The Road to Slavery

Christopher J. Ortiz May/June 2006 “The drive for power knows no limits; its rationale is to be as god, and hence it is itself law in its every wish. Total warfare, in and out of war, and total conspiracy have as their goal total control. This means the control of men through their minds, which is achieved by controlling news media, schools, and churches, and also the control of men economically, in particular through the control of money.”[1] This telling citation reveals the comprehensive strategy of tyranny, or total control by the state. Man’s will to be as god (Gen. 3:5) is fulfilled by statist rule over every sphere of life. In some ways, besides education, the control of money is the central means to statist dominion. This is why we’re devoting this issue to the topic of inflation. The average American yawns at inflation because he or she does not understand its meaning nor its insidious purpose to enslave a free republic. “John Q” Citizen thinks inflation is a phenomenon that “just happens,” and politicians do what they can to fight it. This could not be further from the truth, as Rushdoony notes: [A]lthough politicians may promise a balanced budget, they are more likely to gain the power they desire by increasing debt, for in a debt-free country, the citizenry is strong and the civil government is limited. In a debt-ridden country, taxes increase, liberties decrease, and the civil government, increasingly less responsive to the will of the citizenry, increases its own power over the people even as it vastly enlarges the power of the invisible government over all. All in all, it is clear that debt is the road to slavery, and the Christian, both as a person and in his organized society, must recognize the truth of Scripture when it orders, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.”[2] There is a clear link between the bankruptcy of the world economy and the moral bankruptcy of the world’s population. Therefore, Rushdoony writes, “we cannot restore our economic order without first of all restoring moral order.”[3] The economic immorality in the United States is seen in our public shift from production to consumption; and this is encouraged by the debt-ridden state. Debt equals slavery, and a consumption society pursues borrowing to furnish its illusion of the good life. (In actuality, it’s like remodeling the slave’s plantation quarters.) Whereas God graces us out of His abundance, modern man graces himself by borrowing. Therefore, we are unable to extend God’s abundant supply (i.e., the tithe) to the needs of society because our labors are consumed in paying off interest-bearing personal debt. This is made worse by the exorbitant taxation of the state to pay its insurmountable debt. In Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, the main character, Winston Smith, discovers the real agenda behind the tyrannical control of Big Brother and the “inner party.” It is an economic agenda. Aristocratic elites seek to preserve their way of life by suppressing the middle and lower classes through the consumption of productivity. Since the state cannot outlaw productivity without inspiring revolution, it insidiously “consumes” production by perpetual war (you can’t eat a tank, and guns don’t build hospitals), inflating the economy, and abusive taxation. And as his Animal Farm found fulfillment in the now defunct Soviet Union, Orwell’s 1984 is presently carried out by an elitist drive to world socialism. However, our motive in this issue is not to simply “expose” an economic cartel — this has adequately been done for decades, but to awaken our readers to the statist tools of dominion. We want to remind the Christian that only a return to Biblical faith can undo the works of darkness and establish the reign of our King. No “Money Trust” can be destroyed merely by exposure or by knowledge of its existence. It can be rapidly destroyed as people take seriously their faith in its every aspect and submit themselves to the sovereignty of God and His word.… For even a limited segment of evangelical Christianity to adhere to these principles would have a shattering effect on any “Money Trust.”[4] [1] R. J. Rushdoony, The Nature of the American System (Vallecito: Ross House Books, 2001), 164-165. [2] Ibid., 168-169. [3] R. J. Rushdoony, Larceny in the Heart: The Economics of Satan and the Inflationary State (Vallecito: Ross House Books, 2002), 2. [4] Rushdoony, The Nature of the American System, 172. Christopher J. Ortiz is the Editor of Faith for All of Life and the Director of Communications for the Chalcedon Foundation.