Entitled "Entitlements"

When did we get to the point that people started assuming the Government will just take care of us and give us whatever we need? We are on the edge, a precipice in which those who survive by the legal plunder of others will soon (if not already) outnumber those who work hard to provide the resources that are plundered.

Here is a very simple example of the shift in the mentality from the requirement of civic "virtue" to the existence of citizen "needs." It's from the Census. Do you know why we have a Census?

Here it is, right from the top of the Government's Census page:
The 2010 Census will help communities receive more than $400 billion in federal funds each year...

See? The Census helps the government decide who gets the cash. Nice. Do you know the REAL reason there is a census? Here's what the United States Constitution says about it:


Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State...The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. - The United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 2.

Did you catch that? The purpose of the Enumeration (the counting, the Census) is to accurately apportion how many representatives each state will have in the House of Representatives. Those are the folks who represent the people of the individual stats in the United States Congress. (The states were originally represented by Senators, though they are now no longer appointed by the states but elected directly, shifting the way the Constitution set things up).

For most folks the message is simple; "Never mind the politicians and what they're doing. Never mind that you should be paying attention to what goes on in Washington. Never mind that you should exercise civic virtue and be an informed and articulate citizen. Rather, just fill out your census form so your community gets the big dollars it has coming to it!"

As citizens, this ought to bother us that the ethic of working hard--with the possibility of failure--to provide for yourself and your family is rapidly disappearing, being replaced with the attitude of "don't worry, the government will provide it to you." Where do people that are the beneficiaries of this government aid suppose the money comes from? It comes from those who work hard to support themselves and their families who suffer the additional burden of having the government legally plunder their rightful earnings to pay for these programs.

As Christians we ought to be bothered in this way: the government providing everything (and not well, I might add) means there is no need for Christians to exercise charity. Or, put slightly more accurately: it is not that there is no need for charity to others but we easily become jaded and hardened against the genuine opportunities to help others in need. "Why should I help this person when there is a government program to do it?" St. Paul reminds us that "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." This isn't a harsh indictment of the poor, rather, a reminder that the purpose of our work is to be able to provide for ourselves and others. What incentive is there to do so if the government forces this charity (and in a less helpful way) upon us?

It is a shame that the only thing most people will know about the Census is that it is a way to get money from the government. A greater shame looms in that most don't know the names of those representatives elected in accordance with the census's apportionment.

Regardless of how big the government gets, however, we know that its programs will always be inferior to the personal care and help that one person gives another. True charity will always and ever be a distinctly Christian virtue exercised as citizens in this world. And lest we find ourselves too angry and worried over the direction our country is taking, the gentle reminder that we are true citizens of heaven by the charity of Christ is our greater comfort.