Broken Not Crushed life as a statement, not an apology

Economic illiteracy is frightening.

How can we possibly expect our elected officials to pass laws that make economic sense, when the electorate can’t tell the difference between a tax and a fee-for-service? Between charges levied by the government, and charges invoiced by a private company, directly tied to services you’ve contracted for?

David Pogue published an analysis, printed in the New York Times, of the tension between the data needs of cloud computing, and the bandwidth of cellular networks. One takeaway was that unlimited data plans would give way to metered plans, with higher users paying for that use. Pogue’s a good writer, and the article is worth discussing.

It got stupid when I scrolled down to the comments section. More than one commenter likened higher cell provider fees to a “backdoor tax”. It’s nothing of the sort. A private company CAN’T levy a tax.

The Ministry of Truth would be proud. We’ve been so successful in muddying the role of government, and rebranding taxes as “investment”, and demonizing private companies, that Joe voter can no longer distinguish between the roles of private companies and the role of government.

Why should my educated vote be automatically cancelled out by ignorant voters? Democracy at its finest. Please, PLEASE…can we bring back the poll test?

This post captures for me the beauty and the freedom of Good Friday. Jesus died to set me free. Living squarely in the center of that freedom is where I want to be, and is the highest form of worship I can imagine. Reacting negatively towards anyone who would muddy that freedom is appropriate.

This is part of a discussion I had with a friend about Don Miller’s article “STOP BEING MOTIVATED BY GUILT“. Read Miller first if you want the context. Don Miller is much more gracious than I am.

I could write a book on this subject; it’s been on my mind pretty much every day for the past 3 or 4 years. Here’s the Cliffs Notes version.

I had to start with apprehending who I am: a beloved child of God. Nothing I can say or do will make God approve of me more or less. My identity is not contingent on what anyone else says or thinks about me. Once I got that piece, the rest is academic.

That helped me realize how much of my life has been spent trying to manage other peoples’ perceptions about me, and how little has been spent LIVING. Why am I reattaching chains that were broken? Why am I snatching up burdens that have been lifted? Why am I allowing others to “should” on me?

I had to forcefully reject the “WWJD” mindset, and ask instead, “What would I do? Given who God created ME to be, what would I do?” Not father, not boss, not pastor — it doesn’t’ matter to me a bit what they think of me. They aren’t living my life, and I didn’t give them permission. I can’t live my life based on what other people think of me, or trying to guess what they would approve of. It’s exhausting and doomed.

I even rejected the idea that I needed to seek God’s approval. In my reading of Scripture, I HAVE God’s approval. That’s what was so radical and scandalous about Jesus and the early disciples; they actually LIVED their lives as if they had God’s approval, because they did. If God’s approval rests on me choosing the right “Christian-y” activities, then I don’t want it. It’s not the same God the Bible talks about and I don’t want him as a taskmaster.

It’s the beauty of Galatians and Colossians, rejecting the “do not handle! do not taste! do not touch!” bossiness of others who presume to speak for God. If the Gospel is about striving, 24/7, to win God’s approval, that’s the worst news I’ve ever heard.

I also took a hard look at the concept of self-interest and sacrifice. Once I began to think of sacrifice as “choosing something of lesser value over something of greater value”, I determined that I never want to make a sacrifice. It’s BS logic to live my life as a big sacrifice; I want to find what’s of highest value and run for it, not giving a rip if it fits into anyone else’s concept of what I should do or not.

The disciples told Jesus he shouldn’t die; yet he did it for the joy set before him. It was in Jesus’ best interest — it was of highest value to him — to restore us to himself, and that was no sacrifice. And he didn’t let all the “should-ers” affect him.

The catalyst for me was Eminem. Seriously. Put some sunglasses on, and read the lyrics to “The Way I Am”. That got me over the hurdle, and it’s why I say Don Miller is more gracious than I am. My recent attitude towards all things “should” has begun with an F and ended with “it!”.

If somebody else thinks something negative of me, fine. I don’t care. I am whatever you say I am. I’m not going to expend a single calorie worrying about it or trying to change your perception of me. It’s a you problem, not a me problem. I’m simply going to live in the freedom that’s been purchased for me.

And I see in Eminem’s lyric an echo of both Jesus’ response to Pilate (It is as you say) and God’s response to Moses (I AM). Works for me.

That’s why my blog tagline is, “living my life as a statement, not an apology.”

That’s why my “religious views” on Facebook say, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” I’m so over the churchy thing. Me doing something because someone else thinks I should, and they think that because they think they’re supposed to think that; it’s just ridiculous and I want out of it. It’s so artificial, and so much about perception management, and so little about LIVING and BEING.

I want to BE, to breathe, to enjoy this life. BE, AM — very powerful words.

I AM WHATEVER YOU SAY I AM.

For a free market to work, you must have rule of law and contracts that matter. Neither condition was met with the auto bailouts (just ask Chrysler investors).

Now that Uncle Sam is (ostensibly) getting out of the car business, and reducing its stake in GM to a mere 33%, it’s worth asking: “Were the bailouts a success?”

John Berlau at the American Spectator gives the proper metric for making that call:

But how successful and profitable the new GM will be — and there are still many doubts that linger on the company’s financial condition and unfunded liabilities (see this amazing piece from that right-wing bastion NPR entitled “Reasons to Sit Out GM’s Initial Stock Offering”) — is not the right question to ask if its bailout and takeover were good for the economy. The primary question should not even be how fast or whether taxpayers get their money back (and many experts believe they likely never will recover fully).

As I wrote a year and a half ago on the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s blog OpenMarket.org, “The measure of success should not be how fast Chrysler and GM emerge from this bankruptcy, but the degree to which contracts are honored in an impartial process.” By this measure, due to the precedent set by the government running roughshod over the contractual rights of Chrysler’s secured lenders, GM’s bondholders, and dealers franchised to sell both brands of vehicles, the bailout/takeover is a complete failure.

I couldn’t agree more. Honoring contracts, whether with AIG or Chrysler or your mortgage lender, is the essence of a free market. Even if GM emerges in a stronger position financially, the damage to our free market has been done. What investor in his right mind would invest his money, knowing that Uncle Sam may well swoop in and nullify his contract?

When you are “too big to fail”, you are no longer in a free market.

It didn’t work with Obamacare, it didn’t work with the “stimulus”, and it’s beginning to sink in that it doesn’t work with the EU, either.

Despite the best efforts (and intentions?) of the Left, passing legislation, without first addressing the economic reality on the ground, will not (CAN NOT) solve problems.

The European Union is crumbling before our eyes. Greece, Ireland, Portugal, France, London…all facing serious economic problems that won’t be solved by wishful thinking or kicking the can further down the road.

Can’t we learn from their lesson, or are we destined to repeat the same mistakes?

Full article here.