The Power Paradox

For the most part I’m a big believer in the separation church and state.  I don’t like the idea of religions dictating government, because if any religion I agree with has the power to manipulate the government then a religion I disagree with would also have the same power.  And to the opposite, I definitely don’t want the government dictating to me what I can believer in my faith.  

But the one place in my mind where my personal religion clashes with government surrounds the concept power.  From the opening pages of the Scriptures that most influence my life, the story of man’s obsession with power is quite clear.  When given the option of a human paradise or the prospect of becoming gods, the temptation to obtain that status and power was simply too great.  

I can’t prove wether or not the story of what took place in the Garden of Eden actually happened.....but I can prove it was true in what it conveys.  It was true in the fact that for some unexplainable reason, mankind is obsessed with power and prestige.  The presence of kings, dictators, conquerors, politicians, celebrities, and all the like seem to repeatedly teach us that resisting the fruit leading to the opportunity to rise above all others, is a very difficult task. 

It is here, that my church and state clash.  Church teaching me that man is obsessed with power and my observations of both the church and the state confirming that lesson.  As a result, one of the ways I measure and evaluate government and those within it is through the lens of power.  Our founders were wise to this in recognizing that some power is needed to organize a society, but too much power will destroy it.  As we know, they devised an elaborate governmental system to scatter that power among a great many people so as to prevent any one or few from becoming too powerful.  What should alarm us as citizens the most is when we see efforts to consolidate the power our founders wisely sought to disperse.  For the greatest threat to a republic comes when its citizens slowly give their leaders more and more power over them.  

I have to admit, I’m suspicious of both parties in our government.  I hear that the Republican Party seeks to give tax breaks to the rich and help the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.  This makes sense to me on face value.  If man is obsessed with power then it seems that the leaders of any political party would seek greater power for themselves.  If this really is the goal of the Republican Party it makes sense on face value and would be consistent with the pattern of mankind.  Of course the rich would be Republican as they’d be idiots not to be under that paradigm....assuming its true of course.  

Where I get very suspicious though is when I see multi- millionaires and billionaires supporting the Democrat Party, who’s platform is that the richest in society should pay more since they have more.  On face value, I can appreciate that sentiment, it sounds noble and selfless.  But it makes no sense to me why the absolute richest people, the ones who have the most to lose, would support a platform that would threaten their great wealth with such extreme taxation.  Many of these people are self made million and billionaires, proving they have a propensity for being very good with money. 

Now the case could be made that perhaps these people wish to “pay their fair share” out of appreciation for their good fortune and great success....and I would believe that.....if it were being displayed in their own companies.  When people have multiple billions of dollars it would make sense that if the government isn’t yet set up to tax them in a way that allows them to fulfill this desperate need to pay their fair share, why don’t they just do it though escalating the wages of their employees to the point that everyone who works for them makes a high paying wage?  This would allow for more taxes to be paid as everyone working for them would naturally be paying more as their incomes would be much higher.  Then from that place of demonstration, they could continue to lobby for a government that has a tax system more in line with their personal values.  

But that’s not what’s happening...at least to the scale that its possible.  So if its not being done intrinsically now, why on Earth would people with so much to lose fight so hard for a political party that threatens to take it away and resist the party that is accused of wanting to protect them?  Perhaps its the cop in me.....but these are the things that really cause me to stop for a moment.  The only logical reason someone would seek to support a party that threatens to hurt them would be if they know that party really isn’t going to harm them, but actually protect them as well........more so.  Again, my personal beliefs have taught me man seeks power.  A belief that has been proven over and over again for thousands and thousands of years.  And those not seeking power, those who are generous have never needed the help of the government to be generous...they are just naturally generous.  

I would caution us to be leery of a platform that threatens millionaires and billionaires that is still supported by millionaires and billionaires.  My law enforcement background as taught me that such inconsistencies are often clues that perhaps we are not being presented the entire truth.  And my church and state power clash has thousands of years of history providing consistent support of that suspicion.