Ed Emery: Living in a welfare state

(In his latest newsletter, Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, decries the "welfare state" and wishes we all could be ruggedly self-reliant (like he is, of course).

This was an interesting week, with two incidents that drew attention to today’s cultural battle between dependency and independence. At a large rural cooperative annual meeting there was quite a line waiting to register for the election and to enjoy the provided meal. One man, finally arriving at the registration desk, walked up to the register and, joking about the disastrous state of the economy, remarked that when he arrived and saw the length of the line, he assumed it was the unemployment line.

There was some chuckling as another opined that it would be great news if that many people were willing to stand in line because they were eager to find a job. It is always better to laugh than cry, but it brought home the cultural makeover that has assaulted America and even Missouri, especially in the last five years under the intensifying scrutiny—think DOR, IRS, NSA, etc.—of an ever-more-powerful federal government, as cultural mores of rugged self-reliance have given way to mindless addiction to government programs, preferences, and handouts. We really have become a welfare state where the next revolution will not be for independence, but because, sooner or later, the checks will have to stop coming in the mail.

The seemingly never-ending scandals and exposés on food stamp abuse are a confirmation of the cultural devolution that is unlikely to be reversed short of a “Great Awakening” like the ones in the American colonies in the 1730s (Jonathan Edwards) and in New England in the early 1800s (Charles Finney). Today’s welfare dependent is the pre-war-for-independence Tory. Their loyalty to government (the hand that feeds them) is reflective of the Tories’ loyalty to King George who represented the government’s promise of provision and protection.

The highlight of the week, however, came in a conversation with a common laborer who turned out to be an uncommon man. In a conversation about the hopelessness that can invade our thinking when we find ourselves unable to pay our bills, he refused to concede. He then recounted how, due to no fault of his own, he had lost jobs three or four times – usually because Missouri companies went out of business.

Eventually he lost his cars, his home, and “everything except a few pieces of furniture and the clothes on our backs.” He was finally forced to file personal bankruptcy. This man declared he was a Christian and that his faith brought him from despair and even resentment toward God to a deeper faith and to a confidence about the future.

He admitted that he will probably never again own a house, but he has a wife who loves him and two adopted sons who, just in their teens, are already forging their own reputations as young men of character and conviction. He has a steady job and is paying his bills. His was the kind of American spirit that one could envision fighting against all odds for independence and refusing to become discouraged or dependent on government programs. I was encouraged and grateful that he shared his life story.

In the continuing fight for freedom over government-enslavement, we have not lost unless we give up, and it is accounts like this one that God can use to keep us from ever giving up. Liberty is worth defending, whatever the cost. The spirit of America lives on in the testimony of my friend and assuredly will continue in his sons. We should thank God for men and women whose character and faith prove sufficient to their day and who set a standard that is worthy of our heritage.