Bill Kristol offers this sobering assessment of where we are as a nation by quoting a 1936 speech by Winston Churchill in the House of Commons: "The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."
Kristol then lists some of the problems: Iran's nuclear program, the economic meltdown, bloated government, weakened military defenses, politically correct universities, a juvenile media, and an entertainment-mad culture. He ends by quoting British economist Josiah Charles Stamp: "It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities."
I'm not ready to think "it's too late for America," but I must admit that I believe some rough days are ahead. I can only pray for God's mercy and for strength to face what tomorrow brings. I'm also asking Him to bring revival to America since, in the final analysis, only Jesus Christ can truly delivery us through this "period of consequences."
2 Chron. 7:14 -- "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Comments:
PC universities are being countered by the internet. Really the net has the potential to restore the tradition of the philosopher-on-mars-hill style of learning and counter the bureaucratization of scholarship. This may actually restore the breed of amateur scholars which is good as intellectual attainment is one occupation that can get poisoned by professionalizing it to much. Another is sometimes politics and another is courtship and a professional in the first field sometimes resembles a professional in the second.
As for having an entertainment mad culture, it may simply be that we have a culture that has limited amounts of work. Be that as it may the media is often vulgar. It is hard to figure out what to do about that other then compete. Of course we might remember that entertainment has always been vulgar. At the same time as aristocrats were seeing Handel's Messiah, somewhere in London, the poor were watching a cockfight, or worse.
It is however true that the government(and the political mindset in general)is bloated and has way to much influence over our lives.