Providing For Needs

FRI., JULY 20, 1984, 6:58 AM
FARM, STUDY

Well, you finally decided, with a bit of a push from Me, to come to this place and spend this first waking hour, late as it is, with Me. You are concerned that I not give you more tasks, since you are doing poorly with the ones you have now. Even if that is so you must yet remain faithful to this time of learning. There must always be time, o son, for you and Me together in this way.

You have followed, this week, the convention of the Democratic party, a part of your American political system. Shouldn’t you be interested in how I view this political process, with its close-binding economic aspects? The Holy Scripture can only give general guidelines, for there was not such a system when these Writings were accomplished. And, as you suspect, I do have observations on this contemporary scene. I suppose you could call it the height of controversy when I, the Holy Spirit, the Spokesperson for Almighty God, talk of politics. So listen well.

Rhythm is necessary in the political process, because unless all citizens are well-developed spirits and saintly in their concern for others rather than self, the well-being of some is nearly always achieved at the expense of others. Rhythm means that the advantages shift from group to group in the society. This can be done legally and “in order” or it can be done with violence and bloodshed.

In most Latin American countries a few people own or control the land, and some of those many without land or the means to purchase it want what they do not have. Those who have do not want to give up their advantage. They do not want rhythm and change, and they oppose such. The result may well be violence. Do I condone such destructive behavior? No, but I obviously allow it. It is a time of mixed morality.

There are poor people in your rich country. In the shadow of the affluence your culture displays so readily are people who have truly basic needs. The reasons are many, but all are not completely responsible for this depressed economic state. One difference is your political parties is in the willingness to focus on these unmet needs and the strategies for meeting such. The Democrats are traditionally more willing to act directly, providing for needs with tax monies.

Is it morally right to tax? Yes, because it is morally right to have governments that help manage the affairs of a people, doing for the whole what only a few could do for themselves. To function a government must have resources, and so they may tax. But there is no clear point at which taxation becomes immoral. As a government provides for the needs of its poor it is acting morally. But when it takes away from that earned in honest labor it becomes immoral. Economic systems are complicated, and there is not one that is totally moral or totally immoral. So a rhythm is the compromise I favor.