Presidential Debate Obama / Romney: What President Obama Should Have Said

I am a firm believer that democratic ideas are the solution to the current economic problems. That democrats have the solution to economic problems is certainly not always the case. To articulate the democratic ideas on the economy, this is what President Obama should have said.

During the first debate session, Romney and Obama went back and forth on reducing taxes for businesses with Romney stating the 50% of American workers work for successful small companies whose taxes would go up under President Obama’s plan. These companies, Romney strongly asserted, are the job creators. Romney then re-iterated the Republican talking point that the Obama administration is penalizing success. To this line of reasoning Obama had no answer.

Here is the correct answer which the President could have made. I would have said the following:

The problem with Governor Ronmey's one size fits all, supply side solution is that he states what appears on the surface to be a valid point but is simply bad policy in the current economic environment. Today, corporations small and large are holding onto a record level of cash. To lower tax rates on these companies will give companies better after taxes cash on hand, and only add to the record cash on hand that companies are already not spending on growth and hiring. The problem is that companies are not spending because they do not have enough demand from consumers to grow their businesses by spending more money. The reason for this is because Republican policies over the last 30 years, supply side economics, have funneled money to the top income brackets and left the middle-class squeezed and buried. Therefore, in order to increase demand for goods and services and grow the economy from the middle out ALL tax decreases need to be focused on the middle-class. We are in a economic situation, caused by republican supply side blind-ideology, which has consistently reduced the buying power of the middle-class. Therefore, let me say this again 100%, ALL, tax relief in my proposal is focused on the middle class . Again, to grow the economy from the inside out, we must focus ALL our tax relief on the middle-class so that they can energize economic growth through increased consumption.

Discipleship – Intro: Discipleship and the Need for a Spiritual Revolution

SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION
When I first started writing publically about the church, I started this blog, “21^st Century Reformation”. That was 2003 or about 10 years ago. In those years, the emphasis was simply to take seriously the teachings of Jesus and to apply them in a practical way. I was pastoring a church and later participated in a church plant. Both communities evolved into something that, in light of my reading of the scripture, did not look like the early church. Many of my friends encouraged me to meet people half way and to be more “realistic”. The last few years I have tried that half-measured approach for myself, and I have found this road does not make me happy. Therefore, today I return to my first love and am beginning a new quest to walk a road of continual spiritual revolution. Personally, my heart will only find its home in the midst of a community committed to this spiritual revolution.  Let the journey and the struggle begin anew.

God Plan for Human Community Remains the Same

⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer⁴³ Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all those who had believed^]were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵ and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. ⁴⁶ Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

And again in Acts chapter 4, the church is described as “³² And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. ³³ And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. ³⁴ For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales ³⁵ and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

The biblical description of the early church depicts a community that is both spiritual and revolutionary. Can this be said of the church today? Is the church spiritual? Martin Lloyd-Jones, one of the greatest preachers of the 20^th Century, described the church’s greatest problem as “superficiality”. Is not superficiality in opposition to spirituality? Spirituality seeks to heal what really ails us. A healthy spiritual community develops a spiritual program that helps others find this healing, this freedom, this truly happy and heavenly quality of life. Are today’s Christians distinctly more spiritually healthy and beautiful than the non-Christian? Are our behaviors and attitudes distinct?  Would the on-looker describe the peace and endurance of the modern Christian as stunning and awesome? If not, then, we are not yet spiritual.

Likewise, would anyone describe the church of today as revolutionary? The early church lived communally, “had all things in common”. “There was not a needy person among them, for all who had lands or houses would sell them…and they would distribute to each as any had need”. Does this describe the church today? Is not the church a staunch defender of the status quo? Is the church meeting the material needs of the world in a revolutionary way? Is materialism a problem in the church as it is in the world? Is simplicity the norm? Is our generosity extravagant? Is the church revolutionary like the early church was?

By revolutionary, I mean a community that is living by an entirely different set of ethical rules than the world around us. To be revolutionary always requires a revolutionary relationships with material goods and a revolutionary concern for others. This is exactly what is described in the early church. Plainly, poverty and inequality is a problem in the world and always has been. This problem of inequality was solved in the revolutionary lifestyle of the early church. We cannot call ourselves a biblical community unless we are similarly living a revolutionary lifestyle.

The church is neither radically spiritual nor radically revolutionary, and, unless we become both spiritual and revolutionary, we cannot be the solution to the human problem. Yet, this is exactly what it means that Jesus is the Christ and that we are His disciples. Jesus came to solve the human problem of injustice and man’s inhumanity to man, and this solution is to be shining forth in the church.

What the world needs is a spiritual revolution. Our spirituality must set us truly free, and this freedom must express itself in a distinctly Christlike ethical response to the world we encounter. Our world is drowning in injustice and in need of a people free enough to make personal material sacrifices which meet this injustice with compassion and empathy.

The early church is a description of the prototype of the church as fashioned by the disciples of Jesus. These men and women, discipled in the footsteps of Jesus, lived radically distinct lives filled with spiritual power and material generosity. The early church lived in a state of spiritual revolution bringing a revolutionary lifestyle of worship, prayer and simplicity to a world filled with violence and poverty. Until the church looks like the early church, we will not change the world like the early church changed the world. Until the church makes disciples like Jesus made disciples, the church will not look like the community of the disciples of Jesus.

It is not time to move the deck chairs on the Titanic. It is time for a spiritual revolution.

As Clinton sounds interest rate alarm, a Warning Against a Do-Nothing Congress

As Clinton sounds interest rate alarm, will reason prevail?
The cost of politics as usual is very high. If Congress takes the stance that the best politics is to assure that the other guys fail, real people will get hurt.

Fiddling at the Fire by Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate

After compiling all the elements of the future perfect storm leading to potential global depression, Roubini states the cause:

Ineffective governments with weak leadership are at the root of the problem. In democracies, repeated elections lead to short-term policy choices. In autocracies like China and Russia, leaders resist the radical reforms that would reduce the power of entrenched lobbies and interests, thereby fueling social unrest as resentment against corruption and rent-seeking boils over into protest. But, as everyone kicks the can down the road, the can is getting heavier and, in the major emerging markets and advanced economies alike, is approaching a brick wall. Policymakers can either crash into that wall, or they can show the leadership and vision needed to dismantle it safely.

This confirms the fundamental truth that problems can be solved. All problems have solutions, but, as is so often the case, the primary players' political agendas trump reason. Fiddling at the Fire by Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate

Ugandans react with anger to Kony video | Al Jazeera Blogs

Ugandans react with anger to Kony video | Al Jazeera Blogs

Violence Returns to Iraq - democracy and Military Action

Wave of attacks kills dozens amid Iraq's upheaval

The lesson here is to reassess how democracy promotion works. We cannot expect to be successful by enforcing democracy via military action. The entire endevor may prove to have been a total waste of lives and money.

Lesson learned: Empire isn't a good long term strategy for prosperity.

Bias Justice in Alabama: Executive arrested under Alabama immigration law

Mercedes-Benz executive arrested under Alabama immigration law

A basic premise of justice is that justice must be without bias. Laws cannot favor the poor or the rich. No one is above the law. This principle of justice, obviously, is not understood by the good people of Alabama where a law is being reconsidered because it has been found to possibly harm rich folk.

Would a false arrest of a spanish speaking tax paying maid lead to the over turn of a law in Alabama or must the person falsely arrested be rich? The answer is obvious. Poor brown skinned people have been complaining about this law and others like it for months, BUT, as it turns out, the long arm of the law is only comfortable reaching downward.

This case is a perfect example of bias and, therefore, an unjust law which should be overturned regardless of who is being falsely arrested.

US Lawmaker Blocking Obama’s Pick for Ambassador to Russia

US lawmaker blocking Obama’s pick for ambassador

Michael McFaul is the most clear eyed observer of Russia on the planet. He has legitimate pro-democracy street cred. If anyone thinks Mike will be fooled by Putin, they are either ignorant of Dr. McFaul's history or they simply are being disingenuous. You choose.

Is Modern Capitalism Sustainable? - Kenneth Rogoff - Project Syndicate

Is Modern Capitalism Sustainable?

As we think about "The Kingdom as Justice", it is helpful to take a self-critical look at our understanding of the world's political economy. What about our political-economic system is unjust? How are people and future generations harmed by a lack of care for the economy, the environment and our debt burden? Is it not unjust to leave a world of inequality, pollution, debt and rising health care costs to our children to fix? Certainly God cares about the well being of our children and has his sights on the well being of our children's children. Can inequality continue to go unchecked? The question is how do we fix these problems that are quickly evolving into crisis due to our petty self-interests and our lack of intellectual rigor.

In the above article, Kenneth Rogoff begins to ask questions concerning the sustainability of capitalism in its current form. We too need to look objectively and without bias (especially religious bias) at how to solve these policy problems which are at the heart of the problems of injustice in God's world.

John Rawls - Required Reading

John Rawls

It seems only reasonable to me that such great thinkers like John Rawls should be required reading for all Christian leaders AND that the church should be a central place for public reasoning.

Did the Poor Cause the Crisis?

It is hard to resist posting an article like this one. Justice compels me.

Been meditating on justice a lot lately.

Why Greece is so Important - Bailouts and Haircuts

Discussion of Greece proposing the possibility of 50 percent haircut on debt is a very important news item. For a Christian blogger to speak so much about economics might seem strange to some but consider 20th Century Europe's history of financial meltdowns.

First, I think Europe needs to take action to allow peripheral countries an orderly default. The longer the global community waits the greater the risk. My understanding of an orderly default is basically an agreed upon haircut. Banks holding Greek debt agree to write the value down and Greece agrees to pay the new payments on the new debt levels. Though a 50pc haircut seems drastic think about the options of more austerity.

Populations like Greece at some point will rebel against further austerity. Political unrest in Europe is the worst case scenario. Unrest will likely lead to a populist call for a disorderly default. The contagion of such action is completely unpredictable and likely to be more catastrophic than Lehman.

Why is this important? 1. Good policy and orderly cooperative action can avoid total catastrophe. It is vital to realize that while a natural catastrophe like a Tsunami cannot be avoided Financial Tsunamis can be avoided. The math can be done to make a balanced bailout and haircut options that equally effects banks and public services but protects all of us from wholesale disaster. As Christians, we ought to call for balanced sacrifice and wise solutions to avoid undue suffering. This is the compassionate and wise thing to do. 2. Human nature and the realities of life can cause suffering people to do horrible things. Poverty and economic collapse can lead to political instability. These things have happened before and it is unwise to believe that the 21st century is any different than the 20th.

India's Identity Project

With National Database, India Tries to Reach the Poor - NYTimes.com

This is a great article about the India Identity Project. This is a project to register all Indians. India is notorious for leaving its despertely poor behind as it "develops". This project is an aim to monitor and measure the lives of the poor and be able to get these suffering people into the benefits process. The aim is to lower significantly corruption and the cost of India's bearocracy. This is great use of technology to move development forward.

It is also headed by the author of Imagining India, Nandan M. Nilekani. Imagining India is on my bed stand waiting to be read.

Currently Reading @ 21st Century Reformation

My current reading list on the side bar is a bit outdated I need to update BUT here is what I am reading:

1. I just finished    
The Bottom Billion - Paul Collier

2. I am now reading 
Development as Freedom - Amartya Sen



Both are fantastic...highly recommended.

Development or Charity

The Christian Obligation to Be Generous to the Poor

Of all the teachings of Jesus certainly laboring for the well being of the poor is of the most central. Any student of Jesus has to be struck by the ethic of sacrificial love and extravagant giving. Consider this teaching recorded in Luke 12:

29 And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In my own contemplation of Jesus, one of the most compelling aspects of Jesus is that more than anyone else Jesus challenges me to serve the poor. Many other passages of the New Testament challenge the follower of Jesus concerning our obligation to generosity. 1 John 3:16-18 commands the Christians, 

16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Clearly, the Christian is to live by different set of values than those who are not followers of Jesus. As Christians, we are to use any discretionary resources to alleviate the suffering of others as opposed to our own luxury and pleasure. While we are called to serve the poor and suffering of the world, the question remains how ought we to go about doing this. 

Many churches have food pantries. Many churches give to emergency relief funds. Is this the limit of our obligation? Are we merely to give charity and supply for the destitute emergency needs.

While we are commanded as followers of Jesus to demonstrate our faith in the love of God by being generous, we are often troubled by the observation that often charity in the form of aid is ineffective. This observation that often charity might actually do harm is quite demotivating. The question of how we are to help and serve the destitute can be answered if we consider the difference between development and charity. 

To help understand the difference between development and charity or aid, I will make a few definitions. These definitions are not meant as being necessarily technically accurate but simply to be used as tools to help focus our efforts. 

By charity, I mean giving materially to meet the immediate needs of people. The food pantry is a great example of charity. Currently, the world is seeing a famine in the Horn of Africa which may be the worst of our generation. Certainly, in these situations charity is absolutely necessary. These people need emergency aid and to stand by and watch such suffering is cold and inhumane. Nonetheless, wisdom compels us to think deeper about what we can do to help poor communities. 

Wisdom compels us to consider the idea of development. Development is the process of growing a person or a community’s capability to provide freedom from suffering for themselves. Development respects the agency of the individual. For example, about one billion people on the planet lack the capability to provide for themselves and their family’s nutrition. In these societies, men and women lack the education or the resources to generate value which can be consistently transacted for food. In these communities, the individuals lack the freedom to avoid malnourishment. The community is underdeveloped to the extent that its citizens lack opportunity. Our obligation is to assist in developing the capacity in these communities to give opportunity to their people. When we can provide such capacities through the application of wisdom and planning and resources, it is development that is our obligation. We are obligated not just to blindly give charity but to wisely assist in development. For example, charity might see the need for medicine while development sees the opportunity to develop a health care system. A health care system includes building nursing schools and for-profit hospitals. In such a system, businessmen build businesses, local nurses gain employment and local citizens gain access to health care. This example illustrates a few important differences between charity and development. 

1. Development requires leadership. Such a plan to develop, in this case, an improved health care system is a long term project. Intelligence is required to design a long-term plan. Emergency relief has its logistical difficulties but development of a health care system is far more complex. This involves the founding of schools and interaction with government agencies and educational institutions in the West. Such a plan is ambitious, but only such a plan for development actually brings prosperity and dignity to a community. Charity brings dignity to the giver while development brings dignity to the community being developed. 
2. Development requires long-term commitment. Jesus taught us that when we make a plan to obey Him, we must consider the size of the challenge. Development is a commitment that requires extensive resources: time, money and intelligence. The church is an extensive institution that is prepared to make just this type of commitment. Christians are not alone in their plans to assist the poor of the world. We are perfectly situated to make long-term, even multigenerational, commitments to other communities around the globe. 

The time has come for Christians to move beyond charity and consider our obligation to bring to the poor of the world actual development and dignity. 

The Answers from Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate

Is Capitalism Doomed? - Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate:

This is so important to minimize global suffering. What is required is political courage:

"The right balance today requires creating jobs partly through additional fiscal stimulus aimed at productive infrastructure investment. It also requires more progressive taxation; more short-term fiscal stimulus with medium- and long-term fiscal discipline; lender-of-last-resort support by monetary authorities to prevent ruinous runs on banks; reduction of the debt burden for insolvent households and other distressed economic agents; and stricter supervision and regulation of a financial system run amok; breaking up too-big-to-fail banks and oligopolistic trusts.
Over time, advanced economies will need to invest in human capital, skills and social safety nets to increase productivity and enable workers to compete, be flexible and thrive in a globalized economy. The alternative is – like in the 1930s - unending stagnation, depression, currency and trade wars, capital controls, financial crisis, sovereign insolvencies, and massive social and political instability."

Famine and Hope in the Horn of Africa - Jeffrey D. Sachs on the Famine in East Africa

Famine and Hope in the Horn of Africa - Jeffrey D. Sachs

It is discouraging how the West, both Europe and America, are ignoring the famine in the form of Africa. The Millennium Village Project is showing some hopeful strategies that the neighboring countries are attempting to use to make efforts more effective and the Islamic Development Bank is responding. Nonetheless, it appears to me that the catastrophe will be horrible if the west does not respond. Read more here

In Praise of Ban Ki-moon - Jeffrey Sachs

Ban Ki-moon and the Age of Sustainable Development

This is a pretty compelling story of the good work of the UN in the last 5 years.

Ban Ki-moon

The Human Problem and the Kingdom (Part 1)

In the last Discipleship 101 post, The Kingdom Solves the Human Problem - Intro, I introduced the revolutionary concept that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The human problem is met with the immediate availability of the Kingdom of heaven. The motto of Christianity that “Jesus is the Christ” means precisely that a new heavenly quality of life, which was previously unavailable to human beings, is now “at hand”. The kingdom is available. This is a revolutionary claim, and, to understand the true revolutionary content of this promise, this gospel, we must see with the human problem with God’s eyes. From God’s perspective, what is wrong with human life?

To understand God’s perspective on humanity, to see with God’s eyes, we must must accept one preeminent truth: God is a God of compassion. The living God is the defender of the weak. The second truth we must accept is like the first. This God of compassion has a global perspective. The living God sees the oppression and suffering of the world’s poor, and He hears their cry. To understand the kingdom of heaven and its promise, we must see with the eyes of God and feel with the love of God or we will miss the proper application of the kingdom of God. How can we live in the solution if we do not understand the problem? Only if we know the compassion of God will our perspective look at a world of incomprehensible suffering and define the human problem as God defines the human problem. 

The human problem is suffering. This suffering is the result of man’s inhumanity to man and this violence and oppression is the result of man’s sinfulness. Looking deeper, we find that this violence and oppression is the result of man’s alienation from God. But before we dig into solutions, solutions that include a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we must look at the problem and, indeed, the problem is oppression and suffering. 

A Word on Problems and Solutions

When I speak of the term “problem”, I am using this word in an almost technical sense. By "problem", I mean the observable concrete circumstance that people find themselves in. By problem, I specifically do not mean the causes or the root causes of these objective problems. For example, war and violence is part of the human problem. I make this distinction between problems and causes because unless our theology solves these ultimate outcomes and observable problems, our theology is worthless and irrelevant. If our "solution" does not solve the "problem" how can we call our solution an actual solution. Our so-called solutions are mere theory. 
Human existence has very concrete problems which prophets and philosophers have attempted to solve for centuries. The Christian faith is that the solution to the human problem is Jesus Christ. The promise of the bible is that God will bring salvation to solve the human problem that is ever before the eyes of all reflective human beings. We are all aware that humanity has a problem. We are cruel and heartless to one another. If the 20th century taught us anything, it is that something is profoundly wrong with humanity. To say that Jesus is the Christ is to say that Jesus has the solution to these self-evident problems. 

A Quick Look at the Root Cause of the Human Problem

In the paragraphs ahead, I will look at the details of the human problem by looking at the first chapters of genesis, but for now I would like to simply outline where we are going. 

I have already stated that the human problem is suffering. I have given violence as an example. While describing the human setting, the setting of fallenness, Genesis presents the story of Cain and Able. In the prototypical human family, one brother killed another brother. Genesis is showing us that violence is an ugly problem that is endemic to the human character. Violence is part of our fallen DNA. This is a problem the Christ and His kingdom solves. 

From the Problem to the Root Cause
One way to look at a problem is to start with a problem definition and then ask ourselves “why”. We repeat the “why” question until we are satisfied that we have arrived at the root cause of the problem. Genesis both describes the human problem and answers the “why?”s for us. 

Problem: Broadly speaking the problem is suffering. 

Why: Why is there suffering? 

Cause: Suffering exists because people are fighting in order to “survive”. 

Why: Why do people fight? 

Cause: People fight because they fear the future. 

Why: Why do people fear? 

Cause: People fear because in a world of scarcity and doubt, we lack a great enough peace to overcome our fear.

Why: Why do people lack a peace about the future that is greater than our fear? 

Cause: The answer to this fear problem has to be intimacy with God. 

Why: Why do people lack intimacy with God 

Root Cause: The answer to this problem is Discipleship...

The road to an enduring conscious contact with God that is powerful enough to produce fearlessness and to grant to the believer the courage to cease fighting for one’s self interest is discipleship. Jesus teaches us how to live in this quality of life that the world needs and needs to see in the church. This courage is available because the Kingdom is available. This intimacy with God leads to courage. This courage leads to generosity and self sacrifice, and this generosity and self-sacrifice meets the problem of suffering. 

peace

Water Shortages, War, and Water as a Human Right

I think it is best to treat water as a human right:

"A human rights approach to water, for Hassain, means he doesn't have to accept his fate as some inevitable tragedy," said Ignacio Saiz. "People have the right to expect access to a basic life resource like water by virtue of being human, regardless of the social situation they are born into."

(read more) Water wars: 21st century conflicts?