I commend you for your great success in entering Congress and for the influence you have achieved. Your accomplishments are very noteworthy. I am writing this because I detect in you a sincere desire to make a difference in this country and the world. The challenge for all of us is to find that cause which is truly worthy of all of your energy and enthusiasm and that cause which is most likely to achieve lasting good once accomplished. It will be your legacy so I know you want to pick the right passion to pursue.
Many people are good, but not all are. There may be an underlying assumption in those who seek greater government control or socialism/communism that people who would be leaders are basically good and we need not fear the centralization of power or the consolidation of the world’s governments and countries. History bears out that this is a mistake. Decentralization and the notion of checks and balances are encouraged in the Bible and by our founders. There is good reason for this. It is true that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And it does not matter whether those in power are democrats or republicans. Too much power for too long is simply a bad thing. It has corrupted people since time immemorial.
There are bad actors either way. The problem is not democracy vs socialism. The problem is evil vs good. While some forms of government enhance one’s chances of being well represented, all forms of government are subject to the people who preside over them. That’s why checks and balances are so critical.
Aside from this central notion I have just shared I want to share a few more concepts with you that I have learned over the years. Read this as though it were coming from a father or grandfather who has no particular “dog in the fight” and is sharing some of what he has learned over the years that may help going forward. These are top level principles that are hard to escape. One is wise to consider them when planning their life’s purpose, and when seeking to understand the world around them.
Perhaps as it relates to the “green” initiatives we should consider the law of diminishing returns, which you are no doubt familiar with. It says that most of what you seek to accomplish will be realized fairly quickly and with relatively modest efforts. The last 5 or 10 percent of any effort will take enormous time and resources. A great example is technology improvements in a new innovation. Many wonderful technologies can be easily inserted into a machine, but invariably that last bit of capability that is envisioned will run a system off the economic rails and cause undue increases and delays in cost and schedule. Such perhaps it is with climate initiatives.
Reducing the carbon footprint of vehicles is being done around the world and I am told the US is doing the best of all. This will give us a great improvement. There are other initiatives that are attainable just as easily that have high payoff and would not be resisted quite as vigorously as some of the other ideas. There is much “low hanging fruit” that will yield great benefit if implemented. However, re-making every building and re-inventing the entire infrastructure will be enormously expensive, strongly resisted and will likely never be accomplished, except perhaps in the normal course of business over many years.
Further complicating our clear understanding is the fact that we have vastly incomplete knowledge of so many things. Scientists in most fields are only scratching the surface of what is available to know. And sometimes they are just flat wrong. The classic example is “molecules to man” evolutionary theory. This theory is mathematically untenable and has very little, if any evidence supporting it. While we do see much variation in a species, we see no transitional species such as “half this – half that” walking around or in fossil form. Yet everyone signs up to evolution vice creationism, because it is considered “science”. However, the theory that everything came from one cell – billions of years ago – takes more faith to believe than any biblical assertion.
The causes and longevity of climate change are among those phenomena that we really do not know much about. When knowledge is incomplete, we should focus on those things that make the most sense in any case, such as reducing auto emissions, etc. Zeal without knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Intelligent and learned people may still suffer, as we all do, from incomplete knowledge in certain areas. We must be humble enough to admit this, and to prudently and carefully plan our path forward.
We have also seen the “hit or miss” handling of COVID. The effective handling of a pandemic is apparently not well understood. Masks or no masks? Isolation and lock downs or no isolation and lock downs? Kids get it easily or they don’t? Vaccines prevent relapse or not? Asymptomatic people can transmit or not? There is only so much we know about certain things. The consequences of choosing courses of action based upon incomplete information can be significant. And of course, someone “vested” with being the “go-to” information source during a pandemic will be extremely conservative, and leaders will be hesitant to overrule. This is to avoid fiscal or emotional liability.
Regarding “nationalism” and what it means to be a country. This does not seem to be a bad thing and certainly MUST have nothing to do with race. Language, history, common bond will help a nation retain its identity – even if those concepts are learned. Some fear the notion that there should be “American nationalism” or national pride. They associate such with one color or race. Such should not be the case. We all have a common ancestor in Adam and Eve. The only race is the human race. A common language, common values, a commonly understood history and a common culture will cause a nation to be cohesive rather than divided. If a nation started with values that positively impacted the world, and it corrects itself as needed, should these values not be protected? In the history of the US, we tend to correct our mistakes. I do not think we can find a nation on the face of the earth that is as self-correcting as the United States. This process is continuing even now. We protect our national values by education and law enforcement. This has nothing to do with race, creed or color. Perhaps just a willingness to embrace Americas best values. To some, trying to protect a way of life or a value system seems so evil. But is it really, if those ideas are beneficial to all people on earth?
Where does racism come from? It comes fear and ignorance. True racists are enemies of the state. There is no doubt about that. However, they are also to be pitied. Racism is the result of fear – fear that others will take your benefits. Also, the result of ignorance – thinking that certain cultures or skin colors could possibly be inferior to your own. There is no basis anywhere for this. It is the mark of ignorance and insecurity and should be addressed, at least in part, with this in mind. An excellent book by Harvard professors entitled Replacing Darwin makes the point of a common human ancestry very clear – we are all far more closely related than we think.
The literature tells us that there are stages of life which are characterized by different approaches to change. Young people typically burn the midnight oil and seek to change the world. They are determined and are more willing to step over others, if need be, to accomplish what they have in mind. Older people typically take a more reasoned approach and usually seek at some point to “give back”, normally regretting the less than diplomatic or kinder methodologies they may have employed, and the things they may have said in the past. This becomes particularly painful as we look back on our lives from the place of a senior citizen.
People become emotionally invested in ideas. When we get into a new job, we find and expose the problems willingly and we typically blame the last person. After a while we get new ideas and pursue them with all vigor shunning all opinions to the contrary – because these ideas are now our own ideas. We must also welcome truth as it becomes available and not become too tied to any idea. Keeping an open mind and being willing to change direction for the good of the people is a worthy goal for a legislator.
The Pareto principle (also called the 80/20 rule) tells us that we should spend most of our energy and resources on those things that yield the highest payoff. For example, many sales people spend the vast majority of their efforts attempting to develop new markets with “cold calls”. They are effectively spending 80% of their efforts on potential customers yielding maybe 20% of their future revenue (based upon the lackluster success of cold calls). However, 80% of their revenue comes from certain large customers and they only spend maybe 20% of their efforts further cultivating that line of work.
Money and influence are slippery slopes. The Bible also teaches us that “the love of money is the root of all evil”. Few are able to handle the temptations associated with these. One example are the politicians who (may) start out with the best of intentions and then are faced with the inevitable prospect of having to raise massive amounts of funds to be re/elected. There will always be an allegiance to those who provide the funds. There will also be the temptation to enrich oneself as plans are made in legislatures and are made known to the legislators giving evidence of certain companies or industries poised for big gains in the near future.
Regarding what Christ would do or say.
Abortion. More than 50 million babies have been aborted since Roe v Wade. Surely God does not approve of the taking of innocent life.
Celebration (vice simple tolerance) of certain behaviors. Alternative sexual unions or life styles are certainly no worse in Gods eyes than any other behavior that is spoken against in scripture. There is nothing especially bad about these behaviors. However, there is no reason to celebrate them either.
The wisdom of CRT, etc. Why not just teach Biblical principles and the 10 Commandments. In the 1950s and 60s we removed God, prayer and Bible reading from our schools. The generations since that time show us what that looks like. There is very little respect and decorum among many young people. Now with the advent of the 1619 Project and CRT we see essentially another form of religion being embraced by many.
Open borders and walls etc.. While welcoming the widow and the stranger is a good thing, the fiscal realities and the presence of criminal elements leads us to employ control and caution as it relates to immigration and open borders. Throwing open the borders in the name of religion or humanitarianism violates at least two realities – the fiscal reality and the existence of evil in certain places. We must proceed but do so with care.
The kind of nation God blesses. This would be the nation which honors God.
Power of ideas – Eph 6. Paul tells us we battle not against flesh and blood but against rulers and principalities in heavenly places. We should not hate other people but rather these powers that influence and guide others to do bad things via the insertion of ideas. Ideas are powerful forces that live on well beyond the life span of people.
“It’s not what you don’t know that troubles me, it’s what you know for sure that just isn’t so.” Will Rogers. Sometimes we get an idea that is not proven or even able to be proven, we convince ourselves with the help of others that it is a good one and we charge off to make it happen not realizing until much later that we have placed our ladder against the wrong wall.
The bottom line is that if you want to be remembered forever, stand for what God stands for. He will have your back and you will have a lasting legacy. Is there truth? A very important question. Some feel you make your own truth. Heaven forbid! The best source of truth we have – is scripture.
What is separation of church and state? The two clauses are that the state will not make a national religion, nor will it prevent the free expression thereof. However, it appears that many laws and decrees coming from branches of government restrict the free expression of religion and even impose a certain “religious philosophy” such as when the tenets of religion are shunned in favor of “if it feels good, do it”. Is this not a form of religion?
Very few accept blame. Many politicians never accept blame. It is considered foolish to remain silent when accused of anything. Lack of immediate denial is considered acceptance. Wouldn’t it be great if people admitted to their errors and failures and took the blame?
In sum – lets self-govern again by building a society that cares abut the laws of the creator and can be trusted to do the right things without constant supervision and the multiplication of laws.
