Who's to blame?

In light of my last post, I thought I would write something a little more thoughtful and less provocative. The reason I put my thoughts out yesterday is that I really am disillusioned with what appears to be a vast number of people voting for, really either candidate, that are voting based on image, score points in debates, or how the candidates look on TV.  Basically, the election has become some kind of popularity contest.

I respect liberals who are voting their conscience, are thoughtfully paying attention to the issues, and really do want to see a stronger federal government in the economy.  There are very good reasons for these views, and while I disagree that this is the way to go I do respect them for having those views and share a lot of the dreams they have for cleaner air, better health, and more social justice.

What's been interesting to me has been that basically this election has come down to this one question:  "Who is to blame for the situation we find ourselves in?" (regarding the economy)  The Democrats will tell us that the blame is on the trickle down economic policies of the 1980's that have been perpetrated though the Bush Administration.  Republicans will tell us that the blame is on an oppressive level of government regulations and meddling created by TARP (yes, I know this was a Bush thing but it was passed through a Democrat congress), the stimulus, Obamacare, and honestly about 80 years of social welfare programs that have enabled an entitlement mentality.

You know, if you really research what happened, you'll discover that the answer is much more complicated than that as you know.  Has the "prosperity economics" of trickle down contributed to our financial mess?  Perhaps.  Americans over the last 32 years have become much more leveraged and consumer debt is a huge problem for many.  Did economic meddling create the mess?  Peeling back the layers of the onion, the "subprime mortgage crisis" that tipped the camel's back was initially a government rule laid out in the late 90's intended to create more affordable housing, and in the 2000's housing speculation and the growth of people taking on loans for houses they couldn't possibly afford created the bubble that came down on us in 2007.

But really... who's really to blame?  Is it Republicans?  Is it Democrats?

Simply put:  well, both of us.  We're all to blame.

• The government didn't make us buy houses we couldn't afford, we bought them and citizens in the mortgage industry approved them.
• There's not a government program for keeping up with the Jones', but we're supposedly all driven to borrow to do it.
• We didn't borrow and leverage to buy the bigger, better, shinyer, (insert your adjective)-er thing because the government forced us to, we did it because... well... we did it.

We humans have a crazy knack for wanting to blame other people or institutions for the problems we create ourselves... especially when we get caught.  Why is that?  And... instead of asking "who's to blame?" shouldn't we be asking "What do we do now?"

In light of the election, we indeed have a choice.  We can vote for a new President who will put the economy back into the hands of businesses and citizens and trust them to create wealth, making Federal government smaller (at least that's our hope) and citizens and States larger... this requires trust that we can as free people control our destiny and that Mitt will keep his promise.  On the converse, we can re-elect the current President who will continue to leverage government power, taxation, and regulation to protect rights we (or they) deem valuable.  

In light of the bigger problem:  "Why do we as humans continue to engage in self-destructive behaviors and then look for a scapegoat when things don't work out?"  That's a much bigger issue that won't get fixed by a new person being in the White House.  However, a wise person who accomplished more than Barak Obama or Mitt Romney could dare dream said this about the problem and even offered a solution:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

^....

For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

...

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! 

Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 

Isn't this the question we are asking... how do I free myself from myself?  This guy, Paul, had an answer.  At my church over the last month, we talked about it and if you'd like to hear what he said was the solution, I encourage you to go to www.wecanbefree.org and check it out.  It will be worth your time.

However, do vote your conscience... and I pray that God gives each of us the grace to live with the answer that we receive regarding the role of government that comes from this year's election.