Further. Every. Day.

When we trade our freedom for security, do we lose both? Or is there a time and place where we can do that? Join us as we discuss the issue as we stray Further. Every. Day.

We often hear about the evils of Income Inequality, but is it actually evil? Americans are living in an increasingly prosperous nation, and as that prosperity grows, so does the income inequality. But the poor are living better than they ever had before, so is the inequality injustice, or something else. Join us as we explore Income Inequality as we stray Further. Every. Day.

Is Welfare Moral? If so, in what context?

First, what is “Welfare”?

In Webster's 1828 Dictionary Welfare meant: “Exemption from any unusual evil or calamity; the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government; applied to states.”

In 2021 Merriam-Webster will define Welfare as: “Aid in the form of money or necessities for those in need or : an agency or program through which such aid is distributed”

Do you see what happened here? We have changed the definition from the ordinary form of blessings from SOCIETY and civil government, to a government program.

Before we get too far into the weeds, we need to understand just what money is. It is an IOU. The fibrous paper with watermarks is simply an IOU that is being passed around person to person. The Federal Bank, a group of wealthy elites, are responsible for that IOU. In 1849, a $20 gold piece was worth about $20, as of this podcast it is worth $1139. We won't go into the horrendous FDR Policy of 1933 and the effects he had on the Great Depression today, but suffice it to say, in 1933, gold was also, artificially, $20 an ounce then. This sky rocketing cost is largely due to inflation and the detachment of the Dollar from the Gold Standard in the 1970s. What this means is if Grandpa had a savings account locked away in 1933 of $10,000, today it is worth $10,000. When it was stored in the bank in 1933, however, he could have bought a home roughly equivalent to today's $600,000 homes, or a Ford GT Supercar, or bought a yacht. Where did his wealth go? To the politicians and bankers. Robert Kiyosaki of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” fame, wrote in an article in 2016 that a Pew Research Study saw the Middle class had shrunk from 1971 to 2015 by 11% with the lower class growing by 4% and the Highest Class growing by 5% and Upper Middle by 2%.

https://www.richdad.com/4-wealth-stealing-forces-make-you-poorer

What is the primary cause of this? Printing money for Welfare Programs and other government spending. But if it helps the lower class, shouldn't we do it? Does it help the lower class? Or has it simply stolen from those who had and placed them into the lower class?

In an article from the Hill, we see that the current administration plans to give to families, by way of printing more money, “Tax Credits” for each child. Why don't they simply tax less instead of more? Because they can more easily print the money and still tax you. Who actually wins here?

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/559900-democrats-newest-scheme-to-hook-the-middle-class-on-government-cash

Time states in this article that the Top 1% have taken $50 Trillion from the Bottom 90% during Covid.

https://time.com/5888024/50-trillion-income-inequality-america/

Now, I may not agree with the Time's conclusions concerning the redistribution of wealth and how we got here, but there is chicanery afoot. The policies and rampant spending on special interests have sucked the wealth from the poor and middle class, just like Grandpa's $10,000 saved in the bank in 1933. We just haven't seen the incredible impact on the middle class and poor from this most recent Covid Debacle, yet. It is coming.

But what of the poor? How did we used to take care of these people? Is there an organization and structure with the capacity, the mandate even, to take care of the poor?

In America in the early 1800s, a French Philosopher named Alexis de Tocqueville noted that government programs were not compatible with and were virtually non-existant in free societies. He concluded: “Thus, they have to be created artificially, which is what associations alone can achieve” (Tocqueville 1840, 598).
Associations like the Church. De Tocqueville noted that the poor in America were taken care of by the middle class and rich through the Church Structure and other Social Fabrics.

What does the Bible say about Welfare?

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

Acts 20:35

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Proverbs 28:27

He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

James 2:14-24

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Are there conditions? Of course there are. 1 Timothy 5: 3-19 lays out conditions for widowhood status. This was a special type of welfare for a specific concern. We are to hold people accountable so that they may grow. We also are to be wise when giving. While we are not to allow someone to starve when we can otherwise help them, we are also not to provide someone with so much welfare that they become dependent. A leg up, and not a continual hand out so to speak.

So, is Welfare a Biblical Mandate? Yes. But we've seen how the Government handles Welfare and ultimately robs from those it is “serving”. If the church was not so focused on the next building project and perhaps more focused on providing for the Welfare of those around, we might see revival.

When China clamps down on the rights of Hong Kong citizens, strong arms Tiananmen Square remembrance groups, and greenlights organ harvesting, some interesting questions arise. Is there a higher moral standard than what is civically permissible? Is there such a thing as Truth and can the Truth be rewritten as China has attempted to do with Tiananmen Square? Does devaluing objective truth, devalue human beings? What has history and what do current events say? Join us as we discuss our cultures decay on Further. Every. Day.

Are we making good decisions with Social Media? Are we potentially doing more harm than good? Join us as we discuss this as our culture strays Further. Every. Day.

As promised, here are the notes and stories discussed in the podcast.

Due to filters, Photoshop, and man's propensity to compare oneself to others:

“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” the researchers reportedly wrote. Facebook also reportedly found that 14% of boys in the U.S. said Instagram made them feel worse about themselves.” https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/14/facebook-documents-show-how-toxic-instagram-is-for-teens-wsj.html



Social Media has many negative effects on youth, including academics.

“There was a negative and significant relationship between the overall use of social networks and academic performance of students. Therefore, it is imperative that the university authorities take interventional steps to help students who are dependent on these networks and, through workshops, inform them about the negative consequences of addiction to social networks.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6500070/

But it gets worse. An NCIB study shows a close link to exposure to sexual content and drug use. "The current and extant findings suggest that a common network exists for sexual-cue reactivity and drug-cue reactivity in groups with CSB and drug addictions, respectively. These findings suggest overlaps in networks underlying disorders of pathological consumption of drugs and natural rewards. While this study may suggest overlaps with substance-use disorders, further clinical studies are required to determine whether CSB should be categorized as an impulse-control disorder, within an obsessive-compulsive spectrum or as a behavioural addiction.” https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102419



Add to this, we are having privacy data breaches from these companies to unscrupulous nations like China. Personalized data can be used to target vulerable youth and this data is being treated very loosely by these companies. https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/15/ireland-probes-tiktoks-handling-of-kids-data-and-transfers-to-china/

Another common complaint is that these companies push sexualized content onto minors after an interest is shown by browsing history. Now, of course the algorithm is driven by engagement. That is what it was designed to do! But is pornography or sexually explicit material truly fit for the public view? What invariably happens? Innocents with no idea of what they are getting into fall prey to not just porn addiction but, often enough, trafficing as well. “The content shown on the for you page is set based on previous searches, as well as the content types most often viewed or that a user spends most time watching. The more the user lingered on sexual content, the more sexual content was shown in the for you page - despite the users age being set in their profile. TikTok said they don't currently differentiate between videos served to adult and children accounts, but were working on a new filter tool for younger accounts.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9970435/TikToks-algorithm-promoting-sexual-content-children-young-13.html



“While we have commended TikTok for making significant safety improvements over the last year, it is clear that TikTok needs to do much more to protect minors from exposure to sexual content and pornographic websites. We have been pressing on TikTok to proactively moderate content because even our own research confirms what the Wall Street Journal found: under an account we created as a 13-year-old, we were easily able to find videos promoting OnlyFans, as well as other pornography and prostitution sites despite the fact that this type of material is against TikTok's Community Guidelines,” said Lina Nealon, director of corporate and strategic initiatives for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.” The thing some people don't understand is, this is how grooming often starts. Through exposure to this content, and the content's creators, on social media.
https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/tiktok-exposes-kids-to-sexual-content/

Now some may just say: “Well only fans are just consenting adults exchanging money for art… Well, according to this article: “Just two weeks ago, 101 Members of Congress sent a letter to US Department of Justice demanding an investigation into OnlyFans for reports of child sex abuse material and sex trafficking. Journalists shared insider information that the FBI opened a “sprawling” investigation into the financial activity and wide array of potential crimes of the multi-billion dollar company and its owners.”
https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/onlyfans-criminal-behavior/

These are not individuals, these are multi-billion dollar companies pimping children.

9/11 was a tragedy and on the 20th Anniversary, we have watched the colossal failure of the current administration to successfully resolve the conflict. With that said, we abort more Americans in one weekend than we lost on 9/11. With a new Heartbeat Bill, is it time to celebrate the passage of the Bill or is it time to rally and push for more? Let's talk about that as we stray Further. Every. Day.

Does America have a responsibility to her own citizens in Afghanistan? Did we even affect the culture there? What about our allies? Will Israel see a more complicated and violent geopolitical struggle in the near future? The nation of Afghanistan is more of a threat now that we have left the Taliban billions of dollars in military infrastructure? Our own allies are condemning our actions. What do Christians have to say about this? Should we even be involved in politics or are we supposed to simply stay out of our governing structure? Join us as we explore these topics on Further. Every. Day.

Is Larry Elder the “Black Face” of White Supremacy as the LA Times would say? Is re-segregation a step forward or backward in how the nation views melanin-ated individuals? Are there objective realities and truths that we should test not only in schools, but in the sciences? Or is reality graded on a curve as it is now graded in Oregon public school districts? Join us for the discussion as we laugh and weep. Bring popcorn because what we are watching is a once in a lifetime spectacle: The Suicide of the West unfolds before our eyes as we stray Further. Every. Day.

Would you forgive a terrorist who raped and murdered your family members? Does forgiveness mean absolution? Or should there still be consequences? What does the Bible say about this sort of thing? Boko Haram is falling apart in Nigeria and though the news is not covering it, this is affecting so many hurt families who want justice are being asked for not just mercy but a reprieve from the consequences of their crimes. What would you do?

It would seem that America's nation building experiment of two decades in Afghanistan has collapsed. Is this due to a failure in man's effort? Or is it because we did not look at the heart of man and take into account human nature? Capitalism and Representative government are just products of a culture that follows Christ, not the source of the good therein. These things do not provide righteousness, they flow from it. Should we have looked harder at making disciples in Afghanistan? It's easy to Monday morning quarterback this issue, but maybe we should take a look at this tragedy and reconsider how we devote our resources on this Earth for the future.