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America First - Real Jobs & a Real Economy (Part 4)
41 Plays25 days ago
In Part 4 of our America First miniseries, Paul and Dustin discuss economic issues from a Gospel perspective.
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Transcript
Introduction to Real Jobs and the Real Economy
00:00:13
Speaker
Well, we're talking today about real jobs and a real economy on Answering Pilot. Dustin, glad to be with you today. Glad to be back. This is our part four yeah of our America First mini-series, I guess you
Impact of Trump Policy Reversals
00:00:27
Speaker
could call it. yeah Yeah, yeah. So we've talked in the last three episodes about some of those planks of...
00:00:33
Speaker
the America First platform that Donald Trump ran on. And this is going to be our fourth installment of that. yeah Like I said, we're talking about the economy a little bit and jobs. That's right. yeah Yeah, it's not our purpose to um criticize the president, but at the same time, you mentioned that these are the things that he campaigned on, and they've been pretty much there through the the three campaigns. and But he he's made a complete reversal, it seems, to us, and I think it's obvious to a lot of folks.
00:01:05
Speaker
but a complete reversal on every one of these
Does 'America First' Align with the Bible?
00:01:08
Speaker
planks. And so that's one reason we're talking about it. But ultimately we're talking about, i mean, it's what's happening in our culture right now. And of course, we're about answering Pilate, what is truth? Well, truth is the Lord Jesus himself. Truth is God's word.
00:01:22
Speaker
And God's word has something to say about every area of life. And God's word can and should be applied to our lives. And in different contexts, we apply it in you know different ways. If we were in the counseling room, we'd be talking about specific issues going on in someone's life. But since we're here doing a larger kind ah podcast for a larger context, well, we're going to talk about these larger issues. So the economy is certainly a fair game, as it were. Sure. Yeah. yeah Didn't mean to interrupt you. No, you're good. And just to reiterate, as we talked about in our first episode of this mini series, as you alluded to, we're talking about
00:02:00
Speaker
is it biblical to have an America first mindset as an American citizen? yeah And ah which we delved into that and and said that we do believe that there's there's a gospel focus there to want good things for the land in which we
Challenges in Job and Manufacturing Return
00:02:16
Speaker
live. yeah And so now we're talking about how do we biblically think about these things under that context of America first. And so yeah let's talk about money.
00:02:26
Speaker
That's it. money That's right. That's on everybody's mind these days, no doubt about it. I think um one of the things that the America First ah platform included was certainly real jobs, real economy, or maybe we could term it this way, economic independence. That would be one of the issues, bringing back jobs and manufacturing.
00:02:49
Speaker
And, of course, that's harder. to do than simply to say, so we understand that. It's not like any of us, well, maybe some of us, but I don't think you or I believe that Trump could just snap his fingers and jobs have gone flooding back and manufacturing jobs. I mean, it's a different dynamic than it was. you know Textiles built our part of the world, but we're not bringing back textiles to Greenville, South Carolina or wherever.
00:03:15
Speaker
It could be Spartanburg, South Carolina or Macon, Georgia, wherever Texels were keying in the south, that kind of thing. So anyway, but we we do want to have, I think, this focus on rebuilding the domestic economy because you've got inflation, you know you've got job loss,
00:03:37
Speaker
You got a lot of jobs being exported overseas.
Job Exportation and Fair Trade
00:03:41
Speaker
You got a lot of folk flooding into the United States. This goes back to a previous installment of these many so this that you talked about.
00:03:52
Speaker
A lot of folk flooding in, taking certain jobs by design. So obviously these are very, very important issues. So want to talk about creating American jobs. things like promoting fair trade.
00:04:04
Speaker
I want to obviously say something about that. I know you do too. Reducing reliance on foreign labor or offshoring. Those are some of the things that the president had campaigned on.
00:04:17
Speaker
So again, why is that important? and We agree with those things and we want those things to be implemented because as we said just a moment ago, a lot of folk are suffering right now economically.
00:04:30
Speaker
And if you're suffering economically, then you're you're suffering in other ways. sure And so that's an issue, particularly from a just from a human perspective, but particularly from ah a biblical perspective.
00:04:41
Speaker
I want to give you a a quote right here, okay if I can, and this will help us to launch.
Generational Economic Comparison
00:04:47
Speaker
Just been saying some introductory stuff, but... You know, of the things we have mentioned, young people in particular, a lot of them, they've got kind of a hopelessness with reference to their future. Very much so. A hopelessness with reference to what we would call the American dream, just because of inflation. I mean, housing.
00:05:05
Speaker
We were talking this morning. We were, yeah. My dad bought a house that I grew up in until was about 12 or 14 years old. And he bought it in the and he paid $18,000 for That house right is over $300,000, so without belaboring the point. Right, yeah. I mean, talking about inflation, that wouldn't even buy a car now. Right, right.
00:05:28
Speaker
and Yeah, you bought a whole house for that. Exactly. Yeah, and we were talking about, you know, the I bought a home six years ago, and the home prices in the area have inflated 50% since I bought it. yeah And so on the one hand, that sounds great. Hey, look at all this equity I just built. But that also means if I ever tried to sell it, I've got to buy something else at that inflated price well. yeah, that's right.
Critique of Dave Ramsey's Economic Views
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's part of the problem is even for those who want to do that,
00:05:56
Speaker
ah You know, I might like to downsize, but man. But you're going to pay as much to downsize as you, more downsize than you did when you bought your bigger home. that Yeah, that's exactly right.
00:06:08
Speaker
And you so you look at young people, they're just starting out, you know, and it's like, well, what are we going to do? are we going to survive? Because back in the day, you you could buy a house on a single income.
00:06:21
Speaker
And now I would venture to say it's next to impossible to buy a house on a single income. So we've created some massive problems economically here, and that's part of the issue. But here's Dave Ramsey saying something. And and again, I'm going to quote somebody after Ramsey who criticized him. And it's not my purpose to criticize him per se.
00:06:44
Speaker
But we've talked about that boomer mindset versus that younger mindset. i don't think a lot of boomers understand. And so anyway, just we'll just let the quote speak for itself. Ramsey's done a lot of good for a lot of people,
AI's Impact on the Job Market
00:06:56
Speaker
though. Sure. I'll just go ahead and say that. But he said um a $600 pressure washing job can be the first step to making $150,000 a year.
00:07:07
Speaker
He says you don't want to be 63 years old still pressure washing. True. But to get through this week, you can do a lot of pressure washing. Use the pressure washing money to pay $10,000 for code school, then go make $150,000 a year coding.
00:07:24
Speaker
Every move should be a step toward where you want to be in 10 years. Now, that might sound reasonable, especially two years ago. He made the quote recently, though. Right, right. We'll talk about why that's the case. But here was here was one response.
00:07:40
Speaker
This is on the Twitter. wass What is X? Sorry. Yeah. This is in the X-verse. call it that? have no idea what they call We used to call the Twitter-verse. I don't know. I'm a boomer, so I'm out of touch. The Elon-verse? The Elon-verse, yeah, exactly.
00:07:53
Speaker
Anyway, here's the response, though. This is a perfect example of the boomer disconnect that makes millennials and Zoomers angry. He says, your power washing gig got crushed because illegal immigrants getting free housing and food on our dime underbid you into oblivion. That's true.
00:08:12
Speaker
And then your coding jobs was handed to an H-1B visa Indian. So what's your advice now, Dave Ramsey?
Work Ethics Across Generations
00:08:21
Speaker
And that's the pain that that young people are are experiencing, especially young people. Mm-hmm. The other thing I could say about that, and again, I want i don't mean to keep going on and not give you a chance to say, but now with AI, coding jobs are disappearing. And that's happening very rapidly. Yeah.
00:08:39
Speaker
The proliferation of AI being used in industry, it's more than just an a neat little tool now. It's actually driving business now. yeah And like said, so many of these tech jobs...
00:08:52
Speaker
are now being taken over by AI. And so even if you went and went to school to learn how to do some of these tech jobs, coding and and and things like that, yeah, even that's now being replaced, not even by an immigrant, like this person said, but it's being replaced by a computer. yeah um And so that's The acceleration of how the economy is changing is a factor at play here. yeah um But I wanted to go back to you know the the whole comment about a boomer. yeah And you know i don't i don't want to bash on one generation or the next, yeah but that boomer generation, you know
00:09:34
Speaker
they believed in working hard and and and on the vast majority they did. They worked hard. yes And so when they look back at their lived experience, um they worked hard to get what they got. Yep.
00:09:47
Speaker
um They worked hard to buy that house and and to do all these things and to and into build up some retirement savings and wealth and and those kinds of things. And,
00:09:59
Speaker
I think there has been a disconnect between the generations where the perception can be that this younger generation, they're just lazy. Yeah. and they don't want to work hard. Right, right, right.
00:10:09
Speaker
And while I think that's true of some people, I don't think that's a generational thing. Agreed. I think that's true across generations. Agreed. But like this person and in his response communicated, don't know.
00:10:23
Speaker
there's a frustration and a feeling like you're already starting out behind the eight ball. Yes. Because I can work hard. I can do what you said, Dave Ramsey, and I'm going to be unemployed in a year. And so it's very depressing to a lot of young people to feel like they're coming into the workforce for the first time and they already are...
00:10:47
Speaker
they're They're playing from behind. They are. And so even if I do work hard, it doesn't guarantee that I can.
Role of Government in Economic Issues
00:10:54
Speaker
And so, the you know, the boomer says, well, just stop going to Starbucks and getting the $7 coffees. Right.
00:10:59
Speaker
And yes, there are things that we can do to better handle our expenses. But at the same time, it, yeah, it's a lot more difficult now than it was when my parents were working or even if when I was in high school and college and doing, doing the pressure washing or the lawn cutting, the side job type things, it's a vastly different world today. Yeah, it's different. And, uh, to your point, you know, we, we joke around cause I'm a boomer, uh, last of the boomers. I was born in 64 and, um
00:11:31
Speaker
ah but But we say i I don't identify as a boomer, identify as a Gen Z. And um I mean, we're just joking. Sure. But I do agree with what you said, because I do want to say when the younger folk blame boomers in general for all the economic woes we have, well, that's not really fair. No. There are a lot of selfish boomers. There's no doubt about that. But that's not a generational issue, just like what you were saying. That's just a human issue. That's a sin issue.
00:11:57
Speaker
Because, again, you said we were talking about so much of what's driving ah some of this job loss is from the technology sector. No offense, but the boomers don't yeah know this technology. No, they don't. So it's it's actually the younger people that are developing these AI programs and all of this that are actually shooting themselves in the foot in a lot of ways. No, that's right.
00:12:19
Speaker
So like you said, you do have some lazy Gen Zers, but you got some hardworking Gen Zers. right You got some lazy boomers, and then you had a lot of hardworking boomers. And so some greedy boomers, but just some average, normal Christian boomers. right So the problem is not with the boomers. but The problem is with the economy, which, you know, if it were a free market, that that's just controlled by market forces, but it's not. It's a regulated market. And so...
00:12:47
Speaker
it's It's the government. If we go back to that, and that's why we're saying, well, Trump wanted to fix some things. He hasn't done that. In fact, it's gotten worse, which is astounding to me. But nevertheless, that's where we're at. and um But like like you're saying, a lot of the the frustration and the and the venting coming from the younger folk, is it it does seem that some of the boomers like...
Biblical Worldview and Economic Influence
00:13:11
Speaker
from time to time, let's just say, like a Dave Ramsey, are sort of tone deaf or but and unaware. And um again, we could talk about the AI. We'll probably do a whole episode on that. oh for sure. Because that's what's coming. And it's coming like, I don't know if you could hear it. We just heard a train out back of our undisclosed location in the United States.
00:13:33
Speaker
But... um you know It's like Dave Ramsey talking about the pressure washing job and then the coating job. That coating job is going away, but but it was already going away. but but The H-1B visa, you're you're literally you're you're in a system where Now it's almost automatic. Now not everybody would would do this or feel this way, but if you're gonna do what the culture does, it's almost automatic that you go to college now. So you're going to college, why? So that you can get a good job, so that you can be successful in life,
00:14:07
Speaker
And so you spend thousands and thousands of dollars on college, some of a scholarship, but some people, you know, they don't get all the scholarships. So they they rack up a lot of debt. Yes. And then they get out into the workforce.
00:14:19
Speaker
Now, wait a minute. Now I got college loan debt. I need a double income to to just even buy a house if I can do that, because now the average age of maybe know it's average or median. Those are two different things, but nevertheless, like 40, where it was like 22, not that long ago. So anyway, I've got all of these issues.
00:14:37
Speaker
and you tell me I'm gonna have a good job, but now I find out, yes, my coding job has been intentionally replaced because of not only an open border policy, but the economic incentives and and other incentives that we give folk um yeah you know from other countries to come in here and work. Why? Because they'll work cheaper. They'll work cheaper. And listen, corporations, businesses,
00:15:05
Speaker
They're going to do that because they're looking at the cost yeah cutting costs looking at the bottom line. And so all these American young people are cut out. And that's why we're saying America first is not unbiblical. It is biblical because we should care.
00:15:22
Speaker
Listen, I care about Indians. I care about Indians. Spanish folk and the British and the Germans. I really do, from a gospel perspective. I want them to be saved. I want them to flourish.
00:15:34
Speaker
I could talk about how Germany could improve their situation. But I live here, and you know I've got my family, and I've got my community, and I've got my country.
00:15:46
Speaker
And this is where I live, and this is where my influence and impact can most be felt. And so, again, I'm saying that to say it's a biblical reality to to love everyone, but also love our neighbor and and our immediate neighbors.
00:16:03
Speaker
You know, what does Paul say? Do good to everyone, but especially to those of the household of faith. and yeah That goes back to that ordo amoris, you know, that there's an order of loves. right And um so when you when you put it that way,
00:16:16
Speaker
we We should have an America first dynamic, not because as Christians we think Americans are better, but because you and i as American Christians, live here in America. If I lived in Germany, I'd be advocating for a Germany first policy. i just don't live there right now.
00:16:35
Speaker
I live here, if that makes sense. Yeah, and I mean, you know, we talked a little bit in our last episode when we were dealing with warfare about how it's not necessarily that we think that we need to go out and and make all the rest of the world just like America.
America's Global Economic Impact
00:16:53
Speaker
But at the same time, if America is flourishing, that's a benefit globally as well sure because of our position in the world. Yeah. And so, yeah, so we want America to do well. Ultimately, that's going to benefit the Indians and the Chinese and the all of that. Yeah, that's right. So, you know, it's...
00:17:15
Speaker
You know, this is a this one maybe feels a little more tricky because ultimately we're talking about the economy and jobs all that, we're talking about money. And, you know, when Christians start talking about money, that always gets a little sticky. yeah um And, you know, people love to say,
00:17:32
Speaker
misquoting the verse in two different ways that money's the root of all evil, which is not what the verse says. Right. um But the love of money, the idolatry of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Yeah. And so the Bible doesn't teach us that amassing wealth and and those kinds of things is wrong or sinful.
00:17:52
Speaker
Idolizing that and making that your driving goal is sinful. Yeah. um But... but We have a whole book of Proverbs that has all kinds of financial advice in it yeah about how to amass wealth and and how to not be a slave to debt. yeah We talked about debt a second ago. That's right. And so the Bible, God himself communicated through his scripture, he wants people to be prosperous. isn't all All with the keeping him as our forefront yeah and as our focus, knowing that our prosperity comes from him. Yes. but
00:18:26
Speaker
So, yes, it's good to have good paying jobs for the people in our in our country. It's good to have all of these things in the right focus yeah that gives glory and honor to God. That's right.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, and just to your point, you know, on the one hand, God, and you you would affirm this in His providence, he He blesses some with more wealth than others. Right.
00:18:50
Speaker
And He does say, you know, ultimately, we should be content with food, clothing, and shelter. We trust in Him because he He ordains everything in our lives for our spiritual good, Romans 8, 28, et cetera.
00:19:04
Speaker
But on the other hand, part of the gospel, the gospel on the one hand, it's about individual salvation. The good news that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
00:19:16
Speaker
But the gospel is also much bigger than that. It's about the establishment of God's kingdom, which is very different than all the earthly kingdoms.
Biblical Values in Economic Policies
00:19:22
Speaker
right And it in in in God's kingdom, as you say, if you put the whole Bible together, it really is, you know, there is this focus on cultivating the earth, right? The dominion mandate there in Genesis 1.
00:19:37
Speaker
For what? For the glory of God and the good of humanity. Yes. And the Bible talks about hard work. Well, what's beneficial about hard work? Economic prosperity. as if you if A man who won't work won't eat. That's what Paul says. and And again, I'm just expanding or elaborating on what what you were saying there.
00:19:56
Speaker
So, yeah, you got to watch out for greed and idolatry. But part of being you know rooted in a biblical worldview is this understanding that if you... put biblical principles on the table, and let's just say for the sake of our discussion, at a national level, if we can have a biblical worldview driving the American economy,
00:20:19
Speaker
then it's going to be way better for more people in America and ultimately way better for more people in the world isn't we know as we do business with other people in the world and as we export our ideas. Not you know at the end of ah of a barrel, a gun barrel, but through the propagation of who we are and what we're about and particularly as it relates to who who among us you know may be Christians. Because again,
00:20:44
Speaker
it We should talk about at length, not today, but another time, about how a biblical worldview undergirds economic prosperity. No other worldview does that. Freedom, um liberty, hard work, those kinds of things. And well we'll touch on some of those things even a little bit later in our discussion, although we're already running out of time.
Historical Economic Context and Misconceptions
00:21:05
Speaker
But um just getting back to this whole issue of, ah unfortunately, but The things that the president is doing right now, it's militating against an America First policy. You know, he's not really doing anything about the immigration situation. You've had some, um what I want to call, I don't know, theatrical exercises and and they were terrible, but we'll we'll talk about that in another time. In other words he did things just for show, but not any real substance. and What was the one we told? Oh, the forever wars, foreign interventionism, again.
00:21:40
Speaker
but We've got this war going on, but the the economy, yeah what's the old political slogan? It's the economy, stupid. Right. right Yeah. It always kind of comes down to that. Carville, I think. is Yeah. Yeah. so You got to get that right.
00:21:56
Speaker
Anyway, let me just move along very quickly unless you wanted to say something else before I moved on. No, well, yeah. Yeah, I didn't want to move I quoted David Stockman last time with reference to the war, and I mentioned that he was a former you know member of the Reagan White House. And I said, I think he's director of the Office of Management and Budget, he he was.
00:22:18
Speaker
So, i don't know how I did, but I got that right. But anyway, just just real quick, he he was a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan and then the the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Reagan.
00:22:30
Speaker
And Stockman is the father of Reaganomics. Now, that's probably a term that my fellow Gen Zers are not familiar with. Yeah. Reaganomics, the economy was, can I just put it this way, and I'm going to use the Gen Z vernacular, it was super bad under, it's probably not, they're probably looking at me like. Definitely not Gen Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I'm just going to say it. It was super bad under President Carter.
00:22:57
Speaker
And listen, he inherited some things from Nixon that, and listen, I'm not one who's going to criticize Nixon on every point, okay? But he bears some criticism on certain points.
00:23:10
Speaker
I get bogged down. I'm sorry. Well, and yeah, again, not to chase that rabbit, but I've noticed in my lifetime, there's always been this misconception that one man in four years can totally shape an economy and totally forsaking the fact that so many things that are involved in in the way that our economy works are decades and decades. Yeah, yeah that's right that's right. And you can't you can't untangle that spaghetti.
00:23:38
Speaker
In four years. No. For better or for worse. That's exactly right. You know, one president, and the economy is bad. We blame it all on him. And then another president comes in, the economy gets good, and we think it's because he had great policies. Neither one of those are necessarily 100% sure. Agreed. 100%. Yeah. And you said it better than I could have, so thank you for that, because that's that's the whole clarification.
00:23:59
Speaker
But historically, it is a fact that things went bad under President Carter. Sure. And he had a lot to do with it.
Reaganomics and Modern Policies
00:24:05
Speaker
And then they got better under President Reagan, and he had a lot to do with that. Again, Reagan wasn't perfect. but And Reaganomics wasn't perfect. But the whole issue of Reaganomics, ah it was it was supply-side economics. We're not here to give an economy lesson.
00:24:18
Speaker
But essentially, I'm just saying that Stockman is the one who sort of was the architect of that, and and the whole idea was to curtail the welfare state, which we're all in.
00:24:29
Speaker
Well, we should all be in favor of. And I know a lot of people say, well, Again, this is another issue. You don't believe in welfare. You don't believe in helping poor people. Well, yes, we believe in helping poor people, but the welfare state is keeping people poor. We believe in helping them in a way that genuinely helps. That genuinely helps, yeah. The welfare system that we have in our country right now is designed to keep people poor. It is, and it's it's sad.
00:24:52
Speaker
And we'll we'll definitely talk about that more. But the reason I mention Stockman, and just tell you you know where he's coming from, he says this. The Republican Party was hijacked by modern imperialists during the Reagan era. As a consequence, the conservative party cannot perform its natural function as watchdog of the public purse because it is constantly seeking legislative action to provision a vast war machine of invasion and occupation. Mm-hmm.
00:25:19
Speaker
Wow. So there's a quote that ties both of these dynamics together. Right. You got the war machine, which we talked about last time, but the war machine is imperiling our economy.
00:25:32
Speaker
and And that's not the only thing that's imperiling our economy, but it is. And so that brings me... And again, i don't ah don't i don't want to cut you off from any path you want to go down because we're we got a couple of notes here, but we're freewheeling. We're just having a conversation. yeah But it brings me to say, to ask some questions before we give couple of recommendations, but what right what right does um the government have to take away money through taxation? That's what we're talking about. You come in, you take my money,
00:26:08
Speaker
And if I said, well, no, you can't have it. You're going to jail. I'm going to jail. So you're forcing me to give you my money that I worked hard for. So what right do you have to take my money or the money of the American people and use it to export jobs overseas or to to make it impossible for college-educated Americans to get jobs through bringing in the whole H-1B visa program?
Government Spending and Inflation
00:26:36
Speaker
What right do you have to do that to the American people? What right do you have to open the borders so that this flood of cheap labor comes in and takes away all the pressure washing jobs? i mean, I could go on. I'm just asking. what
00:26:53
Speaker
Why do you think you can do that to to the people that you have sworn to protect and promote? Yeah, and and where's the logic in it? Because you are taking, as you said, money from your citizens by force.
00:27:07
Speaker
and using it in a way that is crippling your own citizens. Yes. So you are going against what the Bible says government should be about, which is protecting its citizenry. Yes. You're doing the opposite. Yes. With our own money. Yes. You're taxing me when I make money. You're taxing me when I spend money. You're taxing me if I save money and try to give it to my kids. Yeah.
00:27:30
Speaker
You're taxing it on every end. Yeah. And using it for all of these purposes that are not the public good. Yeah. You're taxing me when I die. You're taxing me when I die. Yeah. Like you said, oh, my goodness. ah And, of course, um all of the spending on the war machine and then taking our money and supporting foreign countries.
00:27:54
Speaker
You can't help mention Israel these days because they're the they're I suppose they're number one. um How many billions or is it trillion? I don't know. I have no idea. It's a bunch. It's a bunch of money. would shudder to think. Yeah, yeah, same here.
00:28:07
Speaker
So then, of course, <unk>re again, we're talking about economics. We're not just here on a rant. yeah in In order to fund the war machine and in order to prop up this company or that company in order to do all these things, well, now we just, instead of having sound monetary policy, sound fiscal policy, which is not In other words, in my house, we we can do two things. We can figure out how to make more money or we can figure out how to cut spending. And either way, both would be good. Right. Yes. But you gotta to sometimes you've got to cut spending. we We always say, okay, we're going through the season. We're going tighten our belt you know for whatever the reason. remember when I went to seminary. Right, right, yeah. I had to tighten tighten my belt. We didn't go out to eat for like two years.
00:28:56
Speaker
Listen, a big night for us when I was in seminary. was Wednesday night because we go Little Caesars because you get two pizzas for $5. So we feed the whole family. Everybody's happy.
00:29:07
Speaker
And now now that I understand food and preservatives and, you know, all the junk, we, you know, better nowadays. I'm not eating two pizzas from Little Caesars. And I'm not criticizing Little Caesars. It was a staple.
00:29:20
Speaker
After I got out of seminary, i mean, it's like Little Caesars every week. where I'm watching the ball game. I'm doing Little Caesars. But anyway.
Debt Sustainability and Generational Impact
00:29:28
Speaker
Well, and speaking of inflation, yeah you know, now that Little Caesars, it's one pizza and it's like $8. Yeah. For the one pizza. Yeah. I used to get two for five. Yeah. I forgot where I was going. i got so excited about the pizza.
00:29:40
Speaker
Cutting spendy. Cutting spending, thank you. Living through tight times. Yeah, so this is what our government needs to do. But instead of cutting spending and instead of not supporting, you know, Israel, which I have no interest over there, and instead of, you know, not funding these interventionist wars all over the world, getting our folk killed and getting other folk killed, instead of doing that,
00:30:06
Speaker
Can't we not spend so much? But what do they do? They spend, spend, spend. They don't cut. And so now they have to print bu and print more money. And when you print more money, and I know I'm not saying anything that that a lot of folk don't know. Maybe there's some folk that, but when you print more money,
00:30:25
Speaker
You know, you increase the money supply, then every dollar is worth less. And that's one of the the major reasons that we have inflation. And that's why my dad's $18,000 house now costs more than $300,000. Right, right. That sounds like I'm yelling. I'm i' not.
00:30:41
Speaker
You're good. So this is super bad. Yeah. Just to use that terminology. So... We got runaway debt now. Yes. I mean, literally runaway debt.
00:30:55
Speaker
And that's not just a phrase. We'll never pay our debt off. Yeah. There's reckoning day coming. And we've created a society of debt, too. Yeah. our Our nation is in debt that is cartoonish in how big it is. Yeah. Like you said, it doesn't even feel like a real number anymore. No. Right. um I mean, it's doubled in my lifetime, the national debt. Oh, yeah. Actually, way less than my lifetime. Right. My adulthood, it's doubled.
00:31:20
Speaker
But... That also has trickled down to use a regular term. Reganomics. Into, I can't cite a source, but I'm pretty sure I've read that this generation, the Gen Z generation, is the most in debt generation that we've ever had. Wouldn't be surprised. And again, it's because of these things that our government is doing to us to cripple us. yeah And so many people are are having to go into debt just to get by. Yeah. um But again, it's crippling.
00:31:48
Speaker
And ah the Bible speaks to debt as being a bad thing. Yeah. It makes you a slave yeah to your creditors. Yeah. And it even becomes, again, on the national level, but it's it's ah it's a national security
Critique of Government Control and Taxation
00:32:02
Speaker
issue.
00:32:02
Speaker
Yes. sir Yes. Because again, you're talking about Israel. Well, we're seeing it right now. We're giving, we've got so much money committed to Israel that now we do whatever Israel tells us to do yeah and the world stage. Yeah. No, that's exactly right. And so are we sure that Israel is acting in our best interest? I don't know that they are. don't think so. But we're going to do whatever they tell us to do yeah because we have so much money tied up with them. Yeah.
00:32:32
Speaker
You know what popped in my head. I don't think so, Willis. But anyway, ah ah that's another Gen Z joke. but um Yeah, Gen Z's definitely know. Yeah. All right, so what should we do? What should our government do? we We're going run out of time because, you know, the the runaway inflation, not just runaway debt runaway debt, but runaway inflation, dollars being destabilized. That's a whole other issue.
00:32:58
Speaker
So I think um we might have to do a whole separate episode just on economics in general, yeah because this was more like ah an America first thing, not an economy lesson. But I obviously think that, you know, when people and businesses can keep more of what they earn, it leads to more investment, at least to economic growth.
00:33:19
Speaker
So I think one of the things that that we would be in favor for, and again, we got to get, we got to change people's minds and hearts. We got to get them educated. Exactly.
00:33:30
Speaker
And then maybe there could be wholesale change because we need wholesale change. But obviously, practically, what do we need? Well, we need lower income tax rates. That'd be one thing.
00:33:41
Speaker
We need um ah lower or nonexistent capital gains taxes. Why would I say that? Well, because A lot of folk are discouraged from making investments because they get taxed on the gain. Okay. Well, so we're discouraging economic growth and economic prosperity and more money in the economy and investment than all the bit.
00:34:04
Speaker
Yeah, because when people invest, that benefits the greater economy. Yeah. when people stop doing that because they don't want pay the capital gains tax, that hurts the larger economy. That's right. Yeah. Yeah, so lower taxes all the way around, reducing regulation, regulation. Again, all of these things hamper investment. They hamper growth. They hamper jobs.
00:34:25
Speaker
Hinder might be. Hamper or hinder. Whatever.
Market-driven Solutions vs. Regulations
00:34:27
Speaker
a Either way. I just jotted down a couple things that are pet peeves of mine. I mean, listen, we could list 100 things. So these are down the list, but still, I'm going to say it anyway.
00:34:37
Speaker
curtail permits and licensing requirement. Why should I have to have a license to help people? I don't know. i'm just going to say, why should I have to have a real estate license?
00:34:49
Speaker
I'm just throwing that out. It's a tax. Now, look, you want to have a professional organization you say, okay, realtors are professionals and we have a code of ethics. and Okay, yeah I get that. yeah Yeah, we need that.
00:35:02
Speaker
And we need real estate professionals just like attorneys and other professionals to to be ethical and all that. But let me give you a better example. That's probably not the best example in the world.
00:35:13
Speaker
Maybe we should have a real estate license. I don't know. well but Well, go ahead. Sorry. No, you go ahead. but i i think that particular like that example is an example of how the government tries to solve because ostensibly the reason is you want to protect the customers, the consumers from fraud yeah and from shady deals and those kind of things. yeah But the government's answer to that is, well, let's just make the people doing it pay a fee. And that somehow is going to guarantee that now these people are are operating above board and on the up and up.
00:35:50
Speaker
And we know for a fact that that doesn't guarantee it. We still see people that are licensed yeah that do shady deals. yeah and So, yeah again, it's a government solution that doesn't work, but but which is just throw money at it. Yeah, I'm with you. what What if we let the market handle it, and whether it's the National Association of Realtors or the local associations of realtors,
00:36:09
Speaker
or real estate professionals themselves, what if they demand professionalism and ethics and we want to rid our organization of shady dealers? and Right. Yeah. So there's some responsibility on our side. Yeah, because then the market says you can't do business if you're not if you're not willing to abide by yeah these regulations of code of ethics. Instead of the government saying if you don't pay our tax and buy our license, then we're not going to let you operate. That's right.
00:36:40
Speaker
Yeah.
Promoting Competition and Fair Trade
00:36:41
Speaker
Probably where i was going, though, a minute ago, probably a better example. If I want to add a bathroom in my house, I got to get permission from the government. I can't just do it.
00:36:52
Speaker
To do something to your own house. My own home that i own, even if it were, which is not, but even if it were paid for, if my home cost $18,000. It'd be paid for. It'd be paid for because I've lived there 27 years. from paid Anyway, my own home, like you say, I got to give the government a fee. And that's all it is. And like you said, when you think about all the fees and all the taxes that we pay in a different, it's more than 50% of our income. So I'm working six months out of the year.
00:37:21
Speaker
Just to pay the government. And then the other six months I'm working. Because the irony is that that all of these regulations, they actually generate more fraud. Because you've got all of this money that you have to pay to buy these permits and licenses and all of those things.
00:37:38
Speaker
Where's that money going? Yeah. What is it funding? Yeah. And we don't ever know. We never know. and so you know, we Again, to go back to something you said earlier about the theatrics of, you know, we bring in an Elon Musk and a Doge department that's going to expose all this fraud and waste. And then it didn't really end up going anywhere or accomplishing anything. Right.
00:38:00
Speaker
But the that's the type of fraud and waste that we were told yeah was going to be discovered. Yeah. And... um Yeah, the the that's what these regulations that are supposedly in place, the government will tell you, we're just trying to hit you.
00:38:19
Speaker
But they're they're actually generating the very thing that they're claiming to try to prevent. Yeah, that's right. yeah Go back to Ronald Reagan. do you remember the famous quote? I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Yeah. yeah think He said, yeah, not anyway. Yeah, no, thank No, thank you. All right. Lots of other things we could touch on. We want to – let me me just mention a couple of other highlights, can I? Yes.
00:38:42
Speaker
right. So business competition lowers prices and improves quality. So why don't we encourage competition?
Sound Monetary Policy and Debt Reduction
00:38:52
Speaker
Why don't we eliminate government-created monopolies and government – giving out special favors to their special businesses and lobbyists. Why don't we eliminate corporate subsidies from the government, what we might call crony capitalism?
00:39:11
Speaker
Because it goes back to, know, we said earlier, We don't, we're in favor of getting rid of getting rid of, and I would phase it out, because you can't just turn the spigot off because people would suffer tremendously, but phase it out over a period of years. But get rid of the welfare state, because all it's doing is keeping people poor.
00:39:31
Speaker
Okay, you've got other Christians, again, they they don't necessarily understand economics. And I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I've read enough to be somewhat familiar with how economics works, I think.
00:39:43
Speaker
And I read my Bible, because I try to come from a biblical worldview, as do you. But... um they They say, well, capitalism's evil. I mean, look at what what the you know the billionaires do and all the poor people, and it's it's it's unfair. and Why don't we have a living wage and et cetera, et cetera. Again, we need to do a whole broadcast on that. i can can address that if if we had the time.
00:40:06
Speaker
But the point is, while I'm in favor of a free market and capitalism... is Capitalism itself is not the problem. Greed is the problem. Right. And so from a biblical worldview, like you said, we want to preach against greed, examine our own hearts, let that worldview and take root in our culture, right? Just like we want ethics to take root in our culture.
00:40:30
Speaker
But crony capitalism is different. Crony capitalism is, again, the the paying off of the lobbyists with the most money. Yeah. It's still greed. It's just different people yeah and being greedy. Yes. And sometimes it's called corporate welfare, but it's just, yeah.
00:40:45
Speaker
Anyway, you get where I'm going. Right. I hope the folk listening do. So let's get rid of that stuff because competition is good. So we're just, you know, highlighting some some big, broad brushstrokes here.
00:40:56
Speaker
Let's see. What else? Competition because it lowers prices, increases productivity. Firms become um become more productive through competition.
00:41:07
Speaker
So why don't we, we said at the beginning we would come back this, why don't we promote free trade? I like the term free trade. Why don't we promote free trade and fair trade?
00:41:18
Speaker
That might bear a whole other discussion because free trade, if you do if it's just complete free trade, then you if you export all the jobs, it's one thing to say, okay, free trade, let's allow businesses to buy and sell globally because that lowers prices here.
00:41:40
Speaker
But if we export all the jobs overseas, because we can get cheap labor overseas. and And what do we do with our our college graduates again who are in debt? finance yeah What do we do now when when there's no jobs, when all we've got is you know low wage jobs? So let's just don't talk about that now. Let's do a whole podcast on it. yeah So yes, free trade.
00:42:08
Speaker
But at the same time, an America first policy would say, okay, yeah, but we're not going to export all the all the jobs overseas. Anyway, sound money, that's the last one I'll touch on because we're out of time. And that's my fault as always. What what do I mean by sound money? Well, you got it again, you can't spend more than you have.
00:42:27
Speaker
And you got to have a standard. And you can't do all these things that that create inflation and devalue the dollar. So we need to reduce government deficits. We need to reduce government debt.
00:42:38
Speaker
limit inflationary monetary policy. Those are those are things I would say. yeah And I think all of that's rooted in a Christian worldview, which we'll we'll talk about this another time, unless you want to hit some on the way out. But essentially, yeah you know we've we've touched on a couple of issues, and I jotted down a few here. you know Private property, these are things that are rooted in in Scripture, um the dignity of work, being a good steward.
00:43:06
Speaker
Anyway, Yeah, I mean, all of these things come from the garden. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. God god gave us a command to work. Yep. um Work is not a result of the fall. ah Toil is. Futility in our work is. But work is a good thing. Yeah, it's good gift from God. It was a blessing to Adam to have...
00:43:29
Speaker
work to do yeah in the garden and stewardship, taking good care of it. And again, all of this comes back around to we want prosperity to take place. Why?
00:43:42
Speaker
Because... We serve a God who is bountiful and in his gifts and he's gracious to us.
00:43:53
Speaker
He is not, we don't just look to the Lord for salvation. Obviously we have to. yeah um But he is gracious. He gives gifts. he gives good He wants to give good things to his children. He wants us to prosper. He wants us to, keep again, keep it in focus to where we we get these good things but we don't worship the gifts over the giver. Right. You know, that we give him the glory.
00:44:18
Speaker
But again, it puts the gospel on display and prosperity here mirrors God's kingdom. Yeah. And that's why it's a good thing because it gives a picture of what God's economy is. God's economy is not a physical, you know, all this money, all of this is going to burn up one day. It's all going to, it's all going to fade away.
00:44:42
Speaker
But the riches that we have in Christ are eternal and having good things here and now gives us an opportunity to use that as a picture of the eternal riches that we can have in Christ. And that's what the gospel is all about. So that's why Economy matters to Christians. That's why economics matters to Christians. Yeah. Because it's a way for us to put God's goodness, his bounty, his graciousness, all of that on display, his
Conclusion and Future Topics
00:45:11
Speaker
gospel. Yeah.
00:45:12
Speaker
Going forth and bringing about good to the nation. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. We're going end it there if that's okay. Sure. Yeah. So we hope that you'll come back next time. We'll deal with yet one more.
00:45:24
Speaker
Is it one more issue on the little mini series? Yeah. And then some of these things that we have said we'll do larger episodes and we'll do that. Definitely. Sounds good. All right. See you next time on around answering pilot.
00:45:36
Speaker
The Answering Pilot podcast is a ministry of Randall House Church in Greer, South Carolina. You can learn more at www.randallhousegreer.com slash church. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at at Randall House Church.
00:45:51
Speaker
Don't forget to like and subscribe, and we'll see you next time.