Whence Prosperity? The Government?

Many people think that government spending can create jobs and shovel our economy out of the doldrums. It is true that the government can hire people to do jobs and supply them with money for their work. But…where does the money to pay them come from? It comes from taxes that the people pay. In other words, all the government is doing is shifting money around (these days from the wealthy to the lower economic classes). No new product is being brought forth. Rarely it may be necessary to shift money around in our republic by artificial means by government action. However, that money would shift anyway as the poor are hired by the wealthy to produce real goods and real services.

Our government is soaked in the notion that when the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. If you believe that line, then you believe that creating wealth causes poverty. The truth is that creating wealth causes more wealth. If somebody opens a very big successful company in your small town do you think that that would be bad news for the people in the town? Would that business suck up all the available money and leave the people poor? No! The people in the town would be more prosperous because they have more jobs and income. The businesses in our country are not causing our economic woes—the government is causing the woes.

If the government wants to encourage a business, there are several things that it can do:
1. Cut taxes and give tax breaks.
2. Decrease regulation.
3. Buy the company’s products for governmental tasks.
4. Subsidize the company.
If the government wants to discourage a business, there are several things it can do:
1. Raise taxes.
2. Increase regulation.
3. Buy the company’s products from another supplier, perhaps from a supplier overseas.
4. Encourage union domination.
Our government seems to be doing everything it can to discourage business. It is time we act to do something about this anti-business climate in which we live. Write to your Congressman and Senator to ask them to act in a pro-business way.

Sexting

Many parents are unaware of the frequency of what is called “sexting,” that is the sharing of sexually explicit pictures and messages on cell phones—most often posted or sent by teenagers or young adults. The prevalence of this practice is frightening! A study done by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, http://bit.ly/bDLcMM, showed that 22% of teen girls and 18% of teen boys have shared nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves, attached either to a text message or by posting them online.

Young people are often not mature enough to grasp the truth and the relevance of God’s word in this matter; but they should be led to understand: Proverbs 5:20-23 says, “Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife? For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.”

Teenagers need to be taught that explicit sex on cell phones, the internet, magazine, or other medium is damaging to their characters; and they should avoid it. Furthermore, they should be aware of the fact that anything posted in cyberspace is there forever, and always available to future employers and university admission committees who will evaluate people for admission or employment.

Parents have an obligation to monitor this activity and protect their children from such contamination. Children will often imitate their parents’ practices in such activities, also. If children see their parents watching sexually suggestive scenes on TV or hear them telling or laughing at dirty jokes, you can be sure the children will imitate their example.

To read more about this subject, I would recommend that you refer to Randy Alcorn’s discussion, http://bit.ly/daMUyg.