0709 The Power of Self
Saint Augustine wrote, “Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self.”
America once strove to be the second city, the one. Now, with every passing generation, she increasingly yields territory to the lower city’s love of self..
It is not abnormal to satisfy ones personal needs and desires. But self-satisfaction is a destructive force when it becomes an ethical standard. Such a standard pits individuals against others in the workplace, politicians against the best interests of their constituents and parents against the ultimate best for their families.
Self is the driving force behind illegal alien arrogance and the dismal surrender to them among government beaurocrats and private interest users. For both Washington D.C. and Mexico City, there are potential pay-offs for under-cutting national sovereignties. In return for smuggling her peasants, her third world culture and illegal drugs into the United States, Mexico feeds off U.S. prosperity, corrupts foreign policy and drags American resources into her battle against NAFTA spawned poverty and organized crime. Washington elites hope for positions of power and privilege in a future globalist world order, while manipulating to preserve their indispensability in the present.
Self also powers liberal social movements. Abortion activism, for example, at its core, is simply an effort to convince women to choose one’s self-interests over another’s life, whether in the present or in the potential future. Indeed, the threat of pre-natal ultra-sound to the abortion industry is its ability to bring so-called potential life before a woman’s eyes in the present, making the choice for one’s self even more difficult.
Homosexual activism touts a similar philosophy of self – specifically its power to confuse pleasure with personal identity. When a man or woman succumbs to the deception of activist homosexual propaganda, they have surrendered to the lie that strong desires and/or powerful experiences determine who a person is. Following such logic could justify almost any destructive lifestyle and has.
The Biblical pronouncement that the desire for money is the root of all kinds of evil has its truth based in the power of the self as well. It is exemplified in our homes and in our communities. There is but one common lust behind everything from the glitz of the casino industry to the domination of our economy by communist China– money. Americans are willing to throw their hard earned money at the gambling industry while it spontaneously feeds elevated rates of alcohol abuse, prostitution, drug abuse and violent crime. The justification is millions of dollars for gambling interests (including state governments) and the lure of painless riches for its prey.
Corporate greed is no different. Whether it is importing Chinese car parts or sea food, U.S. Corporations are lining up to help Americans become ever more dependent on the whims of our most powerful enemy. Tainted food or leaded toys don’t stand a chance next to a buyer’s lust for cheap prices or the millions of dollars to be made by corporate executives from selling our national self-sufficiency and independence.
The picture could be different if we chose the heavenly city over the earthly one. Coffee breaks might be shorter and employers might get a day’s work for a day’s wage. Full time nurturing of children in the home might become an honorable vocation again. It might be shameful to criminally insert one’s self into the United States ahead of honest people for self gain. Who knows, purity of character might even count in politics again.