The Babylon Bee announced in its own inimitable manner the reopening of the trough from which American politicians feed. For four long years the hated master of the White House had kept the taps to a trickle, or when they were opened had insisted they not flow via the normal easily accessible trough. The very idea that taxpayers’ money should somehow escape the snouts of the professional political class, and its symbiotic opportunists in the media and lobbies, scandalised every nation, tongue and tribe engaged in the noble art of grifting.
The Bee (Aug 11th 2021) records the bipartisan scenes of jubilation on the steps of the Capitol as politicians of every stripe slapped one another on the back and celebrated the passing of a massive spending bill which left them in charge of apportioning the vast funds derived from the American taxpayer or from public borrowing. The situation was restored: politicians who had never worked a day outside of politics in their lives, some for a half century or more, and had somehow, miraculously become multimillionaires on just the salary of a congressman or senator, could once again dream of replenishing their stock. Their spouses and children breathed huge sighs of relief, and the future once again looked rosy. Spending other peoples’ money was again going to be so much fun!
Off course that particular trough has never been the sole source of income for greedy snouts in politics. Honorary appointments to private and public enterprises around the world offered significant opportunity for supplementing those hungry ice-cream freezers, massive Beverly Hills homes, and demanding relatives. Indeed, as investigative author Peter Schweizer records in vast detail in his “Red Handed: How American elites get rich helping China win” (Harper, 2022), there is scarcely a politician of any party that has not at some time sucked voraciously on the teat of China and to a lesser extent Russia (and Ukraine, vide the Biden father and son.) Indeed, not just politicians but academics, media houses, entertainers and sports bodies were effectively owned by China and could be relied on by that regime to faithfully reflect their loyalty to their paymasters by shielding that vicious state from the mildest criticism. Researchers, seats of learning, journalists, social media giants, even authors, sports stars and movie houses have kowtowed to Beijing’s every whim, including censoring themselves, for the sake of the Chinese flow. The Winter Olympics in China in 2022 received glowing support from all parties despite the massive new repressions in China and Hong Kong, while Russia’s actions in Ukraine (where many an American politician had guzzled enthusiastically at the lavish fruit of rampant corruption) on the other hand are beyond the pale and given 24/7 scrutiny by the entire horde of professionals snouts.
Polls have for years indicated that politicians in the West, at every level from President and Senate to local school boards, are considered the least respected “professionals”, closely followed by journalists. While their tongues and pens claim one thing, their actions demonstrate that their loyalty is dedicated solely to their own wallets. “Altruistic politician”, “selfless politician”, “honest politician” are each considered an oxymoron, a simple reality every well-raised child should learn at their mother’s knee (see the rather brutal cartoon below!) The same goes for “journalist” – thanks Mom!
Much of the dynamic at work in popular politics in the West is the awakening of the masses to just how, until the emergence of disruptors like Farage and Trump who unashamedly articulated their contempt for the professional trough feeders, they had been exploited by people who never had any intention of representing them in any forum. Consider a British Parliament that for four years obstructed the implementation of the nation’s expressed will to leave the European Union. The feeders were fighting for the trough of European munificence… all raised, of course, from the effectively disenfranchised taxpayer.
Strong ideological convictions can of course compete with the trough for a politician or journalist’s allegiance. Every now and then a committed radical left-winger will turn down an opportunity for gain to show commitment to their anti-private wealth cause. However, since the most radical leftists engaged in Western politics have all appeared to do very well, thank you, the general trend makes clear that such ideological conviction is usually aimed at distributing the wealth of other people, not their own. Vide multimillionaire Bernie Saunders.
For the Christian, this entire phenomenon is a reminder of the powerful seduction of that enduring triad: money, sex and power. Each of these on its own is a powerful corruptor, while in combination any two of them is a powerful force for evil. Those who combine all three (for owning money and displaying power are often tools for accessing sex of any and all sorts) the outcome is deadly. The Law given to Israel in the Old Testament, and the teaching of Jesus and the lives of the Christians in the New, are permeated with the contest between Godly virtue and human pragmatism. The lonely carpenter standing bound and bleeding before the Procurator of the most powerful political force the world had ever known, epitomises the most extreme contrast. Yes, said Jesus, I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this world. Politicians will guzzle, as politicians do – but the follower of Jesus, or the Great Man of God so feted in the Christian world, who exploits the flock for his own financial gain, his own sexual pleasure, his own aggrandisement, needs to know that “such a one”, as Paul states, shall not inherit nor enter the Kingdom of God. Be warned.
Mathew Clark 