OldSouth hasn't disappeared, loyal legions of readers. But he has taken some time to reflect. The masthead still holds true--Culture Shapes Economy.
There has been much much much hand-wringing about the election outcome of last week. OS did not hold great hope that Mr. Romney would prevail against Himself and Himself's minions, although he came impressively close.
So the first conclusion OS draws is:
There are some 57 million people out in the voting public who did not totally drink the Obama Kool-Aid. That's a lot of people.
Much of the hand wringing has been about 'how the country has changed, it is a blacker/browner/immigrant/food-stamp culture that sees the government as Santa Claus (as Mr. Limbaugh so succinctly states it), etc, etc.'
Well, yes. This should not be surprising. When even gas-station convenience markets along the interstate highway system proudly post signs that that accept SNAP cards and other forms of government assistance cards for payment, the ground has shifted under our feet.
Second conclusion:
Piles of cash left out on the sidewalk will attract all manner of people, from the Jon Corzine types to drug-addicted street people, seeking their share of the loot. We should not be surprised that people will vote for the folks who deliver the piles of cash to the sidewalk. Mr. Romney's comments about the 47% were unfortunate because they was only descriptive. He did not, sadly, address the bigger issue of the moral hazard that accompanies government largesse, be it to banks or single mothers.
One would think, that given his dismal record, Mr. Obama and company didn't stand a chance. It's only logical.
Third conclusion:
Logic is over-rated. The behavior of most people, whether political, financial, romantic etc is driven by emotion. Obama understands this perhaps better than most of this present age. Just as did Eva Peron in hers.
We are accustomed to a simpler political model: Candidate gains office via election, governs/serves/legislates for the appointed term, and spends some final months of the term making the case for a return to office. Easy. This model no longer is in use.
OS has a friend in Ohio now exhausted by it all. Turns out, the Obama campaign of 2008 never departed, never let up a moment, kept all its Ohio offices open. These past four years have not been about governance, they have been a perpetual 2012 campaign.
Fourth conclusion:
At some point, chickens do come home to roost, to quote one famous clergyman of Mr. Obama's acquaintance. At some point, Mr. Obama will actually have to govern, and OS hears the faint sounds of clucking and crowing over the horizon.
All those happy folks in the crowd in Chicago, the TrueBelievers, were jubilant last Tuesday evening. Good for them, they had worked hard, won, and got to celebrate and cheer. No problem there. But OS found himself thinking 'These folk aren't just celebrating that their guy won. They seem to be cheering for some watershed event, that from this day forward the culture of Protestant Heterosexual Monogamy/Work/Frugality has been dealt a mortal blow, and WE are going to replace it with our own Utopian Vision.'
Fifth conclusion:
Be careful what you ask for; you wishes may come true. Those stories about finding the magical lamp are cautionary tales.
Back to the hand-wringing folks. Either our ideas work on the historical long view or they don't. Math is math or it isn't. Physics is physics or it isn't. God is either mocked or He isn't. Christianity asserts that the Almighty is just that. He is the Potentate of Time, and rulers rule only with His forebearance. He always brings good out of evil, as Bonhoeffer reminds us.
Sixth conclusion:
If we do a bit less hand-wringing, and go quietly about the business of building our families, churches, communities and states, we'll all do better. Instead of railing about Obama and his friends, make certain your grandchildren know their hymns and Psalms. It's pretty difficult to lord it over people with hearts and heads full of that poetry. Remember the era of samizdat in the old Soviet Union--pulled the regime down brick by brick in the end.
It ain't over 'til its over. God may be doing us a favor, we're not privy to Divine Intentions.
It ain't over yet.
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