Pride, Prejudice, and Privilege: The One Privilege Available to All Who Choose It

As racism has increasingly become a heated issue again in America, I've been trying to better understand what it means to have white privilege.  As I have listened to personal stories and read documentaries, I hope I am now more aware of the verbal slights, false assumptions, and undervaluing that still takes place.  I am asking the Lord to make me more aware and to guide me in defending and honoring those who are still being treated unfairly based on race.  The sordid crimes committed against black Americans in our nation's history are deplorable, and I am so sorry to learn how much racism is still rooted in the hearts of more than a few Americans. May we each ask the Lord to search our hearts and expose those areas that are still full of pride and prejudice. (Psalm 139:23-24)

I want to be very careful not to minimize what the black community has suffered, for to do so would be unloving indeed. As we search for evidences of white privilege (as defined in contrast to the negative experiences unique to black Americans), however, let us not forget to consider other privileges we experience that others are denied.  As with white privilege, some of our other privileges are the direct or indirect result of the oppression of others. 

Colonial Oppression of Native Americans
Let us consider the oppression of indigenous Americans during the time of early European colonization up until and after The Indian Removal Act of 1830.  They were forced to leave the land they had rightly claimed and toiled so diligently to tame, settle, and make fruitful.  Then they had to make the treacherous journey along the Trail of Tears to be displaced in a wild, unsettled environment better suited for different crops, animals, and modes of survival.  The colonists reaped the benefits of all the natives' labors while the natives had to learn a new way of life in a foreign territory.  The white settlers enjoyed colonial privilege while Native Americans paid the price. 

(Hardworking taxpayers experience a small sliver of this injustice when they take great risks, make huge sacrifices, and labor tirelessly to provide for their families and local communities only to have over half of their income taken through layers of taxation to pay for wasteful government spending and to provide not only for those in legitimate need, but also for those who refuse to work.)

As illustrated in the legendary artwork of Willard Stone's Trail of Tears Trilogy (pictured below), Native Americans have commemorated and preserved the memory of  all they have suffered. Interestingly, they do not merely consider their own sufferings but the sufferings of others as well. Instead of holding onto bitterness, they planted renewed hope as they built new lives for themselves. With fortified faith and unwavering determination, they worked together to heal, renew, rebuild and restore what had been taken from them. Through forgiveness, gratitude to God, wise stewardship, and diligent labor, they prospered once again and became some of the most patriotic citizens in America, with many serving valiantly in the armed forces.  They have grown the economy, created and filled jobs, invested in their communities, and contributed large percentages of their hard earned income through taxes to the same government structure that once so severely mistreated them. 

The Trail of Tears Trilogy

The first trilogy masterpiece Exodus, was commissioned in 1967 by the Cherokee Historical Society.  It is a large walnut sculpture composed of two teardrops, one balancing the other on a base representing the contour of the earth, honoring the Cherokee experience during the tribe's forced removal by the U.S. government from their traditional homelands in the East.  In describing the piece, Stone said, "I have tried to capture the tragedy and heavy load of sorrow and heartache being overcome by the Cherokee's courage and determination.  I have tried to boil down and bring into focus the heavy load of life the whole mankind carries and put it into an individual mother and child."

The Exodus (walnut)

The 1967, the Cherokee Heritage Society commissioned the second part of the trilogy.  Transplant depicts a Cherokee mother and child after the ordeal of the removal.  Stone described this piece as showing that "By faith, enough survived the Trail of Tears to seed the new land. By faith, they will sprout and make it better. For this they give thanks." 

Transplant

The final part of the trilogy, Uprooted, was completed in 1980.  In Stone's words, this culture represents the Cherokees "pulling away from the ground they had been living on from the time they were born." It also represents "any people who are forced from their land because of the greed or lust of some more powerful race." It is carved in the stump of a red cedar.

Uprooted (one side)

Uprooted (other side)

During The Great Depression, some Native Americans considered themselves to be the privileged ones because they could survive and thrive by simply living off of the land.  Stone's self-portrait in pencil below shows the happy contentment he experienced as an early teenager while stressed-out,  big city dwellers in the East were, as Stone commented, "jumping out of windows or going insane".  Growing up in rural Oklahoma after the Indian Removal Act, he enjoyed farming, hunting, fishing, swimming, roping goats, roasting peanuts, playing games and having house parties.  His people were less affected by the financial crisis because they were self-sufficient. While the colonists enjoyed unfair privileges through the oppression of Native Americans, the Cherokee people let the trials make them stronger which gave them the well-deserved privilege of resilience.  When Stone's work gained national attention, he had to travel to Manhattan for art related events.  He once wrote after spending a few weeks in New York for art exhibits that he wouldn't trade one acre of rural Oklahoma for all of Manhattan. Despite the oppression of the Native American people, they found joy, peace and contentment through forgiveness and resilience.

Willard Stone's Pre-Teen Self Portrait

(Note:  I could have referenced various forms of racial tensions following World War II instead, but since I have more personal experience with Native American people, I used them as my primary example.)

Other Privileges

While both African Americans and Native Americans have suffered oppression under the hand of white men, privilege comes in many other forms as well.

• If you can read, you have literacy privilege unlike 13.9% of the world's population.

• If you are living off more than $10 a day, you have more to spend than 80% of the global population, which gives you significant wealth privilege.

• If you are NOT currently enslaved for labor or for sex, you have a degree of freedom privilege that 29.8 million people around the world do not.

• Every child that is born instead of being aborted in the U.S. has been given what should be the most fundamental human right, life, but since life is now the mother's choice and not the child's, to be allowed to be born and live is now considered a privilege in America.  At least 730,322 children (18%) did not get to experience that privilege last year (down from 22.6% in 2006) because they were murdered in the womb.  The abortion rate was 52% in Russia during 2006, so being born in America statistically increases your birth privilege rate by 289%. (These figures do not include the significant number of lives terminated by the morning after pill.)

• If you had the freedom to choose your field of study and vocation, you have career privilege not commonly available in communist countries.

• If you have the freedom to fully pursue life, liberty, happiness, and prosperity on your own volition, then you have opportunity privileges not generally available in socialist and communist nations.

• If you are pregnant, have minority status and/or identify as LGBTQ while employed in the U.S., you have more job security privilege than white males.  Business attorneys consider you to be untouchable.  The odds that your job will be eliminated during a business reorganization are much lower than non-protected classes because EEO laws are biased in your favor.  While white males are easily let go simply because the management found someone they like better, those with protected classes could be overtly negligent, devalue the company, and fail to meet basic expectations without ever seeing a pink slip.  (This is not to say that EEO laws are not necessary or that they do not have their rightful place in giving certain classes the equal opportunities they deserve.  It only shows that the outcomes of such legal manipulation are biased.)

• If you were not raised in the south or have somehow managed to avoid developing a Southern accent, then you have linguistic privilege.  Southerners must work harder to earn respect and prove their intellect when conversing with non-southerners because of false assumptions and prejudice against their accent and/or dialect.

• If you have not risked your life to protect Americans and the U.S. Constitution through military or law enforcement service, then you have the privilege of being excluded from negative assumptions and accusations.  Far too many people assume veterans have impaired mental faculties and are unfit to carry a gun or to receive proper medical care. Others, including the NAACP, accuse the majority of full-time law enforcement employees (over 1.13 million), of being racist, even if they are black (the NAACP calls them "blue, not black"), and make them targets.

• The persecution of Christians is increasingly prevalent on university campuses. The ratio of Christians hired or promoted within universities has been falling in all fields of study but most dramatically in the humanities, while Christian students are ridiculed by professors and given lower grades if they do not adopt (or pretend to adopt) their professors' secular worldview (as I know all too well through personal experience). Even elite Ivy League universities where the prized marketplace of ideas once flourished are now censoring speech and prohibiting class discussion that contradicts the progressive secular worldview.  This anti-Christian bias in academia has created secular privilege for non-Christians. This bias has been growing for many decades. C.S. Lewis was possibly the most well-read, most gifted teacher on the planet during his lifetime with unmatched intelligence and communication skills, yet he was ostracized and denied promotion at Oxford University after his apologetic works were first published in the 1940s. The documentary, Expelled, uncovered evidence for this widespread bullying practices that prejudice against people of faith in academia 8 to 10 years ago  The oppression is still increasing today as described here.  

The Special Needs Community
If you have no physical or mental disabilities and no neurological or cognitive impairments that limit your ability to integrate independently into traditional daily life settings without accommodation, then the prejudices of this postmodern culture against the special needs community give you perceived ability privilege.  Far too many people assume that disabilities limit one's value or contribution to society.  After only a brief amount of time spent interacting with the special needs community, however, decent people should quickly realize that in many ways, these people have much more to teach us and to contribute than they ever realized. They have taught me better than anyone else how to enjoy life fully without the shackles of self-awareness, how to innovate and grow stronger through trials, the power of a smile to light up a room filled with gloomy people, and the sacred value of loving without limits. While the culture may prejudice against them, they have the privilege of displaying the glory of God. 

^"Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3)

Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed as a teenager during a diving accident and fervently prayed for healing.  But when she visited locations in Jerusalem where Jesus had healed people, she found herself thanking God for not healing her because "that 'no' answer has left her depending more on God’s grace, has given her greater compassion for others, has reduced complaining, has increased her faith, has given her greater hope of heaven, and has caused her to love the Lord so much more." (Tim Challis) Tada came to see her paralysis as a privilege or a gift.
  
I could go on and on, for all of us likely have some form of privilege directly or indirectly because someone else is being treated differently.  Those I have mentioned as being privileged could just as easily point to another person who has a privilege they do not.

How Should We Address Injustice?
There are a lot of different movements and specific methods prescribed by social justice warriors to address these many social injustices. University of North Texas sociologist George Yancey describes the four primary secular models used to address racial issues in his book, Beyond Racial Gridlock.  These methods include:

1. Colorblindness
2. Anglo-Conformity
3. Multi-Culturalism
4. White Responsibility

Each model has advantages and disadvantages which are summarized succinctly in this post by Bruce Ashford, but not one has brought about the unity and racial reconciliation we desire or need for a number of different reasons both Yancey and Ashford describe.  I am convinced the primary reason these methods have failed is because secular models will NEVER solve spiritual problems.

Prejudice is a symptom of pride, and pride is the root of all evil. Pride is spiritual, not natural.

"As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you....
....The other, and less bad, vices come from the devil working on us through our animal nature. But this [pride] does not come from through our animal nature at all. It comes direct from Hell. It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly.....For Pride is a spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment or even common sense."  (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 8)

Comparison is what makes us proud.  When one person compares his plight to another and takes pleasure in having more or appearing superior to the other, then pride manifests itself as prejudice.  If one man finds the other has more than he does or if he is being victimized by the prejudice of another, then pride brews angry competitiveness, enmity, and a relentless pursuit to overcome the one who is superior in whatever attribute or possession is being compared. 

None of us is perfectly righteous or without some form of prejudice (Romans 3:23).  In fact, we each carry so much guilt that we could not possibly carry the blame or the guilt for what we have each done or failed to do individually, much less pay back the guilt for all the wrongs done by our society collectively.  Yet, that is what many keep asking us to do.  Are we to wallow in guilt for the rest of our lives, enslaved to debts we cannot possibly repay without ever finding the chance to accomplish something worthwhile in life?
  
Yancey's proposed better alternative is an attempt to combine the best aspects of each of the four primary secular models under a Biblical framework such that both individual and collective responsibility are acknowledged and owned.

"That model will recognize that God’s original creational design includes and invites unity-in-diversity, just as his plan for the new heavens and earth involves a resplendent ethnic and cultural unity-in-diversity. It will refuse to assign blame entirely on minority or majority group members, but instead will call both to repentance and entrust both with responsibility."  (Bruce Ashford)

While Native Americans may have diverse spiritual beliefs, their careful observation and respect for nature have long drawn them into worship, and we can see how they have modeled much of Yancey's proposed reconciliation model  Their willingness to throw off their grudges, forgive their oppressors, accept their new circumstances, express gratitude, and build new lives for themselves is commendable, but such a selfless response defies ordinary human nature, so it must come from God.

"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32)

Native Americans still preserve their cultural heritage while also seeking unity-in-diversity.  We own a bronze of Stone's Boots and Feathers walnut relief sculpture pictured below and display it our home as a symbol of both my husband's heritage and mine (which are quite different) intertwined to create our sacred family and as a reminder of the struggle for unity and the beauty found within a society that values and upholds unity-in-diversity.  Boots and Feathers depicts the artist's Native American daughter wearing a native headdress while trying on cowboy boots to illustrate their struggle to maintain their own cultural identity while adapting to the very different culture surrounding them.

 

 
Knowledge of the truth, which includes God's absolute truth and the facts of both our past history and our response to current events, should compel us to confess our sin.  Truth MUST then lead to repentance on every side.  We cannot undo the sins of the past, but we can confess and repent.  Repentance, by definition, requires us to leave our selfish pride and prejudice and to seek God's will, not our own. The first and biggest step toward humility and away from pride is to acknowledge and confess our pride. 

"If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."  (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 8)

Repentance should then lead to change.  God's work in our hearts will compel us through love and conviction to defend the oppressed and marginalized, to resist pride, and to continually surrender our will to His. 

The Perfect Privilege that Provides Perspective
Let me back up for a moment and emphasize that confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation are not possible by human effort alone.  No matter how many times we apologize, no matter what social justice movements we lead, and no matter what reparations we make, we will never fully atone for it all or appease everyone who has ever been treated unjustly.  Only someone with perfect wisdom, perfect righteousness and infinite love could avoid all these sins and love completely, fully, and unconditionally. And only that perfect One can bear the weight of all our sins past, present, and future and pay our debts in full. Only the promised Messiah could suffer to such an extent for those who hated and despised him and then extend forgiveness.

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.(Luke 23:34)

Christ never committed a single sin, yet He was tempted more than any of us.  He deserves all our praise, yet He suffered more than anyone on our behalf. 

If you've been abused, beaten unmercifully, despised, rejected, tortured, or oppressed, He understands, for He endured all those things too.

If you've been mistreated, disrespected, robbed, ridiculed, slandered, spat upon, or scorned unjustly, then you are sharing in His sufferings, and He can comfort you like no other.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4)

If people flee from you, mistrust you, accuse you, or act repulsed by you because of your race, ethnicity, or heritage, He knows how you feel. He's been there and done that.  If your family abandoned you, your friends betrayed you, or your closest friends denied you, be comforted in knowing He suffered the same for you.  After the sin debt was paid in full, He rose again, and He will come back to raise up all who have accepted His free gift and welcomed Him in as Lord of their lives.

After two thousand years of experiencing divine encounters, watching prophecies fulfilled exactly, witnessing transformed lives, and receiving matchless grace, inspired teaching, and access to the perfect wisdom, everlasting hope, and life direction found through His inspired word, multitudes around the world still reject Him. Yet His loving compassion never fails.  (Lamentations 3:22)  He still stands ready to extend forgiveness, personal relationship, everlasting life, and a vast inheritance to all who believe, repent, and follow Him.

Any privileges (white or otherwise) we experience in this earthly life, whether freely given or unjustly taken, are worth nothing compared to the privilege we are all called to share as partakers of His grace.

 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ," (Philippians 3: 7-8)

Note the stark difference between the privilege we have in Christ compared to the other privileges listed above.  That difference hinges on choice.  In the examples listed above, the victim does not choose to be oppressed or disadvantaged. Their suffering is placed upon them by someone else or by circumstances outside of their control.  Similarly, the privilege we define as not having to suffer under the same conditions are abuses as someone else, is also not something we choose for ourselves.  We can't choose our race, birthplace, gender, DNA, heritage, etc.  We can only choose how to respond to oppression or privilege.

The inverse is true with Christ.  He chose humility and the life of a suffering servant. He chose to bear all our sins on the cross while remaining perfectly sinless Himself. Love compelled Him to suffer and die to save His oppressors from a debt they could never repay. 

Who can comprehend the depths and heights of such love?  We are privileged beyond measure in Christ! Instead of telling us to check our privilege at the door like Harvard students were instructed to do at orientation, Christ instructs us to wear the privilege He won for us on the cross.  That privilege is the only way we can pass through the door from this life to eternal life with our God and King who is Lord of all righteousness, mercy and love.

²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Learning spiritual truth from a little boy and his experiment with ice, water, and air

On the way home from school, my 4th grader said, "It seems like ice melts faster in water than in air even when the temperature of water is cooler than air. Is that true? If so, why?"

So as soon as we got home and before I could finish unloading the van, he had already set up the experiment. He used identical bowls, a meat thermometer to measure the temperature in each bowl, metal tongs to transfer the ice so as not to add different degrees of heat by handling the ice with his hands.  He made sure the bowls and ice cubes were identical, recorded the temperature of each, and set a timer.  I'm not teaching STEM this semester and miss it, but my eyes got misty as I watched my little scientist test his hypothesis.  He soon observed that the ice cube melted completely in the bowl of cooler water before the same sized ice cube had barely begun to melt in a bowl of air.

So we began the process I love so much of asking questions to figure out why ice melted faster in a cooler environment than in a warmer one.  We built on knowledge gained during the last semester to discover the factors affecting heat transfer coefficient.

Then we considered what his discovery might reveal to us about God and/or spiritual truth. (Yes, I tend to spiritualize everything because God created all things to reveal His glory and because it makes life, discovery, and exploration much more fascinating.)  So we compared the references to air and water in the Bible, taking special note of references to "living water".

The term "air" is found in Ephesians 2 which describes Satan's work of hardening the human heart so it will not melt.

 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."  (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Then my sweet boy noted that an icy heart would melt more easily if submerged in living water. John 7:38 teaches us that for the one who believes in [Christ], ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

When Christ returns as conquering King to throw down the evil one (the prince of the air), He will come swiftly, just as air molecules move faster than water molecules, and those who believe and possess the life of Christ (the living water) will meet Him in the air and live with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) With all those water molecules in the air reflecting the glorious light of the Son, imagine how splendid that rainbow will be.

 

Overcome Evil with Good

Killing innocent, sacred human life is grievous indeed, regardless of stage, age, race, religion, etc. But responding with hatred, violence, and criminal activity certainly does not help, especially when the facts of the case haven't even been released yet. No politician or riot will fix the problem of racism in our country because the root of racism is sin.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

As we have seen, however, misinformation is the fuel that keeps the flames of racism on every side growing larger and hotter. The facts presented at this link, "Keith Scott Shooting:  5 Facts - What you Know Maybe Wrong",  may be eye-opening for some, especially for those who did not realize that the police officer who shot Keith Scott was black or that he was holding a gun placing the police officers in a position of self defense, or it may seem irrelevant to others based on their real and deeply felt personal experiences.  Can we at least find a more productive way to address these issues based on truth and love instead of senseless violence? Let's ask hard questions and listen to each others' stories such as we see in this post where an African American woman respectfully shares her personal experiences to illustrate and define white privilege for a white friend who sincerely and lovingly seeks to understand.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  (Matthew 5:43-45, NASB)

Empowerment vs Entitlement in Parenting and in Politics

Instead of bashing the character of our political candidates, let's compare their proposed policies and consider the outcomes of each.  When evaluating the economic proposals being presented by opposing candidates, it may help (or at least feel less nauseating) to liken each approach to two very different parenting styles.

1) EMPOWERMENT parenting focuses on giving children what they need (not necessarily what they want) to become independent, responsible, valuable citizens out of unconditional, tough love. It builds strong moral character, teaches critical thinking and practical life skills, emphasizes exercising patience and personal self-discipline for greater long term gains vs. fleeting short term gain, and values diligence and excellence in all work and study. This parenting style may result in some parent-child misunderstanding, especially during the more erratic adolescent and early teen years when the child may perceives his parents as being stingy or too strict compared to other parents or as not doing enough for him compared to what they did for him as a younger child when he was less capable. When the skills, values, and tenacity instilled in him by his parents enable him to graduate from college debt free, find gainful employment or start his own business, and become a self-sufficient, tax-paying, high-contributing citizen, he then respects and appreciates his parents more than ever.  This empowered young adult is much more likely to have the heart, mind, and resources to meet the needs of others, whether by providing jobs, investing in infrastructure, doing meaningful work, or serving his community with his time, talents, and earnings. The parents, the child, future in-laws and grandchildren, the community, the economy, children around the world, and even the federal reserve ALL benefit as a result because empowerment creates more for everyone.

 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.  (Hebrews 6:10-12)

2) ENTITLEMENT parenting focuses on giving the child every whim, fancy, and outcome (as opposed to opportunities) the child could possibly desire to appease the child and to get the child to like them and feel loved.  Chore charts, part-time jobs, and charitable volunteer work common so common in empowered families are seen as distractions from the easy life the parents think their precious child deserves. These parents may threaten teachers or coaches who withhold merit-based honors or awards from their child (because the child gave no effort and therefore did not earn them). They go in debt making sure their child keeps up with all the latest fads and drives the nicest sports car. These parents may even complete college applications FOR the child and submit even more school loan applications because neither the child nor the parents has any money left by then for college. If the child graduates, he graduates with lots of debt and moves back home with his parents who have no savings and are still struggling to make ends meet after accumulating so much debt while providing so much for their child.  Their grown child either cannot or will not find a job because he lacks discipline and motivation. When the under or unemployed son fathers a child, the baby and the undocumented mother take sanctuary in the basement since the entitled grown child still isn’t working. Eventually, even the most benevolent helicopter parents will run out of fuel/cash and crash and burn. At that point, they may become tyrants, lording over every aspect of their growing number of dependents' lives. They tell them where, how, and when to work, take their paychecks to pay off debtors, and ration basic food staples. Everyone suffers under entitlement thinking, even when the initial motives are as pure as the love of parents for their child.

Source

While two parenting stories are hypothetical, they are not unrealistic.  We've seen enough examples to show that no matter what parenting style is used or how textbook “perfect” parents may be, what the child does with his life is ultimately up to the child, and parents must not carry false guilt over of situations outside of their control. However, psychologists and counselors will attest that the first style of parenting is more likely to set a child up for future independence and success. We also know based on over 2000 years of history, a close examination of economic outcomes for countries around the world today, and basic economic principles that markets thrive, poverty diminishes, tax revenue is collected to pay down debts, and more people benefit overall when government manipulation and tax rates are limited, when Americans are empowered for meaningful work through useful training/education and incentives to work diligently instead of being held back via long-term, no way out entitlement programs, and when long term benefits are the focus instead of short term whims and fancies provided with taxpayer dollars to buy the next vote.

While empowerment policies drive economic growth and reduce liabilities, entitlement policies increase liabilities and shrink the economy.  Despite the increasingly progressive economic policies under Obama, our founding father's vision of free markets and limited government, and our long history of encouraging independent thought, innovation, hard work, and job creation have helped the U.S. to remain the top nation for GDP (25%). The US dollar currently comprises 49.5% of the world's money transactions, while Great Britain, with similar economic policies and a very early start in the stock exchanges, is ranked #2.  Americans are also the most charitable people in the world.

Let us vote for policies that raise up future generations of empowered, hard-working, charitable citizens with integrity who create more for everyone instead of promoting a shrinking economy based on stealing from hard working job creators, innovators, and economy growth producers to provide for the entitled class who are being held back from their fullest potential by a system that encourages them to take instead of give.

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