Financially speaking, my wife Michelle and I are disciples
of the late Larry Burkett. Michelle worked full time for Larry’s ministry
Christian Financial Concepts (now Crown Financial Ministries) from 1997 until
2002. After the birth of our first child, she worked part time from home and
continues in that capacity today. My life was changed dramatically very early
in our marriage when I went through Larry’s How
to Manage Your Money (HTMYM) Bible study (which is now over 20 years old).
In the study, Larry spends a lot of time talking about debt.
Of course, in our culture today, when it comes to financial matters, debt
remains topic number one. One of the early chapters in HTMYM is entitled “The
Perils of Money.” In this chapter, along with later ones such as “Motives for
Accumulating Wealth,” and “How Much is Enough?” Larry also spends a lot of time
dealing with the issue of greed.
When it comes to greed, Larry makes a great point that often
escapes most people, especially those who think that only the rich or large
corporations are capable of greed: an attitude of greed can creep in whether
one is blessed with a great deal in the way of material possessions or very
little. Case in point is the raid on the Walmarts in Springhill and Mansfield Louisiana
As you’ve no-doubt heard by now, on Saturday October 12, due
to a glitch that occurred during a routine back-up test, the EBT system went
down in several states. According to Xerox, a vendor for the EBT system, as a
result of the glitch, EBT card limits were erased. Most stores put a hold on
EBT purchases, or at least called to verify balances, but not the Walmarts in
Springhill and Mansfield.
Walmart executives told these stores to allow purchases to
continue. As word spread of Walmart’s decision, the stores were flooded with
those ready to take advantage. What resulted was a shopping frenzy that was
reportedly worse than any Black Friday spree ever witnessed. Shoppers packed
buggies to the rim, with some filling as many as eight to ten carts. Meat
coolers were emptied and the store shelves were left bare (no small feat for
anyone who’s familiar with today’s Walmart).
One observer, who took cell phone video of the shopping
carnage, concluded that it was simply human nature that led the shoppers to
fill their carts to overflowing. Another couple called it “plain theft, that's
stealing that's all I got to say about it.” They’re both right.
The Walmart EBT raid is simply another example of the
mentality and behavior that results from our entitlement culture. Left to
ourselves, and enabled by Big Government that is ready and willing to buy
votes, “plain theft” is the natural human reaction when one has been
conditioned by out of control Big Government handouts. We see this behavior
time and again (more often than a media replete with liberals would like to
report).
As I noted
last year, for several months after winning a $1 million state lottery
jackpot, 25-year-old Michigan Detroit
When confronted by the Detroit
In June of 2010 Leroy Hick won $2 million in a Michigan Michigan
Fick declared, “If you’re going to try to make me feel bad,
you’re not going to do it.” His attorney added, “I am not going to sit and
debate the ethics of this…from his standpoint, he did what he was supposed to
do — he informed the state, and the state said he could keep using the card.
The problem is with the state.”
Do you think the Walmart raiders felt as if they had won the
lottery? Do you think they “feel bad” because of their behavior? I doubt it. Of
course, such behavior is often what results when human beings are perpetually
handed things that they don’t have to work for. Of course, not everyone
receiving welfare is guilty of greed, but make no mistake about it, with
one-out-of-six Americans receiving food stamps, we are almost certainly dealing
with a rampant culture of greed.
(See this column on American Thinker.)
Copyright 2013, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
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