To The Victor...

Opening disclaimer:  The following are, as always, my own personal thoughts and opinions on what is going on in my life at present.  As such, there may be political and social content which some may find personally offensive.  I trust that anyone reading this probably knows me well enough to know what to expect, and won't really be surprised about anything contained herein.  If you don't want to know what I think, stop reading now - I'll let you know when I have more cute pictures of my kids.

Another election day has come and gone, and I must admit myself more than a little disappointed.  And, if I am being perfectly honest, more than a little frightened.  Disappointed because I thought enough of my fellow Americans had finally seen Obama for the hollow politician that he is.  Frightened because I see a very real possibility that the American economy over the next four years could deteriorate to the point that it may never recover in my lifetime.  This morning, I woke up to a very different view of my future from what I had 24 hours ago.  Less than a day ago, I was confident that the economy was on a slow but steady road to recovery, that I stood a pretty good chance of getting a substantial raise upon my next review at the beginning of the year.  Now, I'm worried that confidence in our industry may go back to what it was around 09, when we started losing overtime and our pay rates were frozen.  I'm worried that I may not be able to sell our house in the next few year for enough to pay off the mortgage and move into a slightly larger house so my teen aged son and eight-year-old daughter don't have to share a room. 

I do not get into lengthy political debates for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because I do not fit neatly into either of the bipartisan camps.  I am a Constitutional Libertarian, and thus believe the federal government should be stripped down to only what the Constitution permits and all other authorities given to the state.  I believe that government - at any level - should make laws to protect individual rights and stop there.  I believe that abortion and homosexuality are morally wrong, but that that is according to my morality and should have no bearing on any one's right to engage in either.  I did not vote for anyone based on their social policy, because I believe their social policy is irrelevant; all the social equality in the world won't matter if our economy collapses, unemployment rises to around 20%, and the "1%" that everyone so loves to demonize can no longer afford to pay the bills.  Do I think that is what is going to happen?  No, but I believe it is a very real possibility.  What I think is going to happen is that we will have another term of an ineffectual and incompetent commander-in-chief, during which our economy will continue to stagnate.  That businesses will continue to outsource work due to a native environment that is antagonistic toward them.  That the national deficit will continue to increase to fund more unnecessary and ineffectual public assistance programs.  That we will continue to have no one willing to make the hard choices necessary to right the sinking ship which is our nation.  No, I don't think it will sink in the span of another 1460 days, but I think it will continue to take on more water and we will have to bail that much harder to stay afloat.

Government programs are not going to save America, Americans are.  Don't fool yourself into thinking you are helping anyone by voting for the politician who supports social reform and then wiping your hands of the problem.  If you want to help the poor and downtrodden, get out there and do it.  If you want to improve education, then educate your children or volunteer to tutor if you don't have any.  We, as a nation, need to get off our collective rear and stop waiting for the government to save us.  The government did not make America a great nation, her people did. 

On a side note:  I've lately taken great umbrage to the people who profess that whoever may win the election was the person chosen to do so by the Lord, so we should all be confident that they are the right person for the job.  I am sorry, but I have to believe that is nothing but a steaming pile of horse crap.  I am well aware of the scriptures referencing the God-given authority of our worldly leaders, but saying that He gave them authority is not the same as that He chose them for the job.  The Lord has a history of letting mankind choose our own leaders.  He let the Israelites choose to be lead by a king rather than be lead by Himself.  For that matter, he let mankind choose to be under Satan's authority in the garden, and allowed Satan control of the physical realm ever since.  If we're going to say that any earthly leader is put in a position of authority by the Lord, then we have to accept that Herod, Hitler, and every other genocidal maniac in history was an instrument of God's will.  I'm sorry, but I can't buy that.  The other verse to this argument is that God's will works for the ultimate good of his people.  The good of his people does not necessarily correlate to our comfort, happiness, or economic stability.  Are we willing to accept that the destruction of America might be for the good of the kingdom?  Again, do I believe that?  No, but I believe it is a very real possibility.