The Lies of “Redistributing the Wealth”
IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING
Barack Obama and his liberal friends believe that the wealth of the world needs to be redistributed. In their view, the poor of the world got that way because of what someone else did to them. They weren’t given a fair shot because someone along the way took advantage of them. It’s the old “victim mentality”-they’re poor because of someone else. Some liberals see the problem as too many people and too few resources. In their view, countries with vast natural resources have been given an unfair advantage, while countries with too many people have an unfair disadvantage. The only solution in their eyes is to even the score by converting society into a Socialist state where the wealth can be redistributed more “equitably.”

Studies and history have shown, however, that when wealth has been redistributed, within a few years, those who initially had the money had it again, and those who were poor were poor again. This seems to suggest that the problem isn’t “who has what.” A simple comparison of two countries further emphasized the fact that resources and population aren’t the problems at all. Let’s compare two nations with vastly different populations and natural resources: The Netherlands and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Here are some key statistics:

Netherlands
Population 16,000,000
Area 41,526 Sq Km
Average Income $40,000/yr
People/Km 400

DRC
Population 71,000,000
Area 2,354,409 Sq Km
Average Income $332/yr
People/Km 30

The DRC has more resources and considerably fewer people/Km, yet the people are much poorer. If the liberals’ assumptions were correct, we would find the exact opposite.

AS I SEE IT
I have recently completed a course called “Operation Word View.” It dealt with this issue in great detail and offered some conclusions based on the studies the authors had conducted. They concluded that the real reason why some people are poor and some aren’t has nothing to do with outside influences. It clearly isn’t someone else’s fault. They discovered that the real issue was how people think about themselves. Take India, for example. Hinduism and the caste system have hopelessness built in. The identity of those in the bottom caste is tied directly to poverty and everything lowly. This is all they know and all they can expect. America, on the other hand, thrived as Christianity (with its affirmation of the worth of every person) flourished and grew. The more our Christian influence declines, the more our standard of living goes with it.

The final conclusion of the authors of the study was even more shocking. They discovered that the poorest people on earth live in the least evangelized nations. Most were located in the 10/40 window-from 10 to 40 degrees north of the equator, and from West Africa east to Southeast Asia. The authors also discovered a direct correlation between truth and wealth. The more lies in a culture, the more poverty.

Believers in America should take note of these conclusions as we attempt to help America be restored to her former greatness. It’s not rocket science. It’s back to the basics. The Church simply needs to start acting like the Church and being about the Master’s business instead of pursuing our own agendas.

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