God and Easter

Sai Baba, an Indian guru and believed manifestation of god, who had thousands of followers and a $9 billion trust fund, passed away this morning (a Monday in India). Ironic since it is so close to Easter.

I first heard about him from Sam Harris. In the YouTube I watched of Harris, he was expounding his thoughts on how Jesus isn't that special, as many people have been able to garner a following, miracles or not. Harris then cited Sai Baba as a current example of a god-man with many miracles to his name and a following to boot, just like Jesus had while he was here on earth.

Of course, the big distinguishing characteristic between Jesus and any other guru/god-man/great guy is the eyewitness report of his resurrection. Like Sai Baba, Jesus died leaving his followers despondent. But then he rose from the dead demonstrating his divinity by overcoming the inevitable force of death. My own and the allegiance of billions of others rests on that fact.

From what I've read about Sai Baba, he predicted he would die about 10 years from now, so he left a little early. And since he himself was reportedly a reincarnation of another guru, the reincarnations will probably continue absent a resurrection. I think that leaves things a little open ended, contrasted to the finality of Jesus' resurrection. Were he to rise from the dead in a few days, that would warrant investigation at the least. We will see what happens with ol' Sai Baba, but I think I know the outcome already. I hope his followers are able to find true comfort.

344% of GDP

Our friend, Niall Ferguson, who wrote an excellent book, The Ascent of Money, has this article on our deficit. Therein some clear points are made:

"Keynes was a believer in government deficits as a short-term expedient to combat depression. But even he would have regarded America’s current fiscal trajectory as disastrous. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s alternative fiscal scenario—which it sees as politically more likely than its baseline scenario—the federal debt could hit 344 percent of GDP by 2050. Interest payments would absorb nearly all federal tax revenues."

As to proposed resolutions:

"The first possibility is the one devised by Rep. Paul Ryan, which would eliminate the deficit largely through deep spending cuts and Medicare reform. Possibility two is President Obama’s bid to close the budget gap with more modest cuts and tax hikes on “millionaires and billionaires.” It’s a bracingly binary choice. Shrink the government. Or squeeze the rich."

A Moving Picture

Communication is a Must

Republicans have been getting flak and praise today for their recent proposal on the federal budget. All that will continue, no doubt.

One of the articles I read today mentioned how the Republicans included the requisite tax cuts for the rich, don't care about the poor, blah, blah, Democrats care.

Now. I am sure there are Republicans who do not care about the poor. I am also sure there are Democrats who do not care about the poor. We are, after all, dealing with human beings in power.

Somehow in all the writing produced by the Republicans on this measure, the point is missed that this will in fact help poor people, all people (God loves the rich as well). By relaxing the government burden on industry, wealth is created. The American economic system is proof of that. Why else would so many people want to copy it out of their own volition? Why else would people have dropped everything they were doing in whatever country in order to move here? The more that wealth is freed from government usurpation (apart from its proper role, of course) the more is available for people to use as they will. And many will use that wealth to help those who definitely need it, as circumstances, conditions, and pure evil force people into situations where they are considered poor.