“…there is no faultfinding with the institution itself. The State is alright, by common agreement, and it would work perfectly if the “right” people were at its helm.”
Congressman Hunter’s endorsement of Donald Trump works wonderfully with Chodorov’s critique. We still think government is alright. We just need to get Trump in there. Never mind that Trump hasn’t demonstrated a working knowledge of why our nation became so prosperous nor has he displayed the character to submit to what made it so.
It is not surprising that Hunter endorsed Trump. I have already made my case on Rostra for why I don’t believe Hunter is a conservative. He has not demonstrated fidelity to the ideals he took an oath to uphold. The fact that he endorses a candidate who has been married three times, seems incapable of behaving as a gentleman and lacks the ability to apply conservative principles is a reflection on the Duncan as much as it is on the Donald.
Theologian R.C. Sproul Jr. tweeted, “You know what would make America great again? If it had the wisdom and character to laugh Trump off the stage.”
The truth is we don’t have the character. We don’t understand that the greatest threat facing our nation isn’t the national debt, terrorism or unsound economic policy. The greatest threat facing our nation is the idea that there is no such thing as transcendent principles which govern how men shall live. The greatest threat facing our nation is a belief that transcendent principles do not exist. “Democracy” reigns. Everything in the social order, including our inalienable rights, is subject to a vote. Even believers are fusing humanism with their faith as they attempt to be a light in their communities.
The idea that there is no such thing as transcendent principles has allowed the state to become our idol. As government has grown the influence of the institutions (families and churches) responsible for creating the character to self-govern have decreased. Property equals power. Property equals influence. Property equals authority. Whoever has property has power and influence and authority. A look at our nation’s progressive income tax shows an ever increasing redistribution of property from families to the state. We are being plundered. There is a reason we are losing our character. We are violating a fundamental principle for a just society, thou shall not steal, and are moving power, influence and authority away from the basic building block of society, the family.
Hunter is concerned about China’s currency manipulation. Really? Just what does he think the Federal Reserve does? That’s embarrassing.
Our nation can be reformed but not until this flow of power, influence and authority is reversed.
Hunter and Trump have yet to understand this. That is why they are not leading nor part of the solution. Anyone can tell when a person is ill but it takes a physician to recommend a cure. The three issues raised by Hunter in his U-T article (border wall, national security and the economy) are the fruit of a larger issue. It goes back to our ideas about principle. The pathologies he describes are the result of a departure from the ideas embodied in the Declaration. A nation devoted to the ideals of the Declaration and the vehicle which redeemed them, the U.S. Constitution, are still our blueprint. Those documents have not failed. Somewhere along the way we lost the character and virtue to submit to them.
Trump is leading in the polls but he is not leading with sound ideas and that is why his noble plans will fail. Our best plans for economic reform fail no matter how well they are carried out if they ignore economic law. Economic laws are immutable and have their own sanctions. They operate outside the realm of politics and of strong personalities like Donald Trump. It will do him no good to declare in the future that all triangles shall have four sides. When “We the People” rediscover these ideas our leaders will follow, reform will begin and this crisis and sanctioning will come to end.
Bold colors anyone?
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