LEARNING DAILY

 

1 Samuel 8:4-5, Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

 

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the political events happening in our nation and around the world.  I have listened to several radio personalities and read some articles that discuss the meaning of this time of year and the landing of the Pilgrims.  I thought I might throw out some thoughts for you to consider.

 

The world was changing.  There were religious and political changes occurring in Europe that caused people to “separate” themselves from these events; they were called Separatists or Puritans.  Through events, 101 Puritans found themselves crammed on a ship named the Mayflower which landed in a place just north of Plymouth in the New World.  It was on the Mayflower that they wrote and signed an economic agreement called the Mayflower Compact.

 

By signing the Mayflower Compact, the people who became known as the Pilgrims agreed to work in joint partnership and were fed out of common stores.  The land and the houses were owned by everyone as joint-property.  Everyone would work and everything produced would be shared equally. (Growing up in the time period of the hippie movement, this was called communal living.)  

 

This lasted for several years until human nature began to cause problems.  Difficulties began when the “fruit of one’s labor” went to support the families of others.  There were those who began to not work as hard as others.  The hard-working ones began to resent the idle and even those who were unable to work as hard.  The “older” people no longer wanted to work for the “younger”.    In 1623, the Pilgrims agreed to set aside their collective agreement under the Mayflower Compact and allow everyone to grow their own food.  This resulted in increased production which led to surplus.  With a surplus, trading amongst themselves began; the free enterprise system had begun.  Each colonist was given an acre of land and each was challenged to better themselves by working the land to the best of their ability.

 

Today, we call this communal living and common stock concept where everyone is equal, Socialism.  This concept has been tried over and over throughout history.  Socialism has failed over and over.  Yet, the cry today from Progressives in the Democratic Party is that socialism is the only way for this country to survive and advance to greater achievement.  They want people to believe that all problems of race, gender, economic inequality, debt will go away if socialism replaces capitalism.  Let me ask a question.  What will happen if the incentive to work hard is taken away from people.  The incentive is the reward that comes from working hard.  If I get the same as you get regardless of how hard each of us works, one or both of us stops working hard.  Right?  Eventually, we have to rely on what the government decides.  It then tells us what to make, how much of it to make, and who to sell it to and at what price.  They are also in charge of your health care, deciding who gets what treatment and when.

 

Okay.  You get the idea.  Israel told the prophet Samuel that they wanted a king so they could be like other nations.  They no longer wanted to be governed by God.  Read a little further in 1 Samuel 8. This is what verse 7 says, “And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.’”  Even though the election has been called only by the media outlets, there have been many people who have voted for an ungodly and socialist platform.  It seems that only God intervening would overrule this outcome.  Perhaps what the Lord said to Samuel needs to be remembered today.  I believe God gives what we ask for at times.  In this case too many people have rejected Him.

 

The story of the socialist experiment by the Pilgrims failed.  The words of Edmund Burke are certainly appropriate, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

  

 

 

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