Our Threatened Freedom

Can a Hole in the Ground be Productive

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Political Studies

Lesson: 165-169

Genre: Conversation

Track: 165

Dictation Name: Vol. M - Part 09 - Can a Hole in the Ground be Productive

Location/Venue: Unknown

Year: 1980’s – 1990’s

[Dr. Rushdoony] Can a hole in the ground be productive? This is R.J. Rushdoony with a report on our threatened freedom.

Throughout American history, we have had an element in the population very much opposed to the puritan work ethic. Instead of holding to useful work as the key to productivity and prosperity, many have had a variety of gimmicks to suggest as an easy way to national wealth. More than a few have insisted that printing more money would create more wealth, instead of course, it creates more inflation. Others have believed that prosperity would come and poverty disappear by means of the passing of laws. If this works, why not pass laws to abolish sin and death? In 1874, Richard Shell, a Wall Street stock speculator, became a member of Congress. Shell had a solution for the economic problems of his day. He wanted the Federal Government to dig a canal from New York to San Francisco. This would have been quite a task, considering that in 1874 only horse drawn earth moving equipment existed to tunnel through the Rockies. Shell wanted greenbacks to be printed to finance the project.

More recently, in 1936, in the ‘General Theory of Employment: Interest and Money’ Caine’s wrote, and I quote, “To dig holes in the ground, paid for out of savings, will increase not only our employment, but the real national dividend of useful goods and services.” Unquote. Remember, since at least 1932, Caine’s theories have governed the western world and the United States, and also other nations as well. As a result, we have had all kinds of nonproductive federal spending, the idea being that any such spending will automatically bring about prosperity, no matter how useless the cause. Because Caine’s idea of prosperity through useless holes in the ground projects, we have hundreds of federal agencies which exist merely to spend money. If Caine’s was right, then our farmers are foolish, wasting time and money planting crops which bad weather can destroy. Instead it would be much safer simply to plow the ground and ask for a subsidy to do so. As a matter of fact, under the influence of Caine’s this is exactly what the federal government began to do some years ago. Farmers were paid for not planting anything. Remember, Caine’s belief that digging useless holes in the ground would, in his own words, quote, “increase not only employment, but the real national dividend of useful goods and services.” Unquote. Our politicians believed him. No wonder we are in trouble.

This has been R.J. Rushdoony with a report on our threatened freedom.