So Egypt has a new beginning. Mubarak as agreed to step down. Tunisia had a new beginning just weeks ago. The new nation of South Sudan is being created as you read this. All around the world it seems that there are births to new rulership (kingdoms) being created by uprisings against those who feed off corruption. As former Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said, “Millions of people are protesting against the poverty to which they are subjected to, against the rule of tyrants, against the submission of their country to world powers” And we cheer when their gravy train of oppression finally collapses.
This is either great news or the worst news imaginable, depending on what side you find yourself on. If you are one of the poor downtrodden masses it’s a great sign of hope. If you’re one of the rich corrupt people taking advantage of the former it’s a full tilt disaster. While that seems most obvious, it bears pointing out because determining what side you’re actually on is actually not so simple.
On one hand, here in Canada we’ve watched over a few generations as the 20% of people who held 80% of the wealth were quietly whittled down to 3% of the people holding 90% of the wealth. So the vast majority of us (myself included) are growing increasingly wary of the few who seem to growing ever richer by manipulating opportunity to their own account. And our sensitivity to abuse grows by the day.
So when we see things like the ‘debt retirement charge’ on our Hydro bills continue (even though the money collected to date exceeds the debt at the time of implementation) and government (represented by Dalton McGuinty) tells us it’ll stay till 2018 (no explanation) we get angry. That’s unaccountable cash costing us as taxpayers $1Billion/yr, which goes with the outlandish spending at the OLG (including dozens of vehicle leases in excess of 40K/yr!). And the ridiculous consultant fees in the hundreds of thousands PER at Health Ontario (that after the E-Health scandal which cost us a billion $) totaling 224M$, including charges to consult on consulting charges (yes, that’s right) and the 56M$ we paid in severance to people keeping their jobs. And this is just a few examples from my home province of Ontario.
Put that together with the secret deals Dalton made with Samsung ($6.6 billion, untendered) and the largest tax grab in provincial history (you can pick between the OHIP premium and the HST) and you begin to get a pretty strong impression that we’re being taken to the cleaners by the very people we elect to watch over our interests. Kind of makes you feel like the downtrodden masses, doesn’t it?
To protect our standard of living in the face of the rising cost of (you can chose between the phrases ‘taxes and user fees’ and the word ‘corruption’) all we as helpless downtrodden masses can do is limit our costs. So we relax our grip of ‘buy local’ and spend a bit more at Walmart. Somehow we forget that we as the developed world have all we have because the things we consume are within our price reach - but that’s only so because the costs we pay don’t include pay rates to those producing them that reflect the same quality of life that we enjoy. When we pay more (ostensively allow a higher quality of life to those producing them) we have no way of ensuring that the $ get to the right people. (Do you really think that it costs 150$ to make a pair of sneakers in China?). So we inadvertently support the same dysfunctional behaviors (hoarding wealth and corruption) that we chafe under ourselves and cheer when we see it crumbling.
The ancient Persian King Darius (whose kingdom has long since crumbled) once prophesied (somewhere around 500BC) regarding Christ, “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.” (Daniel 6:26). The angel Gabriel confirmed this in speaking to Mary when he said “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33).
Changing one dictator for another, or a corrupt politician for another is hardly hopeful. Different, yes, but hopeful – no. I’ll take the ancient promise of a different kingdom, run not by man but by God, any day of the week. There’s your only real hope. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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