“Some day—the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they’ll all walk together, and there’ll be a dead terror from it.”
Some conservative Christians have a blind spot regarding extreme wealth. Perhaps because liberals bash, lament, and outright confiscate prosperity so flagrantly it was inevitable that some sort of backlash would occur. In the Church this has taken the form of the prosperity Gospel which teaches that all prosperity and wealth in a persons life come from God (true), and further celebrates material prosperity as one of the goals of a Christian life. (untrue)
The violence in the middle east should serve as a sobering reminder that large disparities in wealth lead to death on a large scale. The instability is occurring for political, religious, and economic reasons, but the economic reasons are the most important. The Egyptians and Libyans who are revolting are not all that excited about a democratic form of government, and they are not spending their free time drafting a new constitution. As usual the American press is full of it. The typical Egyptian protester is not comparable to the gentleman landholders who founded the American republic. The typical Egyptian protester is just plain hungry and angry. If you watched a handful of rulers and their cronies live in luxury while your children cried for food you’d get angry too.
There is no easy solution to the mess in the middle east–revolutions are not likely to produce any sort of republic in any of the troubled nations. A better concern for Americans to focus on is the loss of their own republic to cartels, oligarchs, and big government. Conservatives in the US often protest big govt., but turn a blind eye to the ati-competitive practices of giant corporations. Part of the reason is a conservative narrative that involves lifting oneself up by the bootstraps; the self made man image. This idea that those who are extremely successful deserve every penny has become part of American folklore.
A more reasoned analysis of American history would acknowledge the importance of the Turner thesis. Frederick Jackson Turner asserted that the frontier was critical to the American republic. Turner was correct. America has not had the terrible legacy of class conflict that plagued Europe; free and abundant land was the reason. The United States before the civil war was a nation of farmers. There was never a huge disparity in wealth in the early US. Why should a person become a serf to a large landowner when there was land of his own to be claimed? The result was a large middle class of people who all had a common stake in their county and this created a stable republic–until now.
A republic is a fragile form of government that is seldom seen in history. The concentration of wealth and power into the hands of a few followed by bloody revolution is the standard path taken in much of human history. The American republic served the Church well for 150 years and hosted the great awakening. The collapse of the United States into tyranny is not inevitable, but it is made much more likely by the extreme concentration of wealth that is taking place. Churches must reject the prosperity gospel firmly. Christians should remember the Turner thesis when politicians call for eliminating taxes on dividends while slapping a15.3% payroll tax on wage earners. Remember the violence and bloodshed in Libya when you are told that the taxpayer must bail out AIG (again). and remember the words of John Steinbeck,
“But watch it, mister. There’s a premium goes with this pile of junk and the bay horses—so beautiful—a packet of bitterness to grow in your house and to flower, some day. We could have saved you, but you cut us down, and soon you will be cut down and there’ll be none of us to save you. And the tenant men came walking back, hands in their pockets, hats pulled down. Some bought a pint and drank it fast to make the impact hard and stunning. But they didn’t laugh and they didn’t dance. They didn’t sing or pick the guitars. They walked back to the farms, hands in pockets and heads down, shoes kicking the red dust up.
Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land—in California, where the fruit
grows. We’ll start over.
But you can’t start. Only a baby can start. You and me—why, we’re all that’s been.
The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that’s us. This land, this red land, is us;
and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can’t start
again. The bitterness we sold to the junk man—he got it all right, but we have it still.
And when the owner men told us to go, that’s us; and when the tractor hit the house,
that’s us until we’re dead. To California or any place—every one a drum major leading
a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day—the armies of
bitterness will all be going the same way. And they’ll all walk together, and there’ll be
a dead terror from it.
Toughgod's Blog 
Great piece.
I like what I see here on your blog. I look forward to reading future pieces.
-VA
The future looks bleak in all Western societies. I live in England, and I’ve given up on the hope that the Christian church (churches) will one day turn things around. But private godliness is unlikely to lead anywhere – except maybe to salvation for the individual.
From a Christian point of view, it seems a paradox to “look forward” to starting over one day, but only after an army of bitterness has retaken what’s been stolen in a hideous storm of terror.
The future looks bleak in all Western societies. I live in England, and I’ve given up on the hope that the Christian church will show the way and one day turn things around.
Private godliness is unlikely to lead anywhere – except perhaps to personal salvation.
From a Christian point of view, it seems a paradox to “look forward” to starting over, but only after an army of bitterness has retaken what’s been stolen in a hideous storm of terror.
To Alex:
We live in interesting times. Parts of the old testament relating to the exile in Babylon seem relevant. The book of Habbakuk is also relevant. Don’t sell the Church short. We may turn this ship around albeit not in my lifetime or yours, and even if we don’t turn her around we can create a seed bank of knowledge. Charles Hugh Smith refers to a remnant who will lead us forward. If nothing else we can be part of this remnant.
@tg:
My comment seems to have got through (in duplicate). I logged into WordPress just now, so I expect this comment will appear immediately.
I don’t share your belief (or hope) that the church may turn the ship around. My confidence in institutionalized religious cures for secular diseases is very low.
Christian communities, in the Western world, are often led by people who are collaborating with the liberal tyranny which is destroying the moral life. That’s why, among other reasons, I’m a Christian who never goes to church.
Somebody once described Winston Churchill a ‘pillar of the church’. He denied this, and said: “No, not a pillar of the Church, but a buttress, supporting it from the outside.”
That’s been my position for some time.
It won’t be institutionalized Christianity that turns things around; it will be the remnant of believers plus Divine help, or more accurately, the latter alone.
Institutionalized Christianity as we see it today is the apostate church that is foretold. They have become subsumed under the world system which is fomenting all the chaos. But today’s multicult church is an anomaly, when compared with Christianity throughout the ages. Still people tend to treat it as if it were the real thing. It isn’t.
-VA
Unfortunately you couldn’t be more wrong. Wealth is no more the problem here than a gun is the cause of a murder. Wealth, property, resources are NEVER the cause of oligarchy and elitist power. Wealth serves as nothing more than a tool for people to purchase what is important to themselves.
The “church” as you put it is a tool as well. You don’t even realize how your blessed Christianity is marred with inconsistencies that your enemies use against you. They have decried Christ a socialist to prove their agenda. They have used His own words to justify their “collective salvation” rhetoric. And now you won’t to use His words again to attack wealth with your one hand doing the bidding of the left while still trying to make your self and your religion relevant.
I mean no disrespect, but you are as bat crazy as they are.
It’s the “love” of money that is the sin. It is the “greed” of money, the elevation of it over one’s life that is the sin.
Wealth is a tool. One that, as any and all of man’s tools, can be used for good and evil. Any one who reads your words and attacks wealth as the source of evil will be nothing more than a tool and useful idiot in the hands of the collective.
If it possible to save yourself, save your freedom to choose and worship the God of your choice, and live free of a master other than that God…you can only do it with wealth. Change your ideology my friend…and get others to as well. It was the wealth of land that allowed those on the frontier to live their lives according to their principals. It will be the wealth of land, food, and currency that allow you the same. It will be the wealth of tools, bullets, guns and skills that will allow you to the same life.
It is the wealth of this Nation that the collectives, socialist, Marxist, communist and islamist are trying to remove. If we the people have no wealth…than we must live as slaves to their collective ideology. Removing wealth has and shall continue to be their goal.
It is not the wealth of dictators and despots that allowed the leaders of the Middle East to control their people…is the lack of wealth of the people that allowed them to be enslaved.
Pure and simple…you are very wrong on this one. Save yourself and your family from the enslavement that awaits them and all of us…build wealth…do not attack it.
usc