“Competition is a sin.”
John D. Rockefeller.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johndrock164132.html
Hello Everyone,
I have a confession and an apology to make. I have not been writing lately because I was recently chastened or disciplined by the Lord. I have recently been promoting myself a lot on this blog, which had originally been meant to discuss and praise God, His Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and God’s Holy Spirit. I have sincerely apologized to the Lord for doing this and I apologize to all my readers for doing this. Now is not the time for meaningless self promotion. As Christians, we should be spreading the Word of God, not the word of world. I am more than happy to share my work and my friends’ works with my readers, but I noticed all my posts so far were written to please God first. However, I also realized a small part of me still wanted recognition from them. This blog first and foremost was dedicated to write about the things Jesus Christ wanted me to write about and so it will be rededicated to this purpose again. That is not to say the previous posts are incorrect, but I was writing them to spread the truth AND also to get “my name out there” so to speak. I will now dedicate them to writing exactly what Jesus wants me to write about and to spread the Word of God and to cover any issues or anything else Jesus wants me to cover. If the previous posts helped my friends, readers, and any others, then so be it, but I should not be looking for recognition for myself.
With this being said, I recently had an interesting experience starting earlier this week and onwards. Last Tuesday night, I was feeling pressured by the cares of this world. Trying to finish my thesis film on schedule, looking for part time work, trying to pay back my student loans on time. and waiting for a part for my CPAP (Sleep apnea) breathing machine after four previous mistakes by the supply company. I was very upset with the Lord, because I did not feel He was doing much to help me with these worldly pressures I have been faced with. I was getting upset so instead of approaching the Lord with thanksgiving for the things He have and will provide for me, I decided to approach the Lord with dissatisfaction and said “Lord, You need to work faster because my patience is wearing thin and if You can’t deliver, then I am going to have to take matters upon myself.”
The next day, I was struck with a terrible cold and I had to stay in bed most of the day. I could not get out of bed until 11:00 a.m. Usually, I would be up and ready by 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. the latest since I have not found work yet. As I was lying in bed, I received a call from one of the subjects I was hoping to film and he agreed to do it and put me on the phone to make a date to interview him with his secretary. I was able to get two definite dates down immediately. Then, a little while later, the mail came and the postman rang my doorbell. The package with the part for my CPAP machine had arrived and it was the correct part. I realized what God was trying to say through my cold. He was reminding me He is God and is ALL POWERFUL. This is going to be a very important term for my blog today, because there are many powers in the world today, but one of the greatest powers in the world today is money or rather the influence or possession of money. In simplest terms, the love of money is one of the most driving forces in today’s world, especially the economy.
As many of you have probably already seen, the Occupy Wall Street movement has now spread from New York City to the rest of the world. Many other protestors are now joining with the same goal of financial reform. However, their goals are not entirely clear and some of the protestors mentioned “spreading the wealth”, which is a vague phrase, because whose wealth will be spread around remains uncertain. For now, it seems to be the major corporations of the world. I met two supporters of the Occupy movement and I saw they were handing out a socialist newspaper. This didn’t surprise me as I knew this movement had a mix of people from different ideologies including socialism. Because some of them do have far leaning ideologies, I do not support their goals, because I know these far leaning ideas (whether to the right or left) usually leads to dictatorships. Not everyone in the movement has these ideas, but nonetheless, the movement right now seems have those that do and I cannot support those ideas. However, I do sympathize with the situation of most of the people in the movement. They are young college students who cannot find work due to this economy. They have been called lazy and maybe that applies to a few, but not the movement as a whole. I know what it is like to be out of college and looking for work as this is my situation right now. Finding jobs today are not as easy as they were before. This video is an example of this point:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8580058
However, a friend recently told me when the movement started to gain momentum in Zuccotti Park, there were some people who looked down on the protestors from their office windows and drank champagne to mock them. This is an ignorant act, because lately, I have noticed a change in the way people treat each other. There are some who have jobs and provide for themselves and their families, which is perfectly normal, but some of them tend to look down on those who do not have jobs. I have friends where their own relatives surprisingly treat their not so lucky or blessed family members this way. ”Spread my work ethic” is their slogan. Here is a video of what I am talking about:
I do agree with Mr. Whittle that survival skills should be necessary, but his conclusion that “corporations are people too” shows his misinformation about corporate America or rather the “owners” of corporate America. Yes, the people who work under these corporations are usually pretty good and decent people who work hard. I am not disputing this, but the CEOs of corporations such as Monsanto not only treat others unfairly, but the kind of products they give their customers are GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and can cause a variety of illnesses. This is illegal and the CEOs of Monsanto are still managing to buy up more farm land that will grow their seeds. Here is a video by Mike Adams the Health Ranger explaining this:
Obviously, putting people away in a cabin for three and a half days as Mr. Whittle suggests does not sound like a solid plan. This not a man versus the elements situation. This way of thinking is futile and for a very simple reason. Our economy is imploding. Yes, soon our paper currency known as the dollar will be devalued. What evidence do I have to prove this? How about the recent economic turmoil in Italy and Greece? Do you honestly think that nations that are suffering economically such as these are not affecting our economy as well? Don’t forget that the world is now a “global village.” What happens in one country affects most or all of the other countries worldwide. Here is a link to an article talking about some of the worries concerning Greece:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120317-701189.html
The economic system we have today is not capitalistic, but rather corporatist. Capitalism and corporatism are two different ideologies according to the New Oxford American dictionary. Here are their definitions along with the definition of the word, “oligarchy.”:
capitalism |ˈkapətlˌizəm|noun. An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
corporatism |ˈkôrp(ə)rəˌtizəm|noun. The control of a state or organization by large interest groups. DERIVATIVES: corporatist adjective & noun
oligarchy |ˈäliˌgärkē; ˈōli-|noun ( pl. -chies). A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution : the ruling oligarchy of military men around the president.• a state governed by such a group : the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century.• government by such a group.DERIVATIVESoligarchic |ˌäliˈgärkik; ˌōli-| adjectiveoligarchical |ˌäliˈgärkikəl; ˌōli-| adjectiveoligarchically |ˌäliˈgärkik(ə)lē; ˌōli-| adverbORIGIN late 15th cent.: from Greek oligarkhia (probably via medieval Latin).USAGE See usage at aristocracy .
Right now, the big banks and some major corporations who own this country work with the federal government to abuse the people of this country, which is what makes it a corporatist economy with an oligarchical government behind it. Again, this is why I have a problem with the quote,”Corporations are people too.” While this is true in a sense, corporations are not run like regular businesses. For example, there is a phrase going around saying “It’s not what you know, but who you know that matters.” This could not be further from the truth. Of course what you know should matter more than or as much as who you know. However, many corporations breed this country club environment where their “friends” get promoted to positions they barely know anything about and thus to make up for this, the workers on the bottom are expected to perform more work, while the executives give themselves huge bonuses while the workers on the bottom are (borrowing from a Guyanese expression) “left without a pot to piss in.” In an independent business, especially a small business (such as “mom and pop shops”), things usually are run much differently. Independent businesses require that their employees have the skill to do their jobs so the business can stay afloat and in this economy, many have been forced to shut down or to be bought out by major corporations. Also, independent businesses provide more competition for big corporations and the more independent businesses there are, the more competition they face in the market. Unlike some corporations who do not care (or have to care) and can skirt the law and stay afloat thanks to their team of lawyers and “friends” in Washington, who are supported by their “campaign contributions.” Here is an article that gives an example of how big corporations work with the federal government, especially the justice system to skirt the law:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/business/in-shift-federal-prosecutors-are-lenient-as-companies-break-the-law.html?pagewanted=all
To put it more clearly, corporations are like the monolith that appear in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick. They seem big and imposing, which causes many to be in “awe” of their power, but their size does not always determine their quality of service. There are some corporations where the quality of service leaves much to be desired. For example, some major phone companies have been accused of providing inadequate service even though their rates keep going up. Here is an article about one story of their inadequate service:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/Phone-Companies-Grilled-Over-Bad-Service-115337124.html
Some major companies even refuse to hire the unemployed. Here is a link to a Time Magazine article about this:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2073520,00.html
In other words, bigger is not always better. We have seen various reports where CEOs end up giving themselves huge bonuses even though they claim their “big” corporations or banks are suffering and even when they collapse. Their new business motto has become “Every man for himself!” Here are a few links to various articles that cover this topic:
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10252581-ceos-rake-in-huge-sums-when-their-companies-go-bankrupt
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10pay.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2043429,00.html
http://www.salon.com/2012/03/14/greed_fatigue_and_mf_global/singleton/
There has also been the arrival of various “easy money” schemes. which closely mirror ponzi schemes. Many of these schemes are designed as pyramids. They start out with people who first take the offer and recruit others to sell products (sometimes online) for various companies. The more people they recruit under them, the more money they get. The same is true for the people they recruit. However, there is a flaw in this plan. Not everyone can get rich, because there are those who have to be at the bottom of the pyramid in order to sustain those at the top. This sounds almost like the structure of our economy. This is completely against the teachings of Jesus Christ. This survival of the fittest model of our economy eradicates kindness, compassion, and most of all love from our society and replaces it with the love of money and power.
Sometimes, on the news, there are those people who say that those who detest the way this economy is run should go out and find jobs and quit complaining. There is one major flaw with their way of thinking. GOD is rendering His Judgement on this nation and one out of many reasons is our love of money. Therefore, our love of money (which is the root of all evil) is one of the many sins that have brought God’s Judgement upon this nation. These people do not seem to understand that there are a banking elite that have enslaved this nation (see my post, Their Time Has Come) and have turned our free market capitalistic economy into a corporatist one where only a few major corporations have the most influence and buying power. They are mostly multinational corporations and do not pay corporate taxes, especially since most of them have no allegiance to this country. This is what is called an oligarchy, which is the power to rule by a few. Here is an article that talks about the tax evasion practices of some multinational corporations:
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2E8E59LZ20120305?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
With the economy’s current model, people on the bottom of the pyramid scheme are the real losers and end up becoming “wage slaves.” So, the workers who laughed at the Occupy Wall Street protestors and drank champagne in front of their windows to show off their rich lives are also ” wage slaves” like the rest of us. Their way of delusional thinking that everything will be just fine and will work out for them will soon be put to the test. The best way to describe their futility in their way of thinking is with a metaphor. Two slaves are receiving lashes from their so called “masters” and one slave turns to the other and says, “Ha! I got less lashes than you!” Of course, the other slave is going to look bewildered by his ridiculous remark seeing as they are both slaves suffering at the hands of their so called “owners.” As I mentioned before, I believe that the collapsing economy is a Judgement by God. He is handing us over to our own avarice (greed).
This nation is under God’s judgement. A message was given by God to a friend of friend. He asked God about building a shelter to protect him and his family from any civil unrest that may occur due to the collapsing economy and God responded to him “What shelter can man build to protect him from the Wrath and Judgement of God?” His answer was nothing. Nothing. That is exactly what this and any other nation is without God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Nothing can protect us from the Judgement of God, EXCEPT THE POWER OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH.
According to Matthew 6: 24 (King James Version), Jesus says “No man serve two masters: for he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Here is a link to the NIV version:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=cannot+serve+two+masters&t=NIV&sf=5
In the King James version, which seems to be the most accurate and literal translation of the Word of God, Jesus warned us about not being able to serve Mammon AND Him. This is very interesting, because Jesus could have easily referenced greed, but chose to use the name of the god or rather demon of seeking personal wealth (greed). Jesus personified this desire as being influenced by a wicked spirit rather than something that is self driven. Jesus is doing what the Word of God does, He exposes the works not only of the physical realm, but the influence the spiritual realm has over these works. Here are some links that talk about Mammon not just as a greedy desire, but also as a living being:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3126&t=KJV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammon
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mammon
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mammon
Mammon is still playing a role today in the money systems of this world and those who feel they are living the good life are serving him completely and not following Jesus. Jesus did not promise us the riches of this world, but the riches of another world. These spiritual riches will be given out when Jesus has taken the throne of this world from Satan soon. Jesus’ Kingdom is coming soon and the reliance upon the “system” will come to an end and faith in God, His Son, and His Holy Spirit is the most important thing that will sustain those who are a part of Jesus’ coming Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
