I love spinach (the fresh stuff, not the mess in the can, which I think is disgusting), and a lot of other vegetables as well. But I won’t lie to you. If ice cream were as healthy as green vegetables, I’d eat ice cream at every meal. And apparently, there are an awful lot of people in America who think that, politically, ice cream is just as wholesome as spinach. At least, that’s what they eat all the time.
If there is a less intelligent member of Congress than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I don’t know who it is. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii gives her a good run, as do Maxine Waters, Jasmine Crockett, and a few others. But AOC brings her own special brand of stupidity to the table that is hard to beat. She also tells people what they want to hear. Lies to them. Informs them that ice cream is as healthy as spinach. Maybe they’ll vote for her. Maybe AOC isn’t so dumb after all. Maybe she’s just a liar, knows she’s a liar, has absolutely no conscience about lying, and, like every other Democratic politician in the country, will do any immoral thing necessary to get into office and stay there. So, if winning votes is her only goal, she might not be so dumb after all. I mean, nobody is stupid in everything. We all have our talents, and every Democrat is a master at lying and deception, and hoping that enough voters are totally gullible. Countless indeed are.
Here’s a recent quote from this paragon of Einsteinian brilliance (pardon my sarcasm): “The American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time.” Not to be ugly, but is there anybody in America stupid enough to believe that? Well, if AOC believes it, then there is at least one person who is. And she apparently believes a whole lot of people are so uneducated that she can propagandize them with any lie she wants to tell. Remember, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said, “The bigger the lie, the more it will be believed.” And, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” That describes AOC and the Democratic Party 100 percent. And it obviously works for them. Half the country votes for them.
Back to my ice cream and spinach analogy. Sadly, America has become a pleasure-oriented society. Too many of our people no longer want to make the sacrifices that greatness demands—hard work, industry, responsibility, duty, virtue—and only want to parasitize off the fruits of America’s historical successes. Let me give you a few quotes to illustrate what I mean.
Historian Will Durant, regarding the Persian empire of the 4th century B.C.: “It is in the nature of an empire to disintegrate soon, for the energy that created it disappears from those who inherit it.”
Now compare Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler’s analysis of the rise and fall of great nations: “These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
God, concerning the ancient Israelites, said through Moses: When “they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them.”
Folks, a nation cultivates strength by practicing certain virtues—piety, hard work, sacrifice, responsibility, industry, unity, etc. They grow strong, free…and rich. Then, as Durant points out—and it is happening in America right now—“the energy that created [the greatness] disappears from those who inherit it.” From liberty to abundance—to selfishness and apathy. Eating, filling themselves, getting fat. From virtue to decadence. From spinach to ice cream. It is a sad tale of history, repeated innumerable times.
And—a very key point—there will always be the wolves, like AOC and the current Democratic Party, to lie to and lead the sheep to destruction. There are forever those who are evil enough to take advantage of a slothful, decadent state of the people. And please note: they don’t urge the nation back to its glory days through hard work, virtue, godliness, and righteousness, but for purely selfish reasons, will set themselves up as the new leadership of the degenerate nation. And, like AOC and other Democrats, they will lie and commit any immoral depravity to accomplish their aims. Just as there were leaders who guided the country to greatness, there will be the gargoyles who will direct it straight into the pits of hell, if people allow them to.
And the people, having filled themselves and gotten fat, becoming abundant and apathetic, selfish, lazy, decadent, perverted, and pleasure-loving, no longer have the strength of character or intelligence to resist. So, it’s on to dependence. Then back into bondage.
To most people, ice cream tastes better than spinach. And there will always be those, like Democrats, to dish out the ice cream and tell the gullible it is as healthy as spinach.
Check out my Substacks: “Mark It Down! (mklewis929.substack.com) and “Mark It Down! Bible Substack” (mklbibless.substack.com). Both free. Read my new book! "Kendrick and other stories," four great tales of the Old American West, available on Amazon Kindle. Read my other books as well: "Whitewater," "River Bend," "Return to River Bend," and "Allie’s Dilemma," all available on Amazon. Follow me on X: @thailandmkl.