Trust, political leaders, and learned pessimism

The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates Pslam 146:3 as “Do not trust in nobles, in man, who cannot save.” Most who are familiar with the Scriptures (both Hebrew: the Tanakh, and the New Testament) know this verse as warning against “princes” but nobles (which include “princes” and royalty in general) is a better rendering. That is, in a single word, government.

But note the verse includes “man” in general (the Hebrew is literally “a child of a man” – that is, any human). Ultimately all humans fall and fail: if nothing else, they die and no longer can do anything here on earth. We are feeble and frail.

In the 21st Century, this is still a valid warning. Even though (at least here in the States) “titles of nobility” are prohibited (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) to be granted by the FedGov. A more accurate translation would be “people who have power over you.” We are not to put our trust in people who have power over us. Why? Because they cannot save. Save what? Us, for one thing. But there are many more things that they cannot save (protect): starting with freedom and liberty, continuing on down the line of common sense and money. Most people, even those who are followers of Christ Jesus and those who are lovers of liberty, think of this passage as referring to “spiritual salvation” and eternal life.

But the warning applies to present-day life and virtually everything we hold dear and honor. And you would think that after 3,000+ years of history of dealing with rulers and governments (and people in general), that lesson would have been well-learned.

Unfortunately, it clearly has not.

Paul Rosenberg recently discussed a concept. “There is a profound psychological effect called Learned Pessimism. Put briefly, this is what happens to people when they are repeatedly unable to affect outcomes. It leads to apathy and depression.”

That, we submit, is part of the problem we face in these Fifty States – and the entire world – today. We see how bad the situation is, we see how bad government is, and yet we are constantly and repeatedly unable to change the outcome.

The most recent major example of that is the election of yet another Socialist Prime Minister in Canada. (Yes, we know he is officially a “Liberal” but as recent years has shown, that is just a store brand for the same old swill as produced and peddled by a very long line of political panderers and parasites and their minions. Oh, there are different flavors of the swill: today the most salable seems to be what were here at TPOL call “Tranzi” – transnational regressives.

Like the medicine show peddlers that used to infest the roads of rural America, what the current purveyors (whether they have a brand name of Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Social Democrat, Labour, or whatever) are going to give you for your money is exactly the opposite of what they tell you. Peace? Prosperity? Economic Growth? Liberty? Justice? They sell us their perversion of those things, or they just do the good old bait and switch.

And of course, guess who is left holding the bag? Everyday people: workers, business owners, students, children, mothers and fathers, and more. Some indeed literally hold a bag (a body bag) or are put in one. Again, we see examples of that daily: from Zelensky and Putin in Ukraine to Xi and comrades in China to everyday people in the bloody pestholes of Mexico’s cartels (and other) regions. And even here in the States: a recent example is a woman gunned down by Casper (Wyoming) cops after she was the one that called 9-1-1 for help. Or the woman racing down freeways and streets at high speeds until a cop car was able to collide with her (clearly intentional on the cops part) to cause her to careen into the median and barriers and flip, ripping her out of her car to her death. Or dozens of other incidents.

Is it any wonder that many, many people have “Learned Pessimism,” when it comes to society, “civilization,” and government?

Think on these things.

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