The Present State of America

Babylon, Greece, Rome, France, Great Briton, what do these former world empires have in common with the United States of America? They where all super powers who lost their position in the world because they collapsed from within. At the zenith of their power they were unconquerable; but, because of moral excesses, they were either overthrown, or greatly diminished to a position of weakness among the nations. Are we right to say that America is among these former empires, and is now becoming a second rate power? The signs of America’s collapse are undeniable. Economically, morally, and spiritually, we have already become bankrupt. Only our military superiority sustains our image to the world as a super power; but even that is an economic burden that we can not shoulder much longer.

Financially, America is broke. Our national debt is such an insurmountable amount, that there is no way that it can be repaid by the present means of taxation. The Federal deficit, along with future obligations to Social Security, Medicaid, Federal Pensions, Military Pensions, and other social programs, now stands at 65 trillion dollars, and exceeds the Gross Domestic Product of the entire world.[1] To understand the significance of this amount, every individual—man, woman, and child—in this country, would have to repay $216,000.00 to settle this debt. Most people cannot dig themselves out of their own debt, much less try to repay what our governments owe. This does not even take into consideration the debt of the individual states that are also bleeding red ink. California’s debt alone is now at forty-two billion dollars.[2] On top of the Federal and state debts, are all the corporate debts that are owed by American businesses, banks, and insurance companies; and, when we add in the debts of individuals and families—credit cards, car loans, mortgages, etc—we can readily see that we have dug ourselves into a deep pit.

We might ask ourselves, ‘How did we get in this financial mess?’ The answer is as simple, or as complex as you want to make it. On the simpler side someone has said, “If your outgo exceeds your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall.” We, as Americans, started spending more than we could afford. Instead of living within our means, we mortgaged the future of America by our over-indulgent spending; and we created a tidal wave of debt that is about to sweep us away. We borrowed against our children’s future so that we might enjoy unprecedented prosperity. Since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, when, in an effort to deliver America from the Great Depression, many of the great “social” programs were enacted, we have lavishly spent money on wasteful government bureaucracies, welfare giveaways, entitlements, and pork legislation; but as Barack Obama recently said in a speech, “The party’s over.”

While many have praised Federal programs such as “The New Deal,” “The Great Society,” Social Security, and Medicare, few people understood the costs that these policies would ultimately exact upon the American people. Even the present government bailouts, which are efforts to restore our economy, are only wasteful giveaways that are sinking us deeper in debt. Furthermore, America’s military involvement in wars and conflicts around the world, have been tremendous. While some of these efforts may have been necessary to preserve our freedom, many were not. Much of the “Cold War” spending was totally unnecessary. Some annalists have estimated that America spent over thirteen trillion dollars[3]  to defend ourselves against a Soviet threat that was largely over-estimated. Viet Nam and Iraq are both wars which cost thousands of American lives and billions of dollars; but the purposes for our involvement in them is unclear, and the end result has been disastrous.

Greed and corruption within our government has also led to much of our national debt. “Pork legislation,” federal bureaucracies, salaries and pensions for congressmen have reached the level of absurd. Much of the spending that comes from Washington is only for the purpose of the self-enrichment of those who hold office, or their bureaucratic counterparts. Many people who are elected have high ideals when they go to Washington, but are soon corrupted by the atmosphere that prevails there. Like the British missionaries who went to Hawaii to “do well”, and did “very well,” many of our elected officials use their office for personal gain. Their only political agenda is how to get re-elected. The “party” atmosphere in Washington reminds us of the indulgences of the courts of King Louis XVI of France, just before the French revolution.

Corporation spending has also been excessive, and for many companies disastrous.  Many companies have been run like small monarchies, with the CEO acting as the king. Gross salaries and bonuses, employee trips and parties, and other “perks” that have been handed out, have robbed the coffers of many companies. Large corporations have gobbled up smaller companies, only to steal what assets those companies may have had. Small businesses, run by hard-working Americans, have been destroyed by the aggressive tactics of the “super” stores, whose only concern is their bottom line profit. Americans have invested billions of dollars into the stock of these corporations, only to see their nest eggs wither away by the falling stock market. Powerful banks, which merged together with investment firms, swallowed up smaller banks, and now are on the verge of bankruptcy. Only the bailout money of the Federal government sustains them from failing completely. Hedge funds, exotic investments, and the crooks of Wall Street have all contributed to the multi-billion dollar losses of the companies for which many people work, and depend upon for their living.

Individuals and families have done no better. Many people, lured by the availability of easy credit, have overextended their borrowing to the point where they cannot pay their bills. Credit card spending, buying expensive houses and cars, exotic vacations, and other excesses by consumers have left many to file bankruptcy. Many families struggled to pay for all of this borrowing by having two wage earners working night and day. Now, many people are out of jobs, the result of down-sizing and the economic slow down. College students, who borrowed money to pay tuition, and ran up credit card debt to pay for expenses, struggle to find the jobs that they prepared for. Most college degrees are now useless pieces of paper, with those who earned them having no outlet for their training. Even those graduates who may find work struggle to repay the mountain of debt that was accumulated.

As honest people struggle to make a living, the dark side of America has seen the rise of violent street gangs. The Mexican drug cartels, Russian mafia, biker gangs, Los Angelus street gangs, and a host of other groups, who are feeding on America’s lust for pleasure, are flourishing. Our present immigration polices, and lack of enforcement, has opened the flood gates to illegal aliens, whose only purpose has been to take advantage of the freedom we have here in America, and exploit our weaknesses. These gangs have become so entrenched in our country that our law enforcement people cannot effectively deal with them. Their violent actions, powerful weaponry, and the sheer number of members of these gangs, are a force to be reckoned with. It would take military intervention by the armed forces of this country to even begin to root them out; but of course, our liberal laws and courts would never allow such actions.

White collar crime has also flourished in America, as unscrupulous people have taken advantage of the huge amount of investment dollars that have been flowing, and the lack of oversight thereof. The investment world has been shocked time and again with the discovery of yet more fraudulent schemes. Companies, such as Enron, have bilked investors and employees out billions of dollars. A significant number of penny stocks are nothing more than elaborate hoaxes run by mafias. They drive up the price of their stocks by issuing glamorous reports, and then sell out, leaving investors with worthless stock certificates. The latest, and possibly the worst investment scandal ever, that of Bernard Madoff, purportedly has cost investors upwards of fifty billion dollars. His Ponzi scheme existed in plain sight of regulators, who failed to give even the basic oversight of his investment company.

Adding to these higher profile crimes are those which have begun to plague every area of American life. While there have always been certain neighborhoods where no one was safe, even in daylight hours, we now see the tentacles of violence and crime spreading in every part of America. Drug dealing, theft, sexual assaults, and murder take place in even the “safest” areas of our land. School violence has struck in even the most upscale communities. Adding to these more “common” crimes has been the rise of identity theft, where thieves use the personal information of others to steal wealth electronically. Scam artists steal millions from unsuspecting Americans, particularly those who can least afford it—the poor and elderly.

Corporate downsizing, recession or depression (whatever you call it), and a host of other economic setbacks have put millions of Americans out of work. In some of the hardest hit states, unemployment is close to ten percent[4], while the national rate is over 7 percent, a 15-year high[5]. Because of this, more and more people are looking for any way to make money, and are not adverse to use illegal and immoral means to acquire it. The loss of American jobs is driving many people to desperation, and to do things which they would not otherwise carry out. Robbery, fraud, internet schemes, gambling activities, Ponzi schemes, and other “easy” methods to make money are on the increase by ordinary citizenry.

As with Rome, America’s hedonistic culture, where any lifestyle is acceptable, is at the root of our destruction. Our society is now a moral swampland, where every kind of immorality is acceptable—as long as people are mutually consenting its ok. Pre-martial sex, extra-marital sex, and perverse sex, which once drew the condemnation of society, are now openly practiced without the least amount of attention. American companies now give to non-traditional marriages the same benefits as those who follow God’s intended purpose. Is it any wonder American companies are failing when they promote these unbiblical lifestyles? Daytime television, with its steamy soap operas, and nighttime situation comedies, where nothing is sacred and sexual innuendoes are the main script, flood our minds with immoral thoughts. Adult movies, pornography on the magazine rack and internet, the portrayal of casual sex by Hollywood, have all led to the moral corruption of society. Sex education is taught in schools while any teaching about God or creation is denied.

The last element of America’s collapse, and the one which is the most profound, is the spiritual. Although our constitution openly professes our founding father’s belief in God; the Bill of Rights insures our freedom of religion; our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are “one nation under God”; and printed on our money  is “in God we trust”; the majority of American live as if there is no God. Liberal influences and court decisions have banned any teaching of God from public schools. Creationism is forbidden to be taught, and anything but restricted “student led” prayer is excluded. While forty percent of Americans, who are polled, “say” that they regularly attend church, actual head counting belies that figure. Most people view Sunday as their day for relaxing, not a day of worship. Most disturbing is the disinterest of America’s youth in spiritual matters—little wonder when they are bombarded in schools with humanism and evolution. Only those youth, who have strong religious upbringing and church going parents, are likely to show any spiritual interest.

While we once considered ourselves to be a “Christian” nation, now, every religion and god is wholly accepted as being part of our “multi-cultural” society. Common religious bonds, which once fashioned the philosophy of American life, now are deemed “narrow-minded” by the liberal planners in our colleges and government. Even among the church-going, religious fraction of American society there has been a “falling away” from Biblical principles. We have traded sound teaching and doctrine for being entertained in church. To go along with the “party” atmosphere of American culture, we now have the “feel good” religion of the “health, wealth, and happiness” gospel. Although many mainline denominations have long ago abandoned Biblical truth, even among those who consider themselves to be “Bible believing” there has been a growing perversion toward “easy believism”, worldliness, and humanism. What we have left in our churches are many “professing”, but few genuine converts to Christ; we have preaching and teaching that accommodates anyone’s lifestyle; and we have an emotional, man-centered worship that glorifies the creature instead of the creator.