Why are the people so restless and full of disease — not at ease? Professor Kennedy touched a nerve today requiring additional vetting of a concept touched on repeatedly in my Organizational Leadership class at Gonzaga University– morality.
I’ve written countless articles about the United States no longer being a democracy or democratic republic. According to Albert Einstein, we had already lost our constitutional makeup prior to the 1940s. He called us an Oligarchy then and it’s only gotten worse. Our political class, or those we elect from time to time, are begotten to the donor class. In her example today, Professor Kennedy wrote about the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell. She mentioned the $1.2 million in annual donations from the NRA keeps a bill on “background checks” from being heard. While a potential employer can run a thorough background check on me, a gun seller does not have to do the same for a potential gun buyer. Mind boggling!
Mitch has an influential position, which in today’s game of politics draws lots of money. The more power the politician has, the more money comes their way. From there, it’s all about keeping the Donors happy while convincing the people via propaganda that, “Tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will enrich all Americans.”
The problem here is the monies tossed between the donors and politicians are bribes. Bribing public officials may be legal in Washington, Indianapolis, and Muncie, but bribes are immoral.
The twisted logic, or our current reality, is the source of disconnect from God’s will for us mainly because it’s not moral. We are making decisions that are immoral which cause restlessness for those participating. The will of the people is not being served.
The arrangement is, “I’m bribing you to vote in my best interest, or in Mitch’s case, I’m bribing you to keep bills in the dark and not even introduce in the Senate.” This is the case for nearly ALL politicos.
We’ve lost our moral compass in lieu of seeking power and money.
And without a moral compass, we can rationalize and justify our thoughts and actions. However, we cannot do so without negative consequences. God placed a tiny bit of himself in each of us. Believers call this our conscience — the moral compass which determines what is God’s will or self-will. Those are only two choices. Are we serving a power greater than ourselves, or are we making decisions based on our own self-interests?
Can people avoid negative consequences? No, with one exception: sociopaths who lack a conscience. They don’t suffer internally from their poor decisions, but they still are subject to karma. Our prisons are full of them and Washington, D.C. is full of sociopaths as well.
Doing my best Rod Sterling impression, “Imagine if you will:”
- A political class who could not be bribed by donors.
- A political class without gerrymandering.
- A political class which is moral from top to bottom.
- A political class overseen by a citizens ethics committee.
- A political class serving the will of the people.
We see the evidence of a lack of ethics and morality in our government and private sector every single day in the news. In Delaware County, we have been plagued with a lack of morality resulting in a three-year-long FBI investigation, indictments, and arrests. Not all arrested are politicians or work in public administration. The private sector has a symbiotic relationship with the public sector.
Right now, political will does not align with God’s will for the people. We are not a moral country.
When we get out of alignment, there are consequences to be paid. The people become restless when they are being oppressed — ruled over versus served. The concept of a public servant is one very few politicians from Muncie to Indianapolis to Washington D.C. ever really grasp.
Once again, when you decide to serve the public, if lucky enough to be elected, you become public servants. You serve the will of the people (democracy). This is how a healthy government functions. In our case, the public servants are cashing in with power and money.
What we have today is a perverse soul sickness that people sense, feel, and see on a daily basis. When we are constantly serving our own self-will versus God’s will, we are on a collision course with others doing the same. The outcome is what we are witnessing today. We have become a country full of fear because we lack a moral compass. We are not working together because leaders are serving their own self-interests.
If people are drawn to politics for the power and money to be had, the solution is rather simple — remove the money and power from the equation. We’ll address how in the next article.
