I live in a 15-story condo building in Thailand, with three elevators on each floor. I get amused because, nearly every time the elevator stops at a floor, a person getting on will automatically reach out and push the button that closes the door. That happens at least 90% of the time, and I’m not exaggerating that figure. I used to do it, too, when I first moved here, and then I realized that, if I push the “close door” button, that door might—might—shut half a second quicker. I don’t push the “close door” button anymore because I’m not in a half-second hurry to get wherever I’m going.
Why does nearly everybody push the “close door” button on the elevator? Nothing is wrong with doing so, but why do they do it? They do it for the simple reason that everybody else does it, and most of us, as humans, are sheep or cows and follow the sheep or cow behind us. We don’t think for ourselves; we just accept the “zeitgeist” of our surroundings and believe what everybody else does and believes.
There are countless examples of this, many of which greatly hinder human progress. Why do most people believe in “man-made climate change”? It’s not because the scientific evidence—and certainly not the historical evidence—leads to the conclusion that man-made activity is warming the planet. So, why do most people believe in “climate change”? Most people believe in climate change simply because they have been told that most people believe in climate change, and we don’t want to be out of the “crowd” and be thought stupid or peculiar. It’s easier to just “follow the multitude to do evil” (Exodus 23:2), or whatever the masses are doing, like believing in climate change. Or pushing the elevator “close door” button.
Why do most Americans believe in allowing the government to solve most of our problems, looking to government to fix the economy, provide welfare for those who cannot, or won’t, take care of themselves, have control of the education system, and 1,001 other things that aren’t in our Constitution as powers of government, and you wouldn’t find them there if you read that document till your eyeballs fell out. Why do we allow Presidents to issue “executive orders” that far transcend any power given to the President in the Constitution? He has authority over what ought to be a very limited executive branch, but every President, including the current one, issues “executive orders” that have absolutely nothing to do with his powers as defined in the Constitution. I’m not picking on Mr. Trump here; all Presidents, especially in recent years, have been increasingly guilty of it. Some of these “executive orders” are good, just like some “welfare” Congress does might be “good.” But that’s not my point. My point is, none of this involves powers defined in our “Supreme Law of the Land” to whatever entity is doing it. And judges are just as bad as anybody, as countless recent judicial activist decisions have clearly demonstrated.
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Why do we let Congress, the President, and judges get away with these, frankly, monstrous abuses of their powers? Can you say “sheep”? Following the butt of the cow in front of you? Does the word “zeitgeist” mean anything to you? People do it, they accept these abuses of power, because everybody else does it, accepts these abuses of power, and they follow the crowd, never even contemplating that maybe, just maybe, something might be wrong. Native American Indians used to stampede whole herds of buffalo over a cliff to kill them and get their meat; that was easier than getting into the middle of the herd and trying to slay one with a bow and arrow. They stampeded the herd, and every one of those stupid buffalo would follow the “crowd” over the cliff. Politicians are extremely good at stampeding ignorant citizens over a cliff, especially when no buffalo-citizens stop and say, “Whoa, guys, we’re headed for a cliff! We better think about this.”
The “zeitgeist” of my condo building is to push the “close door” button when you get into the elevator. The “zeitgeist” of our modern world is to believe in man-made climate change, government problem-solving, Congressional and Presidential tyranny, judicial activism, and a host of other historically and/or scientifically or philosophically, not to mention Constitutionally, dubious theories or ideas. Very few people can rise above the “zeitgeist” of their age, and every age has its “zeitgeist,” much of it is usually erroneous, as is much of ours, and truly see things from a God’s-eye perspective. We are sheep and cows, following the backside we see in front of us.
Can the herd be turned before it rushes, headlong, over the cliff? Mr. Trump is trying mightily, and his methods might be the only way. But will they really return us to the virtuous, limited government republicanism our Founders envisioned for America? I fear that age, and its incomparable wisdom, may be gone forever. I leave you with one final thought: don’t take my word for anything. Study and think for yourself. But draw only conclusions warranted by the evidence. God gave you a brain; use it. There is no telling where that butt in front of you is going, probably over a cliff.
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