Posted by Dan Ewert : 10/17/2003 05:02:00 PM (Archive Link)
You probably knew that, Al Franken, that terribly clever guy, came out with his book, “Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right,” a couple of months ago. But did you know that it had comics in it as well? Yes, for the semi-literate in Al’s constituency or for those readers who can’t stomach a book without pictures, there are short comic strips in the book. You can find one of them here; it’s the story of Supply Side Jesus. It argues several different things. Among them that supply side theory is wrong (not that it doesn’t do what it claims to, but that it’s immoral; see pages 1-4), that conservatives are against helping the poor and sick (pages 4-6), that work ethic is wrong (pages 4 and 6), and that Christian evangelists and Christians in general are money-grubbing hypocrites (page 7). So let’s look at these one by one.

Interestingly, even though the strip repeatedly criticizes supply side theory that putting more money in the hands of consumers instead of the government increases the overall economy and betters everybody’s financial situation, it never says anything that would lead you to believe it doesn’t work. In fact, it pretty much admits that it does indeed work. Through consumer spending, people in the comic got jobs, average income went up, and social mobility increased. And the only thing Franken can say against this is that supply siders are “hucksters.” Uh-huh… great retort. It’s a little difficult to be a mere huckster when such easily measurable improvements are actually borne out by the theory. And if supply-siders are just selling snake oil, how can you criticize them when the snake oil is working and doing exactly what it was claimed to do?

Franken also portrays conservatives as not wanting the help the sick and poor. Supply Side Jesus refuses to feed the lepers because that would make them lazy and he refuses to heal them because that would exonerate them from their own personal responsibility. This also relates to the Christian hypocrisy claim. Nobody ever claimed there isn’t a place for helping the less fortunate in society. However, the government shouldn’t be involved in it. And that’s the big disconnect here. Franken wants the government to dole out all the money in a more socialized system. Conservatives think welfare should be in the realm of private charities that are far more responsive to the poor’s needs and are vastly more efficient than government bureaucracies.

The point that a good work ethic is bad is probably the most surprising. Franken again alludes that the rich are just hucksters. Never mind that they likely put in a great deal of honest effort to get where they are. No, instead everybody should be entitled to the exact same stuff. It doesn’t exactly work out that way and nor should it.

The last criticism about some Christian evangelists is probably the only one that has a little bit of truth to it. And when I use that term, I’m referring to a few select ministers of gigantic churches. They actually do have policies where those who donate a lot of money to their ministries get special treatment and special access to the preacher himself. That’s wrong in many different ways and can unfairly color what may be an otherwise upstanding organization. You get no special treatment from God for having more money and a church should be equally blind to it.

Now as for Christians in general, they should adhere to a gospel of good works, compassion, and generosity. Again, though, this is a matter for private entities to engage, not the government. Liberals like to use this as a guilt trip against Christians if they oppose a growing welfare state. They’re criticized for not wanting to help the poor when this is what Jesus commanded. Now me, I’m all for helping the poor and downtrodden and that’s exactly why I don’t want the government involved. Under the current system, my money is involuntarily taken away from me and used to fund programs that are unresponsive, ineffective, and eye-poppingly inefficient. Scant little of what I put into the system actually makes it to the people who need it. Since modern welfare is run by the government, then it’s a bureaucratic monopolistic colossus that faces no competition, no threat of being dissolved, and is guaranteed an almost unlimited supply of income whenever it needs it. Under those conditions, the majority of the money it receives is eaten up in administrative overhead. I’d far prefer to take that same money and give it to organizations that will use it wisely and efficiently. Yes, absolutely, the poor should be helped, but Jesus said give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and give unto God what it God’s. Under the liberal notion, we should give everything to Caesar and let him sort it out.