In the end greatness means God’s law

With the recent revelations of the horrible corruption of USAID, a number of “awakened” commentators, broadly supportive of the Trump revolution, have lined up to express caution lest the president’s own team dismantle Deep State evils only to construct their own. This is a sign of political health – if from the start one’s supporters are critical friends rather than starry-eyed worshippers, then the checks and balances of a political entity are operating.

One example is Mike Benz, interviewed by Tucker Carlson here, a former State Department staffer who has done more to uncover the machinations of the US Deep State than most others. Commendably, he does not see the vindication of his assessment as a day for flag waving, but is immediately concerned about the possibility that Trump’s administration could become a case of “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

Perhaps some of the more surprising foreign policy discussions, in particular the proposal to clear Gaza and replace it with a global resort, have fueled this questioning, though it is difficult to judge matters aright when the MSM has still largely resolved to mangle the administration’s announcements through its Never-Trump spin machine.

Everyone seems to be discussing this USAID scandal, and rightly so, and since I am not one to go trawling through the released financial statements for fresh atrocities, I will leave it to others. Instead, I want to draw attention to the way that Mike Benz himself, truth-telling whistle-blower that he is, seems to be infected by the American Imperialist bug himself as he discusses the future of US foreign policy. Perhaps that bias comes from his career in the State Department, but in the light of Tucker Carlson’s supportive response, I wonder if it might be a reflection of a dangerous tendency for Americans to see themselves as inheritors of an exceptionalism that entitles them to empire by all necessary means.

What I mean is this. The strength of National Populism is that it recognises that putting your own nation first, just like putting your own family first, brings prosperity that spills over in one’s dealings with other nations. This is the stated multi-polar principle of BRICS, at least publicly, those leaders like Vladimir Putin saying that to be a powerful nation need not detract from other nations having their place in the sun, or even from being great themselves. Globalism rides roughshod over local concerns in its ambition for world government, and in its American Neo-con guise means that the rest of the world had better kow-tow to US “rules-based democracy” or else.

Benz has been a leader in uncovering the regime change colour revolutions, political assassinations and all the other dirty tricks which have now been documented for USAID, and may be assumed to be paralleled in CIA and State Department files. But in talking of what should happen going forward, he says he is a supporter of American “soft power,” using whatever commercial, political and other levers that may – up to some particular point – encourage less powerful nations to serve American interests.

It is not controversial to say that, in guarding one’s own national interests, some kind of “so far and no further” principle must apply, and establishing such a boundary appears to be Benz’s main point in his discussion with Carlson. But when listening to this discussion as an outside observer – that is to say a British citizen – his assumptions on what is acceptable seem less plausible than they might to the average American, perhaps. Why, after all, should foreign governments continue to feel pressured to go America’s way so that Americans get cheap goods, energy and services, even at the expense of their own people? It is a plus, of course, not to have one’s media and dozens of NGOs pushing regime change, eliminating democratically elected leaders and so on. But to find a parallel in the world of commerce, it is still an unpleasant thing when big corporations, like Rockefeller’s, believe that “competition is a sin” and do all they can to bankrupt the little guy with a better product.

Yesterday, I learned something new from the familiar teaching of Jesus on obedience to the authorities. It is that when Jesus said, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s,” he was not talking about allocating slices of a cake, though he made it sound as if he was. Romans 13 tells us that we must respect political rulers because they are appointed by God to bring good order, and that this is why we pay taxes. A little thought will tell you that this implies that paying your taxes is, over and above the just or unjust demands of the emperor, also rendering to God what is God’s.

Now, this is a general principle, not a “Divine Right of Kings,” and it may sometimes be necessary not only to disobey authorities if their demands contradict God’s law, but to replace them if they become corrupt. The USAID case is a clear example of this, for billions of dollars exacted from taxpayers have been used both illegally to do evil, and to line the pockets of the evildoers. But the principle does remind us that politics is not a separate sphere from religion, but instead is subsumed within it. The principles of our politics ought to reflect the ethics of God’s laws, even though because of the Fall in practice they often do not.

And so submission to authority has its roots in “Honour your father and mother” but extends to our general submission to political rulers. In the same way, though, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” which rephrases “Love your neighbour as yourself,” should also extend to the political realm. If a powerful citizen is obliged, by God’s law, to seek the prosperity of his poor neighbour – for example in Old Testament terms by leaving gleanings in his field, or by paying his wages on time, or by returning land at the Jubilee – then a rich and powerful nation must have the same attitude if it is to be blessed by God.

To harvest resources and profit by trade and hard work makes nations great and populations happy – which the globalists have entirely failed to understand. But to realise that such prosperity arises not because your nation is exceptional and entitled, but because of God’s unmerited grace, is to pursue policies that will maximise prosperity to other nations under heaven. Getting a good deal on natural resources another nation can’t use is good. Manipulating markets, so that you have cheap electricity and a gas-producer has shortages, means your vaunted soft power is still just squalid theft.

So let’s hope that the Trump regime truly takes on board that to make America great, it must also make America good. Otherwise, like King Jehu’s dynasty, it will be swept away after it has served its divine purpose.