The Real Reactionaries in our Midst

Methodist Circuit Riders - Agents of Progress

According to Wikipedia “reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state (the status quo ante) in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is radical”. Liberals and leftists, who love labels, are fond of characterizing Christian conservatives as reactionary.

Now the problem I have in agreeing with leftist on this score is that it assumes Christian conservatives desire to preserve the past against the possibilities of a better tomorrow, fashioned by self-proclaimed “progressives”. In matter of fact, all true followers after Jesus Christ take up our crosses daily with the objective of lifting mankind up out of his fallen condition, and leading him to a better future under the governance of our resurrected Master in a restored creation. There is little about the present that any true Christian wishes to preserve. Verily, Apostle Paul wrote that not only Christians, “but the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” for the fulfillment of God’s plan. A proper understanding of history is - 1. God created all things out of nothing; all of it good; 2. Good creation has been subjected to “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21) by means of sin entering the world through man’s disobedience to God; 3. God is going to restore all things to perfection, including human relations, through the agency of His Son, Who is Savior.

Now, Jesus is seated, at present, in heaven at the right hand of God, Who has granted Jesus authority – headship - over all creation. Under His headship, Christians are to be Christ’s body – the church – here on earth as Jesus executes God’s plan to restore all things. Modern Christians, then, are busy (like Methodist circuit riders of old) about making progress for the kingdom of God, not seeking to preserve some illusionary status quo.

The real reactionaries in our midst are the misled personages inspired by flawed ideologies which would restore some primitive, mythical status quo. Environmentalists imagine a past where man as hunter-gatherer lived in harmony with nature. Hedonists imagine an idyllic biological evolution that forged our sexual impulses, impulses crying out to be experienced; impulses repressed by Christian morality; impulses in need of restoration to rightful dominance in our lives. Socialists, instructed by Marx, suppose that man evolved, like apes, to be natural communalists, but notions of private property (aided and abetted by Christian teachings) ruined the class-less paradise that socialists hope to restore.

Who Says God Has Poor Judgment?

This is not child abuse?

I don't know about you the reader, but I've heard the charge that if God really cared about humanity, He wouldn't have limited Himself to involvement in human affairs way back in the days of ancient Israel and during the time of the Roman Empire, He'd be doing stuff now.

Well, as the People's Cube sagely observed, if Jesus were born  today, the results would be catastrophic - either His birth in a drafty manger would prompt a state seizure of baby Jesus on the grounds his parents are unfit, or the plight of the destitute family would prompt a fusillade of accusations from the Left against the heartlessness of reactionaries around the world who deny the "right" of every man, woman and child to free, government supplied health care and affordable housing.

And think about how modern DNA testing would make life unbearable for Joseph and the courts - how to prove who's Jesus biological father is for purposes of extracting child support payments?

The Great Recession: What Really Caused It?

Hey pal - want to get rich on real estate?

Not disposed to permit the truth to undermine an opportunity to score political points, the political party, and its allies, who coveted re-capturing the White House in 2008 were not about to lay the blame for the onset of the Great Recession that began in 2007-2008 at the feet of the most deserving - the American middle and upper-middle class [see "What Caused This Terrible Recession?"]. No indeed, their votes were needed.

Now, quietly, behind the scenes, the truth emerges - in a December 5, 2011 study by the New York Federal Reserve titled, "'Flip This House': Investor Speculation and the Housing Bubble" it is revealed that it was speculative "investors" in residential real estate - meaning, every American who could afford to buy a home with prospect for appreciation - who "played a very important role in the housing downturn by defaulting in large numbers" when the party (helped along by high oil prices) came to an end:

•Investor shares of home purchases roughly doubled between 2000 and 2006.
•At the peak of the boom in 2006, over a third of all U.S. home purchase lending was made to people who already owned at least one house.
•In 2007-2009, investors were responsible for more than a quarter of seriously delinquent mortgage balances nationwide.

Moreover, in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida:

•While investors were responsible for one third of all home purchases nationwide in 2006, this number is approximately 45 percent in these four states.
•Furthermore, investors with three or more properties constituted 20 percent, which is triple their share from 2000.
•In the years following the bubble burst, investors were responsible for more than a third of delinquent balances in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada.

Moreover, this Federal Reserve study fails to account for Americans who were investors" by dint of flipping their primary residences.

Of special note above is that "Investor shares of home purchases roughly doubled between 2000 and 2006". Notice how nicely this coincides with 9/11 and the subsequent collapse/stagnation of the stock market. In short, yuppies saw their dreams of lavish retirement threatened in the wake of 9/11 and placed their bets in the best safe haven they could think of - residential real estate (see "14,164.53 - The Genuine "Most Important Number in the World""].


Sources for this post include: "Investor Speculation and the Housing Bubble", National Center for Policy Analysis