Three items, one day:

• Columnist: “Biden’s upgrade plan is worth every trillion.”
• College dean: “Why America’s godlessness is a good thing.”
• Disabled man told by agency that they can’t find home health aides to assist him. People make more from unemployment and bailout payments than they would by working.

Not long ago, “trillion” would appear in articles about astronomy, not economics. Now we talk casually about spending money we don’t have, our children won’t have, in fact no one will ever have. It exists only in fantasy or on computers, which is much the same thing.

Not long ago, we bemoaned declining church membership, though we did little to remedy it. Now we talk about it like it’s a good thing. But if God doesn’t say “Do not murder” and “Do not steal,” these rules become merely matters of opinion. And my opinion may be different from yours. More importantly, the government’s opinion may be quite different.

Not long ago, health care was a place where those with few skills but big hearts could find jobs with which to put food on their families’ tables. Now many people get enough from government handouts that they have no need to work – and no desire to. The same is true in other industries. Restaurants are finding it difficult to rehire their servers when they are allowed to reopen. Civilization is like a car – you can’t let it sit idle for a year and expect it to just start up again. You have to run it regularly and keep the battery charged. Otherwise you may find that it won’t start up, no matter how badly you need it.

Draw a line through these three items. Is the line going up or down? Is talking about spending trillions we will never have a good thing? Is boasting about rising godlessness a hopeful sign? Is paying people not to work a positive step? Things won’t get better on their own. We have to put down our snacks and our beer, turn off the TV, get up off the sofa, and actually do something to help reverse our downward spiral before it becomes irreversible.

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