Bear with me a moment, as this will seem at first like chasing a rabbit. The rabbit is running in the same direction we are.
Do you understand the inherent flaw of that academic discipline called Economics? It’s one unquestioned assumption is that economic improvement is an unalloyed good. That’s also its greatest lie. It’s part and parcel of the whole Satanic lie that our life in this world matters for its own sake. There is this permanent fundamental lie in mortal existence that better is possible, and that we have the capacity and wisdom to make it happen.
Yet, it remains forever out of reach. The theory is never matched by performance, ever. This because the theories do not take into consideration certain fundamental truths. Humans are fallen; they cannot possibly be repaired or redeemed from within the system itself. The notion that the Bible provides better information for a better human theory is a part of this big lie.
Instead, the Bible promotes a de-emphasis on trying to improve the human condition. The Bible teaches that this life matters only for its utility, the utter necessity of enduring it until something better is opened to us. There’s a paradox here: On the one hand, we must do it together in community. On the other hand, we must arrive at community individually. I doubt there’s an easy way to explain this. There is something fundamentally wrong with human unity that contains a fatal, toxic seed. The unity must come from outside the human sphere. It requires powers that humans will never hold.
To talk about “fate” is another false lead. It’s not as if nothing is in our hands. The question we need to answer for ourselves is just what part of the picture is in our hands, and to accept the very painful realization of what isn’t. This is why the study of economics is flawed; it assumes the only question is finding the leverage. It rejects a priori the limitations imposed by the Creator.
And this is true of every other academic discipline. They are all based on the assumption that humans are in a position to make things better, so let’s all study to see how. Nobody wants to talk about the inherent limits of improving the situation.
(And nobody wants to talk about how the situation itself is fundamentally variable, how unstable reality itself is.)
There is a Creator God, and He has placed non-human beings in positions of power under His hand. They make decisions with a certain range of freedom that we cannot imagine. And their power to have their will with us is, for all we can discern, is unlimited. Further, their plans and purposes are largely inscrutable, except for a limited amount of divine revelation that indicates things, but never clearly states much. We get a model that we can use, a fuzzy one with soft edges. It’s just enough to help us understand why things will never work out as humans wish.
The core of biblical Hebrew philosophy and culture is recognizing the limits of mortality. We might know something about improving the economic, social and cultural problems we see, but if that’s all we know about it, then we are wholly lost. There is an awful lot of power at work in our human situation that is not within our grasp. Fighting it is not simply foolish, but egregiously stupid.
Here’s the key to leadership from a strong Hebraic viewpoint, and worded in opposition to the typical western viewpoint: You cannot do it. There are things you can help with, but you cannot make it happen. You can only be obedient to your own calling. And when you are obedient, you stand in a position to receive guidance by Spirit and conviction that allows you to see the limits and stop trying to cross them, to call back fools under your care who try to go too far.
Do you see how Rigney’s contention sounds rather similar? He still assumes too much on what we can accomplish in this world, but at least he understands that we must assert the limits of what leaders can and should do for the individual. Perhaps to make his parable a little better, we should say that you cannot pull anyone out of their pit of sorrow. You can get close enough to be heard when you tell them how they can get out of it themselves, but you cannot get them out by anything less than the miraculous power of God. They are there because of how they react to reality, which includes that powerful operations of beings far above our level.
When economists tell us that international trade can create far more wealth to spread around, we can tell them that it also loads us down with problems we should not have to face, problems we cannot possibly solve. International trade should be a very small element in economics, not a massive false solution to all ills. We need a lot less influx of global problems, because we can scarcely solve our domestic issues. Humans are designed by God to live in small and mostly insular enclaves. I’m not saying closed off tight, but that the openings need to be a whole lot smaller than they are now.
No human, nor group of humans, is competent to control the flood of evil that must always come from with wide open borders. We don’t need and cannot use more stuff, more knowledge, more kinds of people, and the inevitable conflicts, etc. You cannot get one without the other. One of the biggest, fundamental commands from God is, “Mind your own business.” With that comes the command that you had better learn what your business is, and what isn’t.
The shepherd realizes that sheep may love the taste of foliage in the jungle, but that sheep are not made to face the threats of the jungle. There are already threats enough in the open pastures they were designed for.
The US must be broken up; it will be broken up. God has so decreed. Let the resulting smaller states develop their own unique cultures. Let them become harsh and difficult on the globalists who call for cosmopolitan mixing, since they are lying about how good it would be. And then, let us pray that the leadership of these new countries built from the broken shards of an evil empire some day realize that some things cannot be fixed. What we need is a better idea how to live within sane limits.
