Ramon Arias | September 3, 2012
John Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. He was re-elected in a landslide in 1924, and in 1928 at the peak of his popularity he announced that he did not choose to run again. His administration is known as an era of peace and prosperity.
He said:
“I want the people of America to be able to work less for the Government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. That is the chief meaning of freedom. Until we can re-establish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very distinct curtailment of our liberty.”
Coolidge strongly believed in reduced taxation, giving aid to private business without any restrictive regulation. He pushed for the farming modernization making available more electricity, better and efficient equipment, better seeds and breeds and better business practices.
His statement, “I want the people of America to be able to work less for the Government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry,” has been lost and needs to be revived, here is why: labor has to be rewarded not punished as we have been hearing repeatedly from the Obama administration. It has been pounded day in and day out; Obama wants people to feel guilty for succeeding in the fruit of their labor. His recent statement stating that people did not build their businesses was only praised by those who have no clue about the meaning of the rewards for people’s work which translates that when you work hard, plan, save and invest wisely by taking risks you are entitled to enjoy the outcome of your work. People who expect the government to financially support them will never know the meaning of hard work and will continue to despise those who succeed in life. They will stop at nothing to see that the industrious one day will lose everything and join the ranks of those with the entitlement mentality.
Working less for the government is simple mathematics, government has no right to overtax the working productive class, doing so will destroy them and the nation breaks down. Those in government who think people are just pawns to be used by a central form of government in reality are enslaving the people to work for the government, in our times, we call it communism or Marxism and that is exactly what we have in government today. Both political parties have contributed for this outcome, even though it is Democrats who are controlled by the Marxist worldview, Republicans, for the most part, are guilty of the very same thing. How else do we account for the enormous financial and moral mess? John Calvin Coolidge was right. People were never meant to work for the government rather the government is supposed to work for the people. Government is not to be invasive; it must let people produce according to their ability into the labor force.
Coolidge went on to say, “That is the chief meaning of freedom. Until we can re-establish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very distinct curtailment of our liberty.”
Freedom is what the Colonists fought for against oppressive King George III. They wanted freedom from government interference in the life and economy of the colonists, freedom to serve and worship God without having a state church imposed upon them. Freedom is a longing of the human heart; for thousands of years millions upon millions have died wanting to reach that precious experience of freedom but very few ever found it. The colonists rightfully understood that freedom can only come from the God of the Bible, any other form of freedom does not last, it cannot be sustained due to its shaky ideological structure. Without understanding God’s standards for living, as they are reveal in His Word, it is impossible to build a stable, truly successful life, a society and a nation placed on sure footing.
Morally the government has no right to take away people’s hard earned money. When they do they are also taking away their freedoms. Freedom and productivity go hand in hand. Jesus said that even God gives those who reject Him a chance to be productive, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
As we have seen right before our eyes the government grows more each year. Since early 19th century America began to go down this path of big government, we now find ourselves almost at the point of no return. America has moved from being a country with a major free economic market into a state controlled economy and most people are clueless thinking that it’s the other political party who is destroying the nation’s economy.
What is the solution to fix this mess? The solution is that “We the People” have allowed big government to happen and now we must take it back. First and foremost we must recognize that the problem is so great that no human can solve it; we cannot continue to use the kind of “wisdom” that got us here in the first place. If America, known as the great experiment, came about as the result of Biblical principles, logically, we must return to those principles once again and apply them in all areas of life. It must be acknowledged that Christians have done the same thing as the prodigal son who rejected to be under the father’s principles or standard for living until he wasted all his capital. He found himself at the bottom of hopelessness and came to his senses recognizing he had offended his father and heaven who rules all affairs on earth and decided to return to be under his father’s form of government (Luke 15:11-24).
Christian America will do well in following the same steps the prodigal son took to restore himself into fellowship with the Father again. There is no greater freedom than to truly be under God’s government and working for His will to be done for a better nation and world order.