But the possible fallout from face-offs between governors and big business recall Hilaire Belloc’s servile state—proving that the employee is powerless when his livelihood is jeopardized, whether he’s the mayor or a driver for UPS.
Gov. Deal said the Peach State “is full of loving, kind and generous people. . . . I intend to do my part to keep it that way. For that reason I will veto House Bill 757”—despite all those loving, kind and generous people having already expressed their political will (the bill passed 104-65 in the General Assembly).
But the governor wasn’t left with much of a choice when he vetoed the bill. Over twenty Fortune 500 businesses threatened to boycott Georgia if the bill was not vetoed, including Delta Airlines, Home Depot, UPS and Coca-Cola. Celebrities, too, from Anne Hathaway to Rob Reiner, threatened to boycott the state, taking with them the $6 billion Hollywood was expected to spend there in 2016.
In North Carolina, however, a similar bill (HB2) was passed and signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory. And once again, there’s an angry mob set out to punish the people of that state. The Boss, for his part, canceled his concert over the bathroom bill, saying, “It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.”
How did we find ourselves in a nation where the NCAA, NFL, Hollywood, Google, and Bruce Springsteen dictate what laws should be passed, should govern a “free” people? These aren’t idle threats, either; the promise to boycott these states is a clear warning that economies can be crippled if governments don’t tow the line “forward.”
Welcome to the Plutocracy.
Belloc, with his profound view of history, a view informed by his Catholic faith, recognized this decades ago: that if we forsake our agrarian communities, don’t own property, and have no means of production, our society will be ruled by the well-born, an elite class of men better known as “the man”—the rich man.
In the span of one long lifetime, we’ll have lost the ability to provide for ourselves and our families: we’re now card-carrying members of the Servile State, where sex is meaningless, marriage is madness, people are genderless, and abortion is celebrated. A very small minority control a “democracy,” which doesn’t represent the average person—who is neither a transgender Olympic athlete nor a proud, post-abortive woman.
The one thing most of us have in common is that we’re working for a living, and we’re working for someone else. We, the servile state, are living paycheck to paycheck with a host of monthly bills, high rent, student loan debt, and growing costs that leave most families without dual incomes struggling.
Worst of all, we have willingly sacrificed our livelihoods for less responsibility, which in reality means less freedom. We’re content to punch the clock and collect the paycheck, which is fine, as long as our employer grants us that privilege. There’s the illusion of democracy and freedom, but the reality of runaway capitalism. As long as we have a steady stream of credit, shopping, and media (not to mention Bruce Springsteen concerts), we’re content to “live our life” and let others do the same.
Threats from civil-rights groups, CEOs and celebrities have proved enormously effective. And they’re splashed all over the internet. Why not? What power does a cog in the wheel have? The democratic process (as seen in Georgia) is working as long as certain wealthy people agree with the result. Sounds discriminatory, doesn’t it?
As the bathroom bills so clearly illustrate, being born in the U.S.A. doesn’t mean freedom but a form of willing slavery—to the endless progress celebrated by a small minority, which at this juncture is neither God-fearing nor tolerant of those who are.
Indeed, the only authority that seeks to free man, and desires the very best for him, is the Catholic Church. Since the advent of the Christian faith, both slave and free have been afforded the same rights in the Kingdom (Pope Saint Pius I was a former slave, as was Pope Callistus), for true liberty comes from above: “If a slave is called to enter Christ’s service, he is Christ’s freedman; just as the free man, when he is called, becomes the slave of Christ” (1 Cor 7:22). No law can give us the dignity and equality found in Christ.
The power of governance is no longer found with and in the people, as the American Founders dreamed it would be, but in big business, money, and celebrity. As Belloc said, “The control of the production of wealth is the control of human life itself.” And that’s why a man who sings for a living is telling a governor how to do his job and why taxpayers are funding 3,000 abortions per day in this land of the free and home of the brave.
Image: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7016958
Follow
