The end of the world as we know it?

I don’t know about you, but I feel fine…

Elections are over and the people appear to have spoken in this certainly historic event, but how historic is it really? Certainly the U.S.A. has overcome a very dark chapter in it’s history, and helped to realize the dream of Martin Luther King Jr., or so one would think that Affirmative Action no longer needs to be compelled upon us.

In the first few days after the election, signs of racism reared its ugly head, as a few hateful people vandalized and protested over President-Elect Obama, just because of his skin color. Others have also shown fear towards Obama’s expected agenda that is expected to be very liberal and socialistic, as illustrated by a drop in stock prices the day after the elections. Many in the largely conservative state where I live have been out buying guns and ammo for fear that Obama will support initiatives to make them much harder to get; or possibly even try to take them away. Many also fear his socialistic programs and how they will affect the economy. I’ve even heard people go so far as to call Obama some kind of Anti-Christ. Of course I have a slightly different view of what/who is the ultimate Anti-Christ.

The big question I have is what can we really expect to change? Will we see the government stop spending billions more then it takes in? Will we see it become smaller, simpler, and more in favor of the people, rather then special interests? I don’t see how with Obama’s promised “Universal Health care” and the already 50+ Trillion in future obligations thanks to Medicare and Social Security; not to mention the friends he keeps that would cause anyone else to fail a top security FBI background check.

The last 8 years, with one of the most liberal Presidents we’ve probably seen since FDR’s “New Deal” (especially for a supposedly conservative Republican) we’ve seen:

* The largest new entitlement in decades — the prescription drug program
* Social engineering like “No Child Left Behind”
* Gutting of constitutional liberties in the name of “Homeland Security”
* Running-up vast deficits

Will Obama undo any of these? I doubt it. In fact I expect these things to only get further reinforced and promoted under Obama, and the now even more dominantly controlled Democratic Congress (they’ve had control for the last two years). Maybe we should have elected McCain? We’ll actually he supported most of these things too. In fact most politicians support the same thing: bigger and more intrusive government as promoted by the special interests that pay for their election campaigns.

Who really voted for Obama? Out of about 300 million U.S. citizens, about 2/3 are eligible to vote, but only about 65 million of them actually voted for Obama. Is that true representation, with only about 1/3 of eligible voters actually voting for the new President-Elect? Is Obama really what most people in the U.S.A. want, or is he just the guy who convinced 7 million more people to vote for him then the next closet Candidate? My question has always been, “How do you get the 1/3 of the population that rarely votes to come put in a protest vote for an alternative party, so that their voice may at least be measured in some way?” I really don’t care who they vote for, so long as they vote, even in protest so that we’d have some way to measure their discontent.

Despite all the doom and gloom that so many seem to think is just around the corner, and the fact that my vote for President sat along side just over 100 thousand others (less then 1% of the overall vote), I really don’t feel a need for panic (I also voted for a handful of republicans, and for the first time a Democrat – because I was too upset with the 700+ Billion bailout to vote for the republican incumbent who won anyway).

I survived the Clinton gun bans (it really didn’t ban guns, but rather cosmetic appearances and insignificant features), and bought my first guns when the ban was still in force. I live in an area that is booming economically, and were housing prices have actually gone up about 1% in the last six months. Why is all this? It’s called stability. We didn’t have unruly housing price increases fueled by risky government programs, we didn’t have a work force entirely dependent on a single industry that has been hit very hard, and we have a truly conservative grass roots base. Not to say we don’t have problems, but I get calls almost every week, off a nine month old resume posting, from recruiters asking me if I want to leave me cushy job for one that’s out of state.

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly have seen the signs that the economy has been weakening over the last couple of years (since the Democrats took majority control of Congress), and I do believe things could get much worse, especially depending on what Obama decides to do with his first priority of the economy.

The truth of it all is that the world is always changing, and often times that means some people have to find new jobs or even new careers. Other times is due to the constant threats of “wars, and rumors of wars” (JST Matthew 23-28). Despite what might go wrong, I try to remember the words of Christ that run rampant through the scriptures: “Fear not” for “the triumphing of the wicked is short“. Personally, I am not afraid.

We should be more focused on the positive things in this world, such as: even with Democrats having majority control of Congress, they still don’t have a supper majority that would allow for filibuster proof control; also, this control is only guaranteed for the next two years, when the people of this country – who after a long drawn out and highly televised election cycle have a much better idea of how to get involved early enough that they can truly make a difference – will have a chance to elect someone who truly supports them, instead of being left to choose between the lesser of evils.

On another positive note, at least as far as us traditional family supporters are concerned, the made up need for “gay rights” has had a very definite line draw in front of it. California for the second time has spoken out against same sex marriages, this time with an amendment to the states constitution, as dozens of other states have also done in the last few years.

Gas prices are down to their lowest this year, interest rates are once again at their lowest in history (although I don’t think that’s really such a good thing), stock prices are no longer over-inflated and some are even bargain priced. We can expect other prices to also come down as shipping and transportation costs also drop, and people lean up on their spending to hopefully start paying off all their debt. Some companies may even start making a prophet again as their expenses drop, and help with unemployment (although it still has a ways to go to hit the high of the mid 80’s and much further to hit that of the Great Depression). Many of the financial companies have also hopefully learned their lessons about risky lending practices which should also help them to become stronger in the long run (if the government doesn’t screw it up again).

“. . . see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” – Matthew 24:6.

– Posted By Seth Hollist

– Posted By S.J. Hollist