn clever in the process, with that whole Jesus thing. Hitting them right where it hurts. Isn't that selfish right-wing conservative bastard's face red now. But at least you're not talking to ME. Great, thanks so much for the clarification.
Wait a minute, are you also telling me that you have selfish right-wing money-hoarding conservatives who hate poor people as Facebook friends? No? Then please tell me again how posting pictures like this on Facebook is effecting the change you so desperately seek.
Yeah, see, that's what I thought. It's not change you're looking for. It's validation. It is Facebook after all, and that's the reason we're all there. That's fine, we all need it from time to time. Just be honest about it. But don't expect to get it from everyone.
See, the thing is, you ARE talking to me, because I don't believe in socialism. I mean if you're so self-assured as to post something like this, might as well grow 'em big enough to follow through and own up to your intended audience. ALL of it. But this isn't about me. This is about what socialism is, what Christianity is, both in my own opinion (because this is a personal blog), and why hating socialism doesn't necessarily translate into hating thy neighbor.
In fact, I believe socialism discourages charity. Which means socialism is not an example of how to follow Jesus nearly as much as it is discouragement from following Jesus at all.
In my opinion, Jesus' teachings were a model for how to live our lives as individuals, not as governments. The Bible is not a government document. It is not a constitution for a new country. This is why it's possible to be against socialism and philanthropic at the same time. Government gets involved because church and charity can't keep up with everything. I get that. But it shouldn't take care of everything either. It can't. It is not efficient. The fact that it keeps trying creates as many problems as it solves by burdening the productive class to the point that it is no longer productive, which causes them to give less or even turn away from being charitable altogether. Not out of greed, but out of necessity.
Wealth redistribution is an implied judgement against the productive class that they don't deserve what they have, for the sole reason that not everyone has it. Burdening productive people with the obligation of supporting those who are not discourages that productivity, because it's like handing out participation awards to those who ran the race as well as those who just showed up. Why run at all if the rewards are equal? Or at least that's the goal, right? Economic equality?
For example, I had a freelance job when I moved to California. The taxes here are so high that when I put that together with the double federal taxes I was paying for being self employed, after less than a year I decided I would actually rather move down to a one-bedroom apartment and put most of my belongings in storage than work 18 hours a day and weekends and still be rent-poor. And that's exactly what I did. I'm just as rent-poor now, but at least I can sleep for a full night every night and have some time for friends. How many others have made the same decision, to be satisfied with less because an increase in labor doesn't equate to an increase in disposable income?
And why is it selfish to expect such a thing?
If that sounds like a child throwing all his toys in the sandbox and leaving, maybe you're right. Call me immature all you want, but all I got from that endeavor was exhaustion, fewer friends and decreased language skills, because all I knew how to say was, "I can't go, I have to work." When increased ambition and harder work results in little to no increase in your standard of living, because you're being taxed to death to raise someone else's standard of living, exactly what is the point? Why should you keep doing it?
The answer is, you don't.
On the other hand, if you actually see the results of your labor as increased income, and you don't expect the government to take care of your neighbor on your behalf, you are more likely to choose to donate some of that income to a cause that means something to you. You're more likely to take that responsibility for helping your neighbor yourself, which I believe is what Jesus taught. Generosity out of the kindness of your heart is its own reward. Forced generosity through taxation and inefficient distribution is not. And yet there are many out there who believe that merely being "liberal" and believing in "socialism" makes them charitable people. But they're actually the least charitable people out there, because they do little to nothing on their own. They don't have to. Why should they when that's the government's job?
This is exactly what bothers me about socialism. I'm a huge believer in personal responsibility, and socialism discourages that. People who believe the government should be responsible tend to abdicate their own responsibility for others, and then still call themselves charitable because they support socialist programs. Yes, it is important that people in need get help, no matter where it comes from. But the question is, what kind of person do YOU want to be? Can you use Jesus' teachings to berate others when you don't follow them yourself? Joe Biden made over $300,000 a year around the time of the 2008 elections. He donated an average of $369 a year. I make less than $60,000 a year and I donate about $100. When I made that same income in Texas, I was able to give more. Know why? Less taxes and a lower cost of living. Having more made me want to do more. I have more of an excuse now to donate nothing than he ever had to donate $369, and yet I don't believe in excuses for such things. I do it because I believe I have that responsibility when I'm able, and I certainly don't believe the government is there to follow Jesus for me. As long as I can afford a social life, an occasional set of Chicken McNuggets, or some new software for my computer, I can certainly do that.
I find it ridiculous that anyone would use the Bible to support any government economic policy, no matter what it is. In this case, what exactly is Christian about letting the government be charitable for you? At the end of your life, will you be able to look back and say, I made a difference? Or will you only be able to say, I supported my government making a difference on my behalf?
And as long as we're talking about what it means to be a good Christian, please also show me where the Bible says economic superiority is a sin but intellectual superiority can come at any cost, especially when you can appear clever at the expense of those who disagree with you. Can't find that one? Then maybe you should find another picture.
Wait a minute, are you also telling me that you have selfish right-wing money-hoarding conservatives who hate poor people as Facebook friends? No? Then please tell me again how posting pictures like this on Facebook is effecting the change you so desperately seek.
Yeah, see, that's what I thought. It's not change you're looking for. It's validation. It is Facebook after all, and that's the reason we're all there. That's fine, we all need it from time to time. Just be honest about it. But don't expect to get it from everyone.
See, the thing is, you ARE talking to me, because I don't believe in socialism. I mean if you're so self-assured as to post something like this, might as well grow 'em big enough to follow through and own up to your intended audience. ALL of it. But this isn't about me. This is about what socialism is, what Christianity is, both in my own opinion (because this is a personal blog), and why hating socialism doesn't necessarily translate into hating thy neighbor.
In fact, I believe socialism discourages charity. Which means socialism is not an example of how to follow Jesus nearly as much as it is discouragement from following Jesus at all.
In my opinion, Jesus' teachings were a model for how to live our lives as individuals, not as governments. The Bible is not a government document. It is not a constitution for a new country. This is why it's possible to be against socialism and philanthropic at the same time. Government gets involved because church and charity can't keep up with everything. I get that. But it shouldn't take care of everything either. It can't. It is not efficient. The fact that it keeps trying creates as many problems as it solves by burdening the productive class to the point that it is no longer productive, which causes them to give less or even turn away from being charitable altogether. Not out of greed, but out of necessity.
Wealth redistribution is an implied judgement against the productive class that they don't deserve what they have, for the sole reason that not everyone has it. Burdening productive people with the obligation of supporting those who are not discourages that productivity, because it's like handing out participation awards to those who ran the race as well as those who just showed up. Why run at all if the rewards are equal? Or at least that's the goal, right? Economic equality?
For example, I had a freelance job when I moved to California. The taxes here are so high that when I put that together with the double federal taxes I was paying for being self employed, after less than a year I decided I would actually rather move down to a one-bedroom apartment and put most of my belongings in storage than work 18 hours a day and weekends and still be rent-poor. And that's exactly what I did. I'm just as rent-poor now, but at least I can sleep for a full night every night and have some time for friends. How many others have made the same decision, to be satisfied with less because an increase in labor doesn't equate to an increase in disposable income?
And why is it selfish to expect such a thing?
If that sounds like a child throwing all his toys in the sandbox and leaving, maybe you're right. Call me immature all you want, but all I got from that endeavor was exhaustion, fewer friends and decreased language skills, because all I knew how to say was, "I can't go, I have to work." When increased ambition and harder work results in little to no increase in your standard of living, because you're being taxed to death to raise someone else's standard of living, exactly what is the point? Why should you keep doing it?
The answer is, you don't.
On the other hand, if you actually see the results of your labor as increased income, and you don't expect the government to take care of your neighbor on your behalf, you are more likely to choose to donate some of that income to a cause that means something to you. You're more likely to take that responsibility for helping your neighbor yourself, which I believe is what Jesus taught. Generosity out of the kindness of your heart is its own reward. Forced generosity through taxation and inefficient distribution is not. And yet there are many out there who believe that merely being "liberal" and believing in "socialism" makes them charitable people. But they're actually the least charitable people out there, because they do little to nothing on their own. They don't have to. Why should they when that's the government's job?
This is exactly what bothers me about socialism. I'm a huge believer in personal responsibility, and socialism discourages that. People who believe the government should be responsible tend to abdicate their own responsibility for others, and then still call themselves charitable because they support socialist programs. Yes, it is important that people in need get help, no matter where it comes from. But the question is, what kind of person do YOU want to be? Can you use Jesus' teachings to berate others when you don't follow them yourself? Joe Biden made over $300,000 a year around the time of the 2008 elections. He donated an average of $369 a year. I make less than $60,000 a year and I donate about $100. When I made that same income in Texas, I was able to give more. Know why? Less taxes and a lower cost of living. Having more made me want to do more. I have more of an excuse now to donate nothing than he ever had to donate $369, and yet I don't believe in excuses for such things. I do it because I believe I have that responsibility when I'm able, and I certainly don't believe the government is there to follow Jesus for me. As long as I can afford a social life, an occasional set of Chicken McNuggets, or some new software for my computer, I can certainly do that.
I find it ridiculous that anyone would use the Bible to support any government economic policy, no matter what it is. In this case, what exactly is Christian about letting the government be charitable for you? At the end of your life, will you be able to look back and say, I made a difference? Or will you only be able to say, I supported my government making a difference on my behalf?
And as long as we're talking about what it means to be a good Christian, please also show me where the Bible says economic superiority is a sin but intellectual superiority can come at any cost, especially when you can appear clever at the expense of those who disagree with you. Can't find that one? Then maybe you should find another picture.
I've walked past that maelstrom every day at around 3pm since I drew it. Sometimes I stop and stand in the middle of it. Sometimes I sit near it for a few minutes, or I just give it a glance as I walk by. The time alone, exercise and sunshine have all been helping to keep my mood relatively stable. The drawing has rubbed off some, but really hasn't changed much over the last week and a half. Except today there was something new. A response, perhaps.
I didn't do that. It was waiting for me when I got there this afternoon.