Rain Man: The Pagan Origins of Modern Politics
People used to expect their rulers to make it rain. When the majority of people used to farm, crop failure meant economic devastation on top of starvation. As Lord Raglan
put it:
"A good king is one whose subjects prosper, whether he himself is virtuous and kindly or not. This applies much more fully in the case of a king whose duties are purely ritual. Just as the good rain-maker is the one who induces good rain, so the good king is the king who induces good crops, good hunting, and so on."
Now that most of us do not farm, we want our rulers to “make it rain” economically. But the belief that prosperity can be legislated is just as backward as believing a king can change the weather.
Wealth is created through work and exchange. Government cannot create wealth. Whatever money it has, it has either borrowed, begged, or stolen. Forcible transfers of wealth from one person to another do not create more wealth.
Even when the Federal Reserve
(a secretive corporation in cahoots with the government) prints money, it does not create wealth. Every new dollar takes its value from existing dollars. Wealth is not created by printing money. Rather, wealth is created when people work and trade with each other. Money derives its value from their productivity.
Ironically, centralized economic control actually makes us all poorer. Actual wealth is created most easily and efficiently in an atmosphere of freedom. But for some reason our pagan logic makes it easier for us to revere the wisdom of a centralized group of politicians rather than the combined wisdom of one another.
Freedom—which would make us all richer
, and happier—demands faith in our fellow men, and in God. The slogan on our money notwithstanding, we all find this hard to believe.
Our king believes his own rhetoric, that he can make it rain. But we can abandon his outdated magic in the light of reason, and let freedom reign.
put it:"A good king is one whose subjects prosper, whether he himself is virtuous and kindly or not. This applies much more fully in the case of a king whose duties are purely ritual. Just as the good rain-maker is the one who induces good rain, so the good king is the king who induces good crops, good hunting, and so on."
Now that most of us do not farm, we want our rulers to “make it rain” economically. But the belief that prosperity can be legislated is just as backward as believing a king can change the weather.
Wealth is created through work and exchange. Government cannot create wealth. Whatever money it has, it has either borrowed, begged, or stolen. Forcible transfers of wealth from one person to another do not create more wealth.
 |
| Fed Chairman Bernanke, just resting his head. |
(a secretive corporation in cahoots with the government) prints money, it does not create wealth. Every new dollar takes its value from existing dollars. Wealth is not created by printing money. Rather, wealth is created when people work and trade with each other. Money derives its value from their productivity.Ironically, centralized economic control actually makes us all poorer. Actual wealth is created most easily and efficiently in an atmosphere of freedom. But for some reason our pagan logic makes it easier for us to revere the wisdom of a centralized group of politicians rather than the combined wisdom of one another.Freedom—which would make us all richer
, and happier—demands faith in our fellow men, and in God. The slogan on our money notwithstanding, we all find this hard to believe.Our king believes his own rhetoric, that he can make it rain. But we can abandon his outdated magic in the light of reason, and let freedom reign.
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